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

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.

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

Okay, yeah, I agree with this. I still kind of wish it didn't exist, but I'm not going to judge people for joining in if it helps them out to do so. And fuck, if I'm going to wish on hypotheticals, instead of wishing for the end of RSD I could just wish for better quality releases and/or more widely-available pressing plants.

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.

― W E F L Y T O G E T H E R (Austin), Saturday, April 22, 2023 12:17 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Cliché indeed. There’s never been anywhere near the level of artist exploitation we are seeing now, and this is clear to anyone who wishes to do the smallest amount of research. Imagine viewing every labor-related injustice as a thing “obviously much too broken now for any solution.”

okay well Austin I don't share your way of looking at this, we are fundamentally not going to see eye to eye so there's no point in debating further. better to move on.

i have to stress this: as militant as i come across, these are just my own inner thoughts about it all. i don't want indie shops to fail and go away. again: i just think priorities are fucked. those shops should exist, but not on the back of a couple days' worth of gimmicky trash.

My RSD:

My @recordstoreday haul from @RRKnifeFight!

Got all the vinyl I really wanted & a ton of used CDs + a Motorhead bootleg CD of the show I attended with my wife and son.

Only dropped $150 for everything and supported a great local store! pic.twitter.com/W86TCmPCG3

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) April 22, 2023

I went to a small punk rock store in the suburbs of Philly. Even though I got there a couple hours after he opened, I got the four records I really wanted (pictured, with the cool bag for free). I could have got the Ramones LP too since he had copies but I heard it wasn't a drastic difference from the original mix. The only thing he didn't get at all was the Enslaved but that's fine.

I also picked up nearly a dozen CDs, mostly used, but also a Motorhead boot that was actually the last show I saw the band (and the only time I took my son to see them). Also had nice conversation with the guy who owns the place, Richie Riot, an old school punk guy who is nice as hell and has tons of stories about the old days and lord he hates Nazis!

Honestly this was kinda what RSD should be, even though I would prefer more CDs and metal (neither seems to be a priority for the rest of the world on RSD, haha) - I dropped $150 on a local business and plan on going back when there's not a specific day on the schedule.

I am cynical as fuck about a lot of things, including RSD, but I got kinda lucky.

i went along to my local RSD very late as i had been out of town all day. there were a huge number of people hanging out (it was a sunny day) drinking, socialising and listening to local live bands (the bluebells were about to play). there was a great energy and personally i'm a big fan of anything that brings lots of people together. i bought a couple of records but had missed the gong live album i really wanted which i'm sure i'll be able to find later.

today i was passing this new record shop that has just opened. it's fairly mainstream and had bought a HUGE amount of RSD stock and had lots leftover. i had a look through and was most blown away by how expensive so much of it was.

the sisters of mercy - reptile house ep was £40. that is just insane and is more than double what it should be. a mint original is less than that.

lots of other examples of 12" singles in the £25-35 price range and albums at £40-50. i don't think they were overcharging but rather it reflects what they were paying and = total major label greed. i've been sweating about an upcomimg double vinyl comp with huge insert that i'm releasing having to retail for almost £40 but that feels like a bargain compared with this madness.

they had a load of taylor swifts left which i'm surprised hadn't been snapped up by flippers.

a mint original is less than that.

see this is another issue with the whole thing

Stirmonster is that the new shop in the gallowgate I've heard about? Mickey's Vinyl or something

just looked up the reptile house reissue on discogs - lots of RSD copies for sale but the variance in pricing between regions was shocking: $20 in the US, 35EU in europe, cheapest UK copy was £55

apparently like 200,000 Taylor EXCLUSIVEs pressed

whoops i misread this as 75k US and another 115 rest of world. It's 115,000 total. Apparently "Midnights" has sold a million on vinyl (wow) so... I guess it is pretty limited for what it is.

Stirmonster is that the new shop in the gallowgate I've heard about? Mickey's Vinyl or something

no, i need to check that Mickey's Vinyl out. the one i mention is on Sauchiehall St, just near the GFT. it's called Assai and i think they maybe have shops in other Scottish cities. it seems to be fairly busy every time i pass,

Apparently "Midnights" has sold a million on vinyl (wow)

It probably juices the numbers when fans are buying all four variants so they can assemble the wall clock that's on the back (but you have to have all 4 for it to be complete). And then maybe they buy a 5th copy to listen to.

Hey haterz, make sure to keep your powder dry for

https://www.freecomicbookday.com/

Free Comic Book Day was actually the inspiration for Record Store Day!

And, yes, for all its issues (effect on labels, pricing, lack of releases for those under 50), RSD is still indeed a boon for record stores. A massive massive day that just tends to get bigger with each year that goes by.

To address the negative impact of the holiday on labels, maybe there should be a Record Label Day (he says half-kidding)?

I stopped by one of the stores in my neighborhood, the guy told me there were people camping out by 7pm on friday night! I don’t usually buy a lot of stuff there because (as we’ve gone over itt) it’s one of those stores that mostly sells new vinyl and overpriced used stuff by the same 20 artists, but the owner is a good guy, ended up dropping 100 bucks after a little haggling on the verlaines and chilton records plus a couple other non-RSD things

To address the negative impact of the holiday on labels, maybe there should be a Record Label Day (he says half-kidding)?

I was at an elementary school cultural festival on RSD, and a dad in a Bright Eyes T-shirt was talking about getting to the record store (that’s the sum of my experience, lol).

"a dad in a Bright Eyes t-shirt" is like an ILM version of a cartoon villain.

The DMB fan in a white Gamecocks hat and the person with six CDs are persons who are ridiculed - "more to be pitied than censured" but don't rise to the level of contempt reserved for a dad in a Bright Eyes t-shirt.

The only thing worse is Pomplamoose.

Wanted one thing, the Pearl Jam Give Way CD, my local didn't even get a single copy. Now I can buy a copy for... checks notes... $64.95 on eBay. I'm thankful this day helps keep smaller shops going, but it's so fucking dumb to center it around a boon for second hand flippers.

bottom line for me is: I like my local shop. I go every week or two. when I'm out of town I'm always looking for cool local record stores when I've got an extra hour. I'm a father of two, I don't have a whole lot of hobbies left, for me it's really neat to be able to geek out about music in a place other than ILX. so if these places are saying RSD is a big boon for them, and in some cases the thing that is singlehandedly keeping them afloat, then I can't hate on it. yes the prices are ridiculous, yes half the releases are utterly pointless, yes the act of manufacturing grails is basically everything wrong with the market today. but it gets people excited and if you're the person who camped out to get the (apparently very much in demand!) Macho Man Randy Savage record which previously was available on CD for $0.01 + shipping and handling I say good for you. besides checking Discogs here and there it doesn't look like people are really flipping these for insane prices anyway. yeah a few people are making 3x-4x retail but only a few. most of these are going for like...$10 over.

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...