Is hating on Record Store Day boring and snotty or justified and ancient?

oh that's kinda cool i guess.

sorry that was a dick move of a post. i didn't mean to diminish the material, i just don't understand why it has to be a limited FOMO prestigey bullshit release. if labels like rounder were able to put out super niche indigenous music comps back in the 80s without any FOMO bamboozlement, i wonder what changed in the interim?

well the entire music business and distribution of music changed profoundly

yes, but the amount of people interested in that stuff didn't.

idk, just feels scummy and manipulative to slap "LIMITED EDITION" on something that was never going to sell more than 10000 copies to begin with.

I had a friend who ran an independent punk label who said to me "you press 500, you'll sell 100. put out a limited edition of 200 you'll sell out"

technically every pressing is a limited edition pressing.

lol tru

yes, but the amount of people interested in that stuff didn't.

― W E F L Y T O G E T H E R (Austin), Friday, April 21, 2023 1:28 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

a lot of people have stopped paying for music altogether and streaming royalties are incredibly low.

also the "vinyl revival" is maybe the most over-written about thing ever, and it's still just a small, small drop in the bucket compared to the CD era. hell, the band I was in in 99/00 sold through 1,000 pressings of CDs back then just playing local shows for a couple years

LOLOLOL

Tomorrow, Saturday April 22nd, is everyone's favorite holiday - Earth Day! Go plant a tree!

Oh, wait…we’re being informed that tomorrow is also everyone's OTHER favorite holiday - Record Store Day! Go buy a record!

It seems these two holiday are at odds with each other as we realize the need to reduce our carbon footprint while simultaneously wanting to enjoy a new record by our favorite artist which are made via various chemical processes.

Vinyl records are made of a chemical compound called polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. PVC is considered a plastic due to it’s malleability and plasticity in it’s solid state of matter. In PVC, a CH2 molecule (Methylene) is bonded to a CHCl (Chloromethylene) through a double bond between the carbon.

The intermolecular
forces between molecules of PVC include dipole dipole and London dispersion forces. London dispersion forces occur in between all molecules. Dipole dipole forces occur when the positive end of a molecule is attracted to the negative end of another. Since PVC is polar it is able to produce dipole dipole forces but it is unable to form hydrogen bonds because it does not contain nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine.

As a way to remedy this conundrum you could just start making your own records at home.

Here’s how you do it:

Step 1) You will need a source of PVC - many materials contain PVC including credit cards and pipes (which are available on the outside of every house). If in doubt find your parents old records and simply melt these down (make sure to remove the labels first as if left on these will result in an inferior quality record).

Step 2) Melt down your PVC. This can be done over a kitchen stove - avoid breathing in the fumes as they are highly carcinogenic.

Step 3) Add
pigment. Black records may be obtained by added pencil lead (graphite) to the mixture, other colors can be obtained by using food coloring.

Step 4) Pour your melted vinyl onto a flat plate and compress with any weights you happen to have lying around.

Step 5) Remove your disk and carve groves into it in a spiral pattern.

Step 6) Play your new record!

Just kidding!

We don’t recommend doing this AT ALL.

All you need to do is bop over to Wall of Sound and buy a new or used record. Go home and plant a tree while you listen! It’s that simple.

We’ll have RSD titles available tomorrow as well as our usual nifty selection of new and used stock.

Yeah, lost my enthusiasm for RSD now.

Austin, I don't disagree that RSD is dumb. Someone asked if it had ever featured worthwhile records and I mentioned the one I know of, is all.

But yeah I think a regular release of that comp would've been risky: it's not for the dancefloor, doesn't have synths and also isn't "authentic" folk music so the three main consumer groups of this type of release wouldn't be interested. Comb & Razor is a small operation run by someone actually from Nigeria and as such doesn't have the hype connections that a label like Light In The Attic or Soundway would. Sure they could just make it a digital release, but as ums pointed out royalties for streaming are shit and they like to get the original artists paid.

Isn't the point of RSD to support record shops?

I have an idea that some of them make money on this day which helps them survive through the year.

You could say that record shops shouldn't get special protection and should just go to the wall because times have changed. But most music fans don't really feel that. Most of us like the idea, or the reality, of record shops. I'm happy if they get a boost one way or another.

What are your local record shops like, Mr Pinefox? Any good ones?

Well, I can point to one little one, which sells 2nd hand vinyl cheaper than a lot of places seem to nowadays - major LPs for under £10?

https://www.lorenzosrecordswanted.com/

That's an instance of a new shop that's started up, rather than one that's struggled to stay in business. I'm generally encouraged by such new ventures and by creative activity on 'the high street'.

