What is Record Store Day?
Traditionally held on a Saturday in April, Record Store Day, founded by Michael Kurtz and Carrie Colliton, first debuted in 2008. In 2010, an additional RSD holiday was created for Black Friday. This year, we celebrate the holiday on June 12th.
The purpose of the holiday was to create a day encouraging people to visit/shop their independent record stores. This also furthering the idea of Small Business Saturday outside of the holiday season. The main draw involves record labels producing limited quantities of exclusive merch. Meaning the only way to get it is at your local record store.
Extremely small during its infancy, with just a handful of releases, mostly from indie artists and labels, it morphed into a massive event over the years. While still including some indie music, the event mostly highlights major artists/labels now. Tons of stores throw big parties centered around it.
Much like Black Friday, people camp out overnight sometimes, and once doors open, it’s kind of a free-for-all, and people can definitely get hostile. Often, stores will only receive one or two copies of something while 50 people lined up outside wanting it.
COVID’s Impact on RSD
Not only did COVID-19 cause the cancelation of RSD, but it also took a toll on record stores and vinyl production in general.
Last year Record Store Day coordinators arranged three different RSD “drops” in August, September, and October. The idea was to spread releases over a couple of different weekends for two reasons: 1) Limit the number of people gathering in stores; and 2) help soften the blow of the size/price of the orders the stores placed at one time.
This year, these drops have returned – one on June 12th and one on July 17th. For the vinyl world in general, COVID massively impacted production. The plants that manufacture records experienced extreme backups, starting with the delay from shutdowns.
Since the shutdown, there’s been a major surge in interest in record collecting, meaning way more records need to be manufactured. The shutdowns pushed many people to find new hobbies, and many people started collecting. Another factor is scalpers and flippers, which have impacted various hobbies (look at everything that happened with Pokemon). Needless to say, it’s becoming harder and harder to buy new releases.
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COVID’s Impact on Record Stores
In a recent interview, Kevin Serno, a Zia Records sales associate , shared how COVID impacted the local record store.
“The traffic in and out the store definitely slowed down for the first few months of the pandemic until around November of 2020,” he said. “Of course, the biggest changes for the store would be the new 50% capacity limit, the mandated mask requirement, and the slower production of vinyl.”
COVID-19 took a toll on the business in multiple ways. The longer wait time taken to produce inventory slowed sales of products people otherwise wanted to purchase. The mask mandate deterred some people from shopping altogether, as did social distancing and capacity restrictions. And delaying Record Store Day cost independent record stores like Zias to lose out on expected sales revenue.
#GetinMotion for Record Store Day
Join the fun and get a taste of Record Store day by locating your nearest participating record store here!
View the list of RSD Drops here.
Follow the official Record Store Day on Twitter and Instagram to receive the latest news and updates for the event!
