Why Record Store Day is a sham

Mutantis

I'm back to stir up shit...

I believe that Record Store Day started out as a way to promote and encourage visits to independent record stores, but I think it has become something less. It's is now a way for labels to release limited addition records at exhorbitant prices to sucker record buyers into paying too much for a over-hyped piece of colored vinyl that often contains material that is available elsewhere. $22 for an album? $12 for a 7". Ridiculous. To be fair, I saw some records that were priced reasonable. The Built to Spill double album was $22, but it was a double album. And the CD of that same album was going for $13. I saw a handful of 7"s for 5-6 bucks.

Record store day should be about celebrating the indie record store, not lining the pockets of the labels with their artificial limited releases. With that in mind, here's what I'd like to see.

Go ahead and continue to make limited releases for Record Store Day, but price them at normal prices or (GASP), even less than normal prices. Make them the "loss leader" for that day to get people in the door. Then, scoring that piece of vinyl will really feel like grabbing a treasure, and you won't feel like you've been ripped off just because it is Record Store Day.

I know that the argument is that they'll just hit ebay at a higher price, but I honestly don't have a problem with the secondary sale market setting prices based on real demand. That's just like the used record trade. I don't have a problem with folks selling the first Smashing Pumpkin's 7" for big bucks (I did it myself). Those releases are often rare just because the band only pressed as many copies as they could sell, not because they artificially pressed a record for a "special" day in April.

The beauty and spirit of indie record stores is the fun of the hunt. And that hunt is digging through the crates until you stumble upon that 7" or album that you've been looking for for years, with a price tag that feels like you're getting a real deal. Standing in line and waiting to rush to the special "Record Store Day" bins to grab the limited release that you've been pre-sold by the RSD hype is NOT the beauty or spirit of the record store. It's crap.

I still support indie record stores, and I still might buy a special Record Store Day release, if I really want the music or the packaging, but I go into it realizing I'm going to be ripped off, and that the experience, on the whole, will be more like trying to buy the new Beanie Baby or Tickle Me Elmo and not about spending the day digging for treasures.

Mark Hanford/Mutantis (on emusic)
2013

amclark2

Agreed on the special releases, more or less*, I usually head straight for the $1 bins, when I make it to record store day; I couldn't get there this year.

*more or less because it occurred to me last year when I was trying to figure out why people were so excited about all this artificially rare vinyl, that people who grew up post mp3 never got to experience the thrill of getting that rare physical thing that not a lot of other people have. It used to be when you got a rare album it was actually rare, and I can't blame people for being interested in that, although I don't think Record Labels should exploit it.

But then again what's the markup like on this stuff? If some guy's spending $200 and my favorite record store's pocketing half of it, I don't have a problem with that.

Germanprof

For me record store day has nothing to do with the overpriced vinyl because (a) I have nothing to play vinyl on and (b) I have yet to see an item listed that's by an artist I want to buy things by. But this year the existence of record store day (combined with a sunny afternoon) did prompt me for the first time to actually go hit some record stores on RSD, just to see what was going on. And I ended up buying half a dozen CDs from three stores, some new, some used, none overpriced. And I might not have bought any of them if it had not been record store day - I more typically shop online. And the one store had a rather good live band, and a great sense of bustle, which made it a fun visit. So for me it definitely fulfilled its function, which had absolutely nothing to do with limited RSD releases (which nobody at all is forced to buy in order to participate in the day's festivities).

Plong42

First they ruined Christmas, now they ruin Record Store Day. Dang Marketing people. I have stood in line to get a limit edition special hyped record, and I have paid more than it is worth. But my local indie record guy (Corner Record Shop) has a great selection of $1 albums, which he keeps topping off all day. I usually pick up two or three more used albums that I might not usually buy because of the discount.