Also quite likeable:

https://mfeshops.com/pages/music-video-exchange-greenwich

Again all 2nd hand, with very cheap records in the basement.

I don't think anyone here has a social darwinist stance on record stores, pinefox, it is mostly just frustration at gimmicky and overpriced releases. If those bring in the punters sure you can say it's a net good.

My local shop got one copy of the soundcarriers’ Celeste reissue and I’d like to buy it but I’m guessing I’ll find at least a handful of copies online. First release in a decade id like…

it is mostly just frustration at gimmicky and overpriced releases

yahtzee!

manufactured scarcity too

you are so judgmental and moralistic, it's not like independent record stores and niche labels are rolling in money.

in fact I have two friends that ran very small but respected in their zone who folded their labels after 20 years because it's just too hard anymore

The corporations that benefit from it will show numbers that claim otherwise but streaming is killing things off. I'm not Mr pure over here I do use Spotify but still buy plenty of music. Despite being someone who still likes the lure of a good store RSD is not something I'm into, but I think as far as getting ppl into the stores it's a good thing.

Ofc I will say it's a bit depressing to see the change in record stores though; the new vinyl economy is nightmarish if you just want to physically own some music at a reasonable cost. Which is of course why maybe some people go to streaming instead. I don't feel very good about it all around.

RSD as an idea is wonderful — let’s have a day to celebrate the shops that feed us used records, that act as gathering places for music nerds and repositories for archaeological finds, that keep the flame alive.

Even the idea that there might be exclusive releases for this day to draw in nerds & punters alike and build excitement — great!

But the reality of what it’s become is kind of monstrous. Already overstretched and backlogged, pressing plants are clotted with orders for stupid novelty releases that get snapped up by speculators and resold the same day on eBay and Discogs for a markup. Indie labels can’t get their records pressed in a reasonable time; if you want to release a record this year, you’d better have your plates at the plant already or it’s not happening. For stores, the markup on RSD releases is even smaller than on normal product, so every unsold record means you need to sell 5 or 6 other albums just to break even.

Most of the store owners & managers I know say they make a shit-ton of money on the day anyway, that RSD (2x/yr) is bigger than Xmas. Some say that it’s what keeps them afloat (although if that’s the case they’re on terrifyingly rocky ground). But the way the hype and the speculation and the weird monopoly the RSD organization has on promoting exclusives distorts the whole economy of vinyl production in a way that has definite negative effects.

thanks ums. i think it has more to do with my distrust of big business exploiting whatever they can however they can than it does with being moralistic. i have shit morals, but i know a ripoff when i see one. rsd started as a way to "save" indie shops, but then had to rely on major label fluff to simply get people in the door. i'm sorry to be all "don't trust the man, man" but the bottom line is: indie shops and niches focus attention away from big budgeted releases (and for the better imo, diversity is wonderful). rsd has done a lot to bring income into these places, but the problems it presents for fans are all too apparent.

i've never not been serious when i say that recorded music should be free, btw. not the physical thing, just being able to hear it. if you want to press up your album on translucent radioactive green vinyl that can be seen from space or whatever, do it! but that's your dream, don't expect all of your fans to foot the bill. some of us just want to hear the album. sure, all the shops would go under and labels would cease to exist but, uhh. . . sorry i'm not all the way convinced any of that stuff should have been monetized to begin with. not everything needs to turn a profit to be valuable and it's time to stop putting value into "things" imo. that doors "mini" set is a perfect example— idc if it was a david axelrod collection, i'd still abhor it on principle.

(word to sleeve's post too. i'm a treehugger and this shit is getting out of hand. rsd is a drop in the ocean in the bigger picture, but c'mon, why shouldn't we rectify the easy things? start simple and stop manufacturing bullshit.)

(and to the streaming issue— i of course went in kicking and screaming, but i see the benefit of it now. i've discovered more music in the past 2 years than probably the previous decade. should those people get better compensated? of course! is it my duty as just a listener to make sure that happens? unspecified. cliche time: labels like to fuck artists and recorded music has been mishandled from the start. that's not my fault. it's obviously much too broken by now for any one solution. the bandcamp model is probably the closest thing to an answer that i would go along with. it's still possible for artists to sell recorded music at reasonable prices, but the expectation that there always needs to be a physical "thing" is a concept that is in dire need of reassessment. i understand that technology has not always been what it is now, but again: a change of mind would do some good. if efficiency and amelioration are judgmental and moralistic, okay sure.)

I haven’t participated since the pandemic, before that I was at RSD every year and I always enjoyed it. In the last year my vinyl consumption has slowed drastically, mainly because i’ve been on a nonstop reggae bender and the cd’s almost always have a ton of extra tracks and often there aren’t vinyl reissues. And the original Jamaican copies are expensive and shit quality.

