Behind the Business: Marley’s Music

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - In this week’s Behind the Business, we’re in Biloxi where music is medicine.

Located in the heart of downtown Biloxi, Marley’s Music has created an oasis for music lovers of all genres— to not only buy nostalgic records, but also sell them.

Inside the business, located on Ohr Street, you’re greeted with many objects most consider a thing of the past.

“I’ve been collecting records since I was about 10 or 11, and it was something that I was interested in, it was something I knew about,” said owner Marley Roberts.

Now in his adult years, Roberts has built that collection into a business— buying, selling, and trading vinyl records and CDs of all genres.

“I have people that come into the shop and they’re like, ‘Oh it must be great sitting around listening to music all day.’ But I don’t get to really sit around listening to music all day because I’m checking records... like if I have a collection that comes in and I’m looking at a record and it looks super clean but there’s this one mark on it… I’ll stop what I’m listening to, play that... just that little section... to check that," Roberts said.

For the past five years, Roberts says business has exceeded his expectations, all while receiving its fair share of ups and downs early on.

“We opened March 14 of 2020, which was a Saturday, and the following Tuesday everything shut down due to COVID,” Roberts said. “There was a day or two where we didn’t know what we were going to do, but we were doing online vinyl auctions, which were sort of this live auction thing where we would livestream.”

While navigating through years of uncertainty, Roberts says business has evolved— all for the better.

“It’s really fascinating. It’s really evolved so much in terms of like, the things on the walls and the records that have come into the shop,” Roberts said. “I have more really interesting stories that I can tell to people and it’s very very cool. It’s just... always evolving and changing.”

Marley’s Music is located at 154 G E Ohr Street in Biloxi.

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