Lots of beards and flannel, seriously.

thomnottom

Honestly, I haven't seen anything really overpriced for RSD. Well, most of the 7"s should be knocked down a dollar, but that's about it. Otherwise, they're the same cost as regular vinyl. Most single LPs sell for $15-$20 and double LPS sell for $20-$30. The 2 expensive sets that I bought were $35 and $40 and included 3 LPs each with lots of extra/unreleased material. The only 2 that I skipped because of the price were the re-release of Blind Melon's debut (would have done it for $20 but not for $27) and The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka which was $60 or so for 4LPs.

I think you mostly have a problem with the cost of vinyl, which is pretty high these days. Matador is the only label I know of that consistently keeps their price at around $12 - $13 per LP.

But the price point overall is pretty good for the day. Any lower and, guess what, the first 20 people will buy everything and the rest of us are SOL. If the 7"s are only 5 bucks I probably would have bought twice as many, and then the store wouldn't have stock for the people who want to swing by later in the day.

The biggest problem for me was that the line was too long and I grabbed so much that by the time I got what I wanted I had to skip the bargain hunting.

greg

Don't complain too much about independent record stores making a good profit one day a year, because the alternative could be that you become like the UK where there are now very few independent record stores and most of those are in the very large cities. The rest of the country makes do with one chain that recently went bankrupt, with just some of the stores taken over by a Canadian company (and they sell far more DVDs and games than CDs). I now have to travel 12 miles to get to one of those, the nearest independent store is perhaps 70 miles away, and I do not live in a remote part of the country, but quite close to several major towns/cities - none of them with an independent record store.

Bad Thoughts

My problem with RSD is simpler: there's almost no convenient parking near the two in my area (one in Raleigh, one in Durham). Indeed, the Raleigh store, across from NCSU, is on a street that is under heavy re-construction. Add to that my six-year old, and the question of whether I would drive into the city, ruin my suspension, walk six blocks to stand in line for a few CDs was easily answered.

Doofy

It's all good, as far as I'm concerned. Coming from where we were a decade or so ago, when you assumed Best Buy and Borders were going to take over music and book retailing, I'm glad to see anything that promotes indie survival. I'd like to see the indie book stores should do something similar...I'd be more likely to buy a special edition book than a record anyway.

cafreema

I asked the guys at the Electric Fetus how it was going. They said their best day ever was Record Store Day last year, and this year was blowing that out of the water, and from the sounds of it that was the case at all of the stores in the Twin Cities that were participating.

All I bought was three CDs I've been wanting a used CD I found while browsing. No rip offs for me!

Craig

choiceweb0pen0

I have yet to go to a record store day. Not too long ago in Southern Louisiana no local record stores existed. Now in Dallas, I just don't make it to Good Records too often but am glad to know it exists. I agree with Doofy some kind of indie local bookstore day would be an excellent idea.

jonahpwll

Strange incident just happened. My wife walked into my writing room, and by way of trying to impress me of knowing who Cal Tjader was, I came to learn that she wasn't aware of the scope of RSD (it came up because of a special Tjader RSD vinyl re-issue).

Anyways, after I briefly explained the history of RSD and what it's grown to, she immediately expressed her disgust at how it's just become another product to sell, mirroring many of the criticisms leveled at RSD on this thread.

I told her she wasn't alone in her negative view.

This was really the only place I could think of to go to retell the anecdote.

Mutantis

Funny, I almost bought that Cal Tjader, primarily because emusic.com was giving away a $10 music credit (yes I'm still there) for any RSD purchase and I figured it would only cost me 3 bucks. Then I realized I already had all of those songs. So instead I bought the Husker Du double 7", which was overpriced at $16 but, if I figure in the $10 music credit, I was able to justify it to myself. And it had 2 tracks from the original recording session that hadn't been released.

I also didn't go until later in the afternoon, as I was enjoying the sun and wandering around outdoors in the morning, rather than queueing up for a vinyl grab.

Probably going to use the $10 credit to buy the new Frank Turner album from emusic.

