The Truth About Record Store Day

As shops around the world prepare for Record Store Day tomorrow, we investigate the real story behind the hugely popular international event. What’s the experience really like for stores and labels? Is it the celebration it should be, or are there fundamental flaws with the entire concept?

In just five years, Record Store Day (RSD) has become a fixture of the calendar for music fans, labels and shops around the world. Conceived in 2007 and launched the following year, the event is intended as a celebration of that dying breed, the independent record shop. But does it really have a positive impact?

It’s no big secret that a lot of people have major issues with the entire concept of Record Store Day. The event’s critics argue that focussing on just one day every April misses a more important point: that record shops need trade all year round. And why should we need a carefully co-ordinated and heavily marketed annual event to support bricks-and-mortar retailers of physical product? Are digital sales somehow inferior? Are customers who enjoy the convenience of ordering their limited-edition hand-stamped white label vinyl from a web-based mail-order record store somehow enjoying a less authentic experience?

Maybe the decline of the physical record store is simply a sign of changing consumer preferences? Maybe a focus on highly limited-edition releases is simply papering over the cracks as the vast majority of consumers choose digital formats over physical?

And then, of course, there’s the ever-present problem of unscrupulous resellers looking to make a quick buck by flipping those limited-edition releases on sites like eBay and Discogs. That issue certainly isn’t unique to Record Store Day, but when RSD exclusive releases appear for sale on eBay before the day itself, you have to question whether the event is serving its intended purpose.

Vinyl fetish

Record Store Day heavily promotes – even fetishises – vinyl. The vast majority of special RSD releases come out on vinyl, many limited to a total of 500 or 1,000 copies. Highlights this year include Jamie xx’s edits of The xx’s ‘Sunset’ and ‘Reconsider’, the Asphodells’ remix 12″ and reissues of Caribou’s first three albums.

The bias toward vinyl is partly based on the fact that the CD is increasingly becoming a niche format as consumers turn in their droves to digital downloads, but vinyl has also taken on a symbolic role for RSD, representing a time when physical formats and local shops reigned supreme.

But isn’t the demand for vinyl strong already? After all, we’ve been told that vinyl sales have been rising for years. Aren’t sales strong without promotional events like RSD? The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry reported earlier this month that global sales of vinyl reached a seven-year high in 2012, totaling $177m. In January we heard that UK vinyl album sales had risen by 15.5% in 2012, although it’s important to remember that vinyl still represents less than 0.4% of UK album sales.

But these news stories tell a misleading version of the real story, which is that vinyl is still very much a niche market – especially in dance music, where thousands of small labels are operating at a loss, struggling to break even or scraping by with meagre profits.

Jay Robinson co-owns London-based label Fear Of Flying. As a former employee of Oxford’s Massive Records, he’s seen the industry from both sides over the last 14 years. His response to the idea that sales are growing is straightforward: “When all is said and done, a lie is just a lie, isn’t it?”

“That story is a truly misleading one,” he continues. “It’s clear that these figures only concern releases of a more commercial nature – things like 180 gram reissues of classic LPs, items that are barcoded and tracked by direct shop sales. But we all know that dance music has never been that way. We’ve put out over 50 releases now and only once, when we produced an LP last year, have we used a barcode. So who’s tracking our releases? If they asked the numerous pressing plants that have closed down over the past ten years, they might well get a different story. And if there’s less pressing plants than there were ten years ago, then… Well, I’ll let you do the maths.”

When all is said and done, a lie is just a lie, isn’t it?

The current situation is just as problematic for specialist shops as it is for labels, Robinson argues: “Let’s think back to how London was ten years ago. The likes of Tag, Carbon, Eukatech, Plastic Fantastic, Small Fish, Swag and many more have closed and replacements have been scarce. I can only think of Kristina Records in Dalston that opened a couple of years back. Less outlets, less vinyl sales. But have the bigger online stores – the likes of Juno, Chemical and Redeye – taken up the slack? Well, not really. We only need to look at the amount of pressing plants that have closed over the past decade. As recently as January another pressing plant in Italy closed its doors for good. With no replacements, that means less vinyl being pressed.”

As recently as January another pressing plant in Italy closed its doors for good. With no replacements, that means less vinyl being pressed.

Robinson and his label partner Ben Micklewright both worked at Massive Records during the early 2000s. The situation just a decade ago was dramatically different, Jay explains: “Saturdays were just crazy. The counter was three lines deep of people pretty much from opening to closing hour and there was zero chance of getting a break. Releases would fly out; 100 copies easily of some releases sold in a matter of weeks. Speaking to distros at the time, the bigger labels were selling well in excess of 10,000 copies of releases, with even the smaller labels usually pressing no fewer than 1,000. These days, having worked alongside other record labels and with various distros, I know that the standard press of most labels is 300, with a seal of approval if you manage to sell even that many. You can point to the odd example of a release selling well, but those are now exceptions rather than the rule. Those sales would have been standard in the early 2000s.”