Record Store Day: Yea or Nay?

With Record Store Day falling a couple of weeks ago, the annual debate over the event’s pros and cons has resurged stronger than ever. The 2014 celebrations provided a 2000% boost in vinyl sales, but should Paul Weller’s statement that he is “disheartened by the whole thing” indicate the day isn’t living up to its potential?

Record Store YAY!
Michael Perry

Ever since 2008, the UK has annually honoured the third Saturday of April as a time in which to celebrate the values of independently-owned record shops, and it’s a joyous (albeit potentially competitive, if you’ve got your eyes on a particularly sought-after picture disc) experience in which all are welcome to partake.

Record Store Day promotes a wealth of treats for those who choose to support it, including the promotion of limited-edition special releases, and free in-store performances from various artists and groups. But the event’s most significant merit is that it reaffirms music – and the discovery thereof – as a communal pursuit, which is worth commemorating.

As convenient as it is to embark on a process of musical discovery individually, there is something rather detached about trawling through online avenues in search of a fix. What the advent of Record Store Day has achieved is a reassertion of the communality of sharing music, and the pleasure that such an experience can (and should) be. Discovering and enthusing about music need not be a solitary pursuit confined to cyberspace, but can be something much more tangible and interactive: a chance to mutually enjoy the experience with likeminded enthusiasts of the art form.

As annual dates go, Record Store Day is not a particularly revolutionary addition to the calendar. However, in its own quiet (or loud?) way, it promises a worthwhile treatise to the community of music and its consumption alike, by embalming the process of discovering music as something welcoming and inclusive, thus providing a warm alternative to the ostensible coldness of the digital marketplace.

The Day’s (One) Directionless
Sam Evans

A One Direction picture disc hanging on the wall of my local record shop for £9.99. If this isn’t the beginning of the end, I don’t know what is.

Hysterics aside, I think it’s worth mentioning I’m a huge fan of the medium, and agree with everything said in the opposing piece of the argument. However, there are a few trends emerging in this annual celebration of all things musical that are somewhat troubling, and the One Direction example encapsulates two of the most prominent ones.

The first is of price gouging. On any other day, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone willing to hand over a tenner for a 7” single. And yet, possibly after being swept up in the hype, people do. I should know – I’ve been there. I made sure this year to only hand my money over for things I felt were worth it. A Terminator 2 7-inch looks fairly cool, but is it really worth £13? I’m not too sure. The other is, simply, what business does a One Direction single have being an official RSD release? This isn’t an argument of taste either.

The day was designed with independent record stores in mind: 2008 came before the recent resurgence, and they were certainly in need of the help. You’d assume that by extension, small, and possibly struggling, independent labels were the obvious other party the day had in mind.

In that case, it’s hard to see the involvement of the major label-signed band being anything other than an aberration from the day’s original intent.