Mutantis

Oh, and again, I'm not saying RSD shouldn't exist. But I think it is CRAP that labels use it as an excuse to release overpriced and over-hyped records, which was kind of the point of my entire rant.

Doofy

But wait, now there's International Cassette Store Day! Who knew...Just found out about it over the weekend. I'm sure there's going to be lots of cool stuff released, but personally I am holding out for Edison Phonograph Cylinder day....

cafreema

First Avenue had a garage sale this weekend, and there were some albums that had clearly just been left in the club by the artists. Among them were a couple copies of one on cassette. I did not buy it.

Craig

thomnottom

The only cassettes I've purchase recently were from the two Music from Saharan Cellphones comps because it was much more to add it to the vinyl order. They'll probably never be played and are really just as collector's items.

Germanprof

These could of course be famous last words, but my current stance is that having shelled out for a good CD player and various MP3-related accoutrements I have no intention of spending money and space on other pieces of equipment just because some music is on another physical format. I get the collector thing (I am rather partial to 3" CDs in handmade packaging from small labels...) but am resisting the notion that I am going to have to start re-purchasing extra technology to play vinyl and cassettes. Bah humbug.

choiceweb0pen0

I don't get the returned love of cassettes, either. Okkervil River's newest album is available on Cassette, but why would I choose that over CD or if i had a record player, vinyl?

cafreema

Some cassette stuff from P4K. I don't think they really do a good job of explaining why *I* should be into cassettes, but do get into why specific people are. Basically it sounds like scrap booking for music fans:

It's Just a Cassette

Secret Music (Mutantis, this one includes complaints about Record Store Day pretty similar to yours.)

Craig

Germanprof

@Craig, reading the second on of those, and having just finished reading The Thelonious Monk Reader, I am reminded of the comment attributed to Monk about the birth of bebop - words to the effect that they were fed up with jazz being ripped off and commercialized and wanted to make music that was difficult so that it kept those other folk at bay. Seems like with cassettes, for at least a sector of those involved, a major part of the point is to use a medium that's easier for insiders to access than outsiders. And then of course comes the next wave where the outsiders get to feel like insiders because they bought the obscure insider medium, albeit for an album everyone knows about.

cafreema

True enough, GP.

I actually still have a couple working cassette decks. I'm an insider!

Craig

Plong42

"But there’s no format more human than the cassette. No format wears our stain better."

I am not sure I have read a more pretentious statement. Except for the line later in the article, "Cassettes are my detox." I *thought* the article was going to talk about creating mixtapes, but he says specifically "This has nothing to do with making mixtapes either." I thought he was going to talk about the supportive and welcoming community of tape-traders among fans of the Grateful Dead or Bob Dylan, but he didn't. I thought maybe he would talk about the infinite possibilities of customizing cassette content, personalizing the packaging for a friend. But nope, it was all about some weird nostalgia for 2002.

choiceweb0pen0

And 2002 is puzzling for this essay in addition to everything else you pointed out, Plong. What's wrong, couldn't get enough 8tracks to embrace?

Germanprof

No audio format keeps me more focused on listening to the thing itself, without the distraction of having a web browser right in front of me,...

...I listen to cassettes on a small Sony boombox (with Mega Bass), usually when I do the dishes or get ready in the morning.

Sooo....cassettes and web browsers are the two alternatives and focused listening means a boombox in the background while doing dishes? In my experience doing dishes makes it impossible to listen to music of any subtlety - has he found a silent way to do dishes? My way of being "focused on listening to the thing itself" usually involves sitting down and listening to the thing itself, and I'd say the focus on the music is enabled more by the speakers/headphones (and maybe the merlot) than by the medium of the recording.