Today I saw a video of the line at my favorite old record store in Houston, Vinal Edge. The line was waaaaaay longer than it had ever been when I was going. Which makes me happy, because I know they’re making a ton of dough. I’ve gone by there a week after RSD before and they generally don’t have a lot of leftover stuff. I figure 90% of all physical media being manufactured is garbage, I don’t know why RSD would be any different.

One of the things about RSD that used to rub me the wrong way was that unsold stock couldn't be returned, but I've since learned that's also the case for just regular every day stock. I guess stocking an indie record store is a huge gamble either way, but it makes me feel less shitty about helping the fellas out on RSD (though, today was only the third time I've ever gone out and bought something).

The load of dregs some stores find themselves stuck with, i imagine some lose out on the deal.

featuring The Doors classic hits "Break On Through," "Love Her Madly" and "Hello, I Love You,” in Japanese-designed flip jackets

Wow I totally misread this and for a second I thought "Hmm, 'Hell, I Love You' in Japanese?" Sounds interesting!

Then I saw that it was "in Japanese-designed flip jackets."

I am disappoint.

That Taylor swift folklore release is already all over ebay, $300 bucks the most common price I'm seeing.

thanks Austin I agree with a lot of the criticisms of RSD, the Doors thing (hopefully but not probably) representing the nadir.

just think there needs to be a line drawn between a $300 Taylor Swift album and Sahel Sounds or Trouble in Mind saying something is limited edition to sell a few more copies.

fwiw they don't love the hassles but I've talked to a few indie record store owners and despite everything it's an absolute win for them, and usually the biggest day of the year.

also a lot of small labels don't fuck over their artists! I don't think it's fair to paint all labels with the same brush. often they spend money producing records they love that never make money

all very good points ums. in better mental health times, i was relied upon to help out at a friend's shop on rsd because it was a big day for them.

(my point stands tho: why not just release all that as "normal" stuff throughout the year instead of creating a gatekeepy FOMO culture that simultaneously puts unnecessary stress on supply chains and indie shop infrastructure? i guarantee nobody would care about some rsd stuff if it wasn't "RSD STUFF." and to add on to that: indie labels have more incentive than anyone else these days to give away digital recordings for free.)

why not just release all that as "normal" stuff throughout the year instead of creating a gatekeepy FOMO culture that simultaneously puts unnecessary stress on supply chains and indie shop infrastructure? i guarantee nobody would care about some rsd stuff if it wasn't "RSD STUFF."

You asked a question and then answered it immediately

Hey haterz, make sure to keep your powder dry for

https://www.freecomicbookday.com/

pretty much half the list is "RSD First" stuff that will be released wider following the day.

lol I'd be surprised if free comic book day had an impact the way record store day apparently does, if you want a business that is even more irredeemably fucked than music US comics is the way to go xpost

My combination rotary-dial phone and artisanal buggy-whip shop is hurt by your post, Daniel_Rf

You asked a question and then answered it immediately

― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Saturday, April 22, 2023 10:26 AM

right. our priorities are fucked. got it.

(okay that was judgmental and moralistic.)

lol I'd be surprised if free comic book day had an impact the way record store day apparently does,

it's been running five years longer than RSD, but you're correct that nobody has collected any data in those two decades as to whether it drives custom or not

FCBD is very different - no special releases, just free comics for people to come pick up. It's a big day for comics stores, like "biggest sales of the year" day.

Some people have tried to do a comic Record Store Day thing near Christmas, "Local Comic Shop Day" with special variants and unique hardcover books. That has been a complete and utter flop - it's a handful of different covers for comics that just came out, not 'limited pressing of this out of print record' that I associate with RSD.

I've never checked out FCBD, but if it's anything like RSD there's absolutely no way to shop for additional merchandise during the initial rush of customers. The store wants to get people in and out as quickly as possible and if you start thumbing through their regular inventory people will get annoyed.

you could just say you have milo blocked

It depends on the store. Every RSD I have participated in, at several different stores, group the rsd stuff together leaving the rest of the store easily browse-able. Sometimes they sell their common used stuff at a discount to get it out the door. I always walked out with a handful of RSD shit, some regular items and some used things.

A big part of comic book day and RSD is getting people out of the house. A lot of folks that do buy physical products do so online. But if a special day makes them put it on the calendar, get permission from their partner to fuck off at their nerdy store for the day, then that’s great! Maybe they’ll turn into a repeat customer. I always made a day of it and got away from family responsibilities for a bit. One time my buddy and I hit all the Goodwill stores near us to root through their lps/cds. I find myself avoiding brick and mortar stores, especially after the pandemic. Stuff like this reminds people that it can be fun, that there is a community of people in their town that like the same stuff.

