To live outside of a major city
I have fond memories of Record Store Days past; getting the 5am train into London and joining the queue outside Banquet Records (the best record shop, for those who don’t know), hoping the collective more dedicated don’t grab all the limited records I want before me. People argue that you should use your local record shop all year round, which is absolutely true, but the excitement around the day brings people out in huge numbers and, if nothing else, serves as good marketing for independents.
In last couple of years, however, I’ve found it harder and harder to motivate myself to leave the house early and join the buzzing queues. For a start the only record shop resident in my current locale is HMV. If I head to either towns down the train line the only record shops I can visit are HMVs (although Oxfam’s music shop in Chelmsford is fantastic it doesn’t participate in Record Store Day. There is also a drum and bass shop in Chelmsford although that doesn’t cater to my taste). The nearest shops take around fourty-five minutes to travel to, although even then the range of releases offered are limited.
Given that the vast majority of the records put out as exclusive’s are major label bands that could be stocked in a make shift shop on Foulney Island and still sell out, most of what goes through to the participating out of city shops is going to be the larger releases pressed in large numbers (it’s worth noting that limited doesn’t necessarily mean a small pressing; the suggested minimum run is 500 copies with a fair few running at over 3000). If you’re not after a re-master of an Aerosmith LP it’s head into the big cities or miss out.
For what it’s worth, I appreciate the concept for making me aware of the shops nearer to home, even if they’re still a pain to travel too. To see that there’s a record shop in Sudbury participating gave me some hope, although that was soon to be crushed when I saw that the Alcopop Records compilation, one of the two LPs I would like to have bought at this year’s event wouldn’t be stocked there or my next closest shop in Clacton. There’s near sixty shops that record will be available at out of the supposed 220+ shops participating. Obviously there’s a capital centric distribution to these records but I’d argue that participating shops in villages could almost certainly do with people travelling to them to seek out the more obscure records than Rough Trade does. It’s certainly good to bring attention to record stores but some of them do well for themselves anyway, while the further you are from a major city the less likely it is that you even have a record shop and the more the shops that still remain need your custom.
Prices
I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about the price of the records on Record Store Day and I actual think that’s a bit unfair. Since Record Store Day started the number of records being pressed for the day has skyrocketed and there’s a distinct lack of vinyl pressing houses to spread the demand. The price for a small run is already high; you have to get the master made before you can even factor in the cost of the pressing, and so many records are pressed into coloured, glittery, or transparent vinyl which bumps the price up even more. Add into this that seemingly everyone wants to get a release out, allowing pressing houses to charge increased rates, and it makes perfect sense why you can be looking at £7.99 for a 7” single and increased prices for albums. Of course it helps that they can charge the customers that too; for every person complaining about the price there’s a dozen more ready to part with their money.
The range of releases
There seems to be more independent labels complaining about how the day has been taken over by major labels as it’s gotten bigger which is a fair complaint; it makes it harder for some labels to get their own records pressed due to the rush to get the special releases out, for a start, not to mention that most small labels wouldn’t dream of putting out a release with a run of 500. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that majors get involved with the day, however. The whole point of the day is to bring people to these wonderful shops which, as someone who doesn’t have one in his town, I think every town should have; they’re knowledgable stores who stock wider ranges than chain shops, and they need your custom. More and more independent record shops shut down every year and it’s rare to see a new one spring up in it’s place. The whole thing is a big marketing campaign for these shops and it’d be stupid to limit it’s appeal. Having a limited pressing of a pop act may seem cynical to those with a more alternative mindset but, if it reminds someone who usually purchases their music from a supermarket or downloads it from iTunes that they have a record shop where they can speak to actual people about music and discover new things, then surely that’s a good thing?
The argument reminds me of a conversation a few years ago, when there was the campaign to get Rage Against The Machine to number one in the Christmas charts. One of my friends proudly announced that all the money was going to the same place (true) but then suggested that everyone should get behind another record. That record was only available as a 7” single, limited to 200. Even if, somehow, everyone had turned around and jumped on that ‘bandwagon’ it’s appeal is so limited that it wouldn’t even have registered in the charts. There’s no point just pushing obscurity because at the end of the day that’s not what keeps the sector going. It’s important that there are outlets for the more obscure releases, of course, but there’s more money to be made from fans of popular music and getting them into the shops is just as important.
What does this all mean
Not a lot. If you live in a city and you’re into music then the odds are you’ll be out on Saturday morning queuing to get your hands on that limited record either way. Me, I’ll just be hoping that when another year passes records will be more evenly distributed so that, even though I don’t expect a local shop to have opened in the next year (although in the case of a big lottery win…), those of us who don’t really care about the new remaster of a band from the past don’t have to make the choice between supporting music within our own county and travelling to the shops who don’t actually need our support.
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