The autobiography that follows makes some sense of the utterances; he seems to be saying: "since I am a music-writer-and-touring-musician cassettes are the only medium not associated in my head with work". That's fine, I can see how that would work, but that doesn't seem like an argument likely to resonate with most people who are not him.

greg

My memory of cassettes is quite straightforward. They get tangled up in the car stereo, you have to disassemble it all to get the cassette out, and that the cassette is then ruined anyway!! It takes me back to the 80s before CD players were in cars. OK, I know that is an extreme perspective, and I never had that problem with my Walkman (for those not old enough it was the ipod of its era) with cassettes, but I have no intention of going back, never mind how it might interfere with my listening etc.....!!

Plong42

The cassette era was not all bad. I do have some fond memories of cassettes, but it was not the format that was important but the music on the tape. I had a CCR tape in High School with Cosmo's Factory on one side, and their debut album on the other, played that over and over again one summer after I started driving. In college I had a tape I made with REM's Document on one side, and the Pretender's Learning to Crawl on the other (both dubbed from LP's), those two albums were the soundtrack for that summer. I do not pine for my old cassettes, since they are long gone (probably melted in the back seat sometime...) And I really do miss trading tapes with DeadHeads, but that was for the social aspects as much as the music.

cafreema

I do prefer mix tapes to mix CDs. There's just something about the effort that goes into finding the spot on the tape that the proper track starts, hitting REC, and listening to the song so you can pause the recording tape at the right time. That's about the only romantic memory of cassettes I have, though, that wouldn't be exactly the same with CDs, digital, or even 8-track.

Craig

choiceweb0pen0

Plong, I feel that way a little bit with my car's CD player right now, mainly because not that long ago I drove a 92 accord with a tape deck, but I will leave a CD in there more than I would anywhere else, so at one point was listening to the latest Vampire Weekend album at least once a day.


Good point, Craig. I also remember recording songs and even programs off the radio. I wish I had a few episodes of Dr. Demento. He now charges a fortune for them on his website, but maybe his show isn't syndicated anymore?

Germanprof

I do prefer mix tapes to mix CDs. There's just something about the effort that goes into finding the spot on the tape that the proper track starts, hitting REC, and listening to the song so you can pause the recording tape at the right time. That's about the only romantic memory...

Romantic is right...nostalgic perhaps even closer. I don;t mean that critically, I think we all have these personal "something about" feelings attached to actions from particular times. In various media: my son;d disdain for CDs as an irrelevant, past medium pains me just a little. But (and this is more directed at the articles you linked than your comment) I am not convinced that there is more generally some inherent quotient of loving care that is more specially attached to working with tape. Granted, it's *much* easier to just throw a bunch of tracks onto a CD than onto a tape. But working with software+CD allows me to play with crossfades, overlaps, volume levels, indulge in obsessive split-second adjustments, even add effects, - even though I don't do it very often, I have come to find it a much more absorbing process than lining things up on a cassette used to be. I remember that mainly as just laborious rather than absorbing. The labor and frustration invested does generate a certain later affection, but for me it's the kind that happens when people look back fondly on a class at school that they actually hated at the time. I suspect the "humanity" (articles, not you) of cassettes derives more from context of use than from medium - choose to use CDs the same way (take care over them, swap them with friends, give them away for free, etc.) and they could function the same way. I suspect the more meaningful distinction is between physical and purely digital media and between contexts of use.

One intriguing detail...I have tended to imagine that perhaps vinyl and to a lesser degree cassettes may have generated a stronger sense of value because of the care required to handle them compared to CDs and digital...but one of those articles argues that cassettes are worthy of more affection because they are more durable than CDs. (A premise that does not match my experience with cassettes and CDs)

choiceweb0pen0

I also can recall some tape, uh, malfunctions, tapes unwinding in cassette decks, melting in cars, and just wearing out. I think if you are are careful with CDs that can do well, but if they don't get into a case of some kind and are handled poorly, then yep they will scratch, skip, and even melt.

Doofy

"Cassettes are more durable than CDs," forsooth! Nostalgia is all well and good, but that's flat-out revisionist history right there. Cassettes wore out in the course of normal play, much more so than even vinyl. They were lightweight and portable/tradeable, but that was pretty much the extent of their advantages.