Record Store Day brings back the grooves
One Saturday out of every April serves as a celebration of the record store, a recently-revived entity
May 2, 2015
Record Store Day takes place once a year on the third Saturday of April and it’s an event that celebrates music, particularly in the vinyl format that started in 2008. Recently, there has been an increase in record sales. While they do not meet the sales of when vinyl was in its prime, it has steadily increased since 2008.
Many musicians participate and have special releases on the date. For example, Jack White, formerly of the White Stripes, decided to do something special last year. White went through the whole process of recording in the studio, to having the music printed on vinyl, to having it in the hands of a customer in a little under four hours.
This year’s Record Store Day was Saturday, April 18.
While none of the releases this year were that kind of production, there were some great records. The Black Keys released “Meet Me in the City.” There was a reissue of “Strange Days” by the Doors. There were a few different releases by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Florence + the Machine released their new single “What Kind of Man.” The original soundtrack to the Academy Award-nominated movie “Whiplash” was also a special release for Record Store Day.
The highest selling record on that date was “Get Behind Me Satan” by the White Stripes.
Record stores also host events to attract customers. This year, Cult Classics and Zia Records presented Prince’s Purple Rain. They don’t only hold events on Record Store Day, though; in May, they will host three others. In two out of three, a movie will be shown. It’s another way to get people to the stores and bring attention to independently-owned record stores.
The best selling albums of the decade so far have been calculated, and “AM” by Arctic Monkeys is in first place, “The King of Limbs” by Radiohead is in second and “The Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd placed third.
While there is debate about whether or not new vinyl is good quality or not, and some see owning records in 2015 as unabashedly hipster, there is no denying that sales have increased. Only time will tell for how long the sales spike lasts.