You asked a question and then answered it immediately
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Saturday, April 22, 2023 10:26 AM

right. our priorities are fucked. got it.

(okay that was judgmental and moralistic.)

― W E F L Y T O G E T H E R (Austin), Saturday, April 22, 2023 12:46 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

so to be clear, let's say this is a scenario:

1) a small, independent label that's generally break even or small profit run by someone with a day job

2) this label operates in a niche market (world music, punk, obscure psych reissues, out-there jazz, etc etc)

3) they pay pressing albums, mastering, promo, etc. releasing music with favorable contracts for the artists

4) they press low quantities due to the niche nature of their market

5) they have found over time that either branding stuff "limited edition vinyl" (which is true but also standard given that they do low pressings already) or doing stuff as an RSD release means that a particular album will generally sell more copies than if it was released with none of that

-> you have a problem with that and find it "fucked"?

It depends on the store. Every RSD I have participated in, at several different stores, group the rsd stuff together leaving the rest of the store easily browse-able. Sometimes they sell their common used stuff at a discount to get it out the door. I always walked out with a handful of RSD shit, some regular items and some used things.

Yeah, I bet this is true for stores that have a lot of floorspace. The only RSD participating stores I've ever been to on the actual day are small shops with barely enough room for 20 people to be in there on a regular day, much less a whole mob of looky loos trying to find a used copy of Foreigner's '4' during the opening hours.

RSD is generally terrible for labels, though, ums - see the issues with actually getting anything at all pressed ever. Horrible backlogs at plants for the sake of stocking the Home Alone 3 soundtrack or something similarly useless. I have never met an independent record label owner with anything good to say about it.

It generally is good for indie record shops, though.

yes definitely emil.y, totally right - we just mastered a record that is probably gonna be 8 months out...but at the same time, it exists and it's not going to stop so I don't fault them for trying to take whatever advantage there is.

also i think austin is opposed to labels even calling anything limited edition at all

i guess my point aligns with yours in that it's never been harder for small labels to make it, so i'm not going to judge them for trying to do things that might increase sales, whatever that may be.

-> you have a problem with that and find it "fucked"?

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, April 22, 2023 12:15 PM

yes. the system was built on an exploitative premise. i'm sorry for being one of those "LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE MAN!" kind of people, but you asked lol.

(granted, in the dystopian timeline we've created for ourselves what you've outlined is best case scenario. if you really want to get into my head, i don't think selling the physical thing should be anyone's responsibility except the artist who created it. the larger the label/distribution entity is, the less it has to do with music and all the more exploitation happens.)

also i think austin is opposed to labels even calling anything limited edition at all

yes. language is far more powerful than most folks realize and it manipulates us into weird situations.

You aren't wrong, I'm not opposed to the day, I just don't enjoy the ultra-limited aspect of things. This was the first time I've even bothered to go in the past four or five years, and I figured it wouldn't be too hard to get a CD thing that didn't seem to be such a big "must have" for the masses (like the Swift vinyl), but I was wrong.

It's fine that it exists and I'm glad people get joy out of the day, but every time I've gone in on RSD to get something specific, I walk away empty-handed. Shame on me for trying again, I should have learned the lesson by now.

Just annoyed that the only way to get the $15 CD is to now also pay $35 for a Pearl Jam Ten Club membership, which is otherwise worthless to me, to be allowed the pleasure.

Might drop if you wait

every time I've gone in on RSD to get something specific

this is your problem and there's a very simple solution!

Don't go? Yeah, that's my usual choice.

no, i meant just go to your local record store and find something that's in the store?

My favourite thing about RSD is shops that have a sale on their regular inventory on the day. Seems rarer now that they know the exclusives are bringing a crowd in.

xpost - I do that all the time!

Might drop if you wait

one of my fav local shops saved up a few boxes of nice used vinyl for RSD last year, including a whole box of Kate Bush originals/picture discs/boots

i just sold a mint original copy of Reptile House on discogs for like $15. It had been listed for months.

our local record store that participates in RSD already has thin enough aisles as it is (as they have a weird tendency to use every inch of space to sell random impulse crap), so on RSD, if you're IN the store, you're basically having to do parkour to get by everybody

I haven't gone for a few years, but the store I was a regular at shifted to doing the RSD items outdoors, and the rest of the used stock indoors is 15% off

kind of a rough go considering it was 40F outside this year, but if you're going to line up anyway...