We started over 40 years ago

In 1979 Watts Music opened their doors and started selling music. Over 40 years later the store is in the same location at 1211 Grant Avenue and is now an iconic location in the city of Novato.

The store started out with Ken Watts having his 2 car garage too full of records to park any car in it and his wife saying "why don't you open up a record store downtown". From there it grew from a tiny retail space into knocking down a wall next door and taking over a second room and being what it is to this day.

Napster nearly closed us

In 1999 the music business was hit by Napster and the whole craze of illegal downloading. This had a terrible impact on artists, labels and of course, stores. Many of the larger chains like Tower Records, went out of business. Watts Music survived because of our loyal customers.

In 2008 the resurgence of vinyl really began. It’s been growing ever since as people discovered the joy of actively listening to great music, enjoying the experience of holding the album cover and the artwork and spinning discs. Vinyl has grown by more than 10% every year for the last 10 years.

It’s strange how many people have no idea just how popular vinyl is today. It’s completely taken over from CD’s and cassettes.

We’ll buy your used records

Many people have old records that they don’t play any more. They are often stored in their attic, garage or lounge, forgotten. They don’t realize that they are sitting on “gold”.

We pay top dollar for old records that are in great condition. For large collections we will even visit your home, offer you a price and transport your collection back to the store.

You’ll know that your old albums are going to a music lovers home. You can chat about your collection by calling the store on 415 897-2892.

You might think that the music that you loved from the 60’s through the present is not worth anything. You will be surprised at what a great deal you can get!

Watts the future?

Every year in April we have Record Store Day which is like a giant party where the record companies release rare and limited edition albums. Check out the next one in our ‘news’ section.

Seven days a week you can visit us and check out the latest new and used records. Part of the fun is finding new treasure that you never expected.

The vinyl record business and the store are doing great and we’re looking forward to saying hello. It’s an exciting future in downtown Novato.

Finally, this old sign sits at the back of the store. Over 35 years old, the name was different as we started out as ‘Ken Watts Music”. The address and phone number remain the same. We still have new and used records and tapes. CDs had not even been invented back then!

We’re open longer hours these days, closing at 7pm on Monday thru Saturday and opening at 10am on Saturdays.

It’s been a long journey that saw vinyl almost disappear with the introduction of CD’s and streaming, only to rise from the ashes and return to it’s healthy state today.

Thanks for reading!