Rarewaves Chairman Brad Aspess MBE joins the Screw It Just DO It podcast
Rarewaves.com founder and Chairman Brad Aspess MBE joined host Alex Chisnall on the Screw It Just DO It podcast to discuss a career spanning more than 50 years in music, retail and e-commerce.
Brad began his career at Decca Records in 1973, joining straight from school shortly after the label had lost the Rolling Stones. He had been invited to interview for a role in the company's TV department but walked into the wrong room and left with a different job.
After two years at Decca, Brad moved into retail, building and scaling businesses that generated more than £60 million a year. Through the 1980s and 1990s he ran music and video businesses including Sotosound and Now Music and Video. He adapted each one as the market moved from vinyl to CD, and later to downloads and streaming.
In the episode, Brad shares the principles he took from those years:
- Only pursue an opportunity you can expand and grow.
- Follow the money.
- Build without debt.
- Know when to close something down and move on.
- Give people responsibility rather than micromanaging them.
- Focus on what you do best and outsource the rest.
- Adapt before the market forces you to.
Rarewaves began in 2005 as a hobby, with Brad selling his duplicate vinyl on eBay. Music industry contacts soon asked him to sell their stock too, and the business grew from there. It moved from marketplace selling to its own website, and opened a US office in 2011.
On the decision to expand beyond entertainment products, Brad remarks: "Can I afford to do it? Can I afford not to do it? And the other side of the coin is, are you playing to win or are you playing not to lose? If you're playing to win, you have to get out there and make that decision."
That approach has underpinned Rarewaves' growth:
- 2012: ranked the UK's 19th fastest-growing tech company in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100.
- 2018: won the Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade.
- 2021: record sales, with deliveries to customers in 209 countries and territories.
- 2022: Brad was awarded an MBE for services to International Trade and Exports.
Read more blogs about Rarewaves here
Today, Rarewaves.com serves customers in more than 190 countries, selling vinyl, CDs, film, books and pop culture collectibles. What began as a marketplace seller with a small website is now a brand in its own right. Rarewaves.com is now the largest sales channel, alongside their marketplace stores.
Listen to the full episode on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
🎥 YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/yrjsuazz
🎧 Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/24f5463k
🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/bded3pvp
About the episode
50 Years in Music, Global E-Commerce & Building a £60M+ Retail Empire is an episode of Screw It Just DO It with Alex Chisnall, released on 22 September 2026. The episode is powered by WorldFirst, and Rarewaves is itself a WorldFirst client.