Record Store Day April 20 2013

Posted by: Blueknowz on 15 February 2013

http://new-vinyl.blogspot.co.u...-6april-20-2013.html

Posted on: 16 February 2013 by Kevin-W

Cheers for the heads up, Blue - some really good releases this year: Velvets, Spacemen 3, Durutti Column, etc...

Posted on: 21 February 2013 by Salmon Dave

Is that the day all the HMV stores are closing? 

Posted on: 21 February 2013 by Mike Hughes
I truly truly fail to grasp the significance of the day. It cannot be a celebration as record shops are dying. It can't be a sales boost cos it sure as heck ain't working. Long queues on the day are more an indication of scarcity than sales. So, what? Total waste of time for all concerned as far as I can see. Good reminder of how grim things are on the other 364 days a year though. I'm sure it pushes the nostalgia button for a few people. Better ways of doing that though really. So, what?
Posted on: 22 February 2013 by lutyens

Mike, I can only agree.

When it started I think it was done with the best of intentions. However within a year it was a case of people buying the items and ebaying them imediately at multiples of their purchase value. So all those limited editions are simply available to those with vast amounts of money. And even the purchase price leaves me cold. Just how much will those records cost never mind the box sets?

That said there are always a number of interesting releases but.........

Posted on: 22 February 2013 by Sloop John B

like having a funeral while the terminally ill patient is still in Intensive care

Posted on: 22 February 2013 by Kevin-W
Originally Posted by Mike Hughes:
I truly truly fail to grasp the significance of the day. It cannot be a celebration as record shops are dying. It can't be a sales boost cos it sure as heck ain't working. Long queues on the day are more an indication of scarcity than sales. So, what? Total waste of time for all concerned as far as I can see. Good reminder of how grim things are on the other 364 days a year though. I'm sure it pushes the nostalgia button for a few people. Better ways of doing that though really. So, what?

You miserable old sod. I for one enjoy it, it's a bit fun. If you don't, then fair enough, don't join in, it's a free country.

 

You're obviously full of bright ideas and boundless optimism, do continue to share them and it with all of us.

Posted on: 22 February 2013 by Kevin-W

I will add that if you old miseries stay at home muttering to yourselves on RSD, then the queues will be shorter, so please, carry on...

Posted on: 22 February 2013 by Mike Hughes
Think you'll find the overwhelming majority of the record buying public will be staying home Kevin. Can anyone hand on heart say they bought a record that was an absolute classic that was only available on RSD? I've yet to hear of one. Then we have the bleeding obvious argument that the sales techniques on said day - re-hashed exclusives with extras etc. are nothing if not exactly the same tactics bemoaned by exactly the same people who complain that it's that sort of stupidity and greed which is killing the music industry. If that isn't a definition of irony then I don't know what would qualify, I'm sorry Kevin but I see the queues and laugh. What better way to identify the terminally stupid; lacking in insight pompous arses who actually do believe that such things help. Great opportunity to take them out in one go though
Posted on: 22 February 2013 by Kevin-W
Originally Posted by Mike Hughes:
Think you'll find the overwhelming majority of the record buying public will be staying home Kevin. Can anyone hand on heart say they bought a record that was an absolute classic that was only available on RSD? I've yet to hear of one. Then we have the bleeding obvious argument that the sales techniques on said day - re-hashed exclusives with extras etc. are nothing if not exactly the same tactics bemoaned by exactly the same people who complain that it's that sort of stupidity and greed which is killing the music industry. If that isn't a definition of irony then I don't know what would qualify, I'm sorry Kevin but I see the queues and laugh. What better way to identify the terminally stupid; lacking in insight pompous arses who actually do believe that such things help. Great opportunity to take them out in one go though

I don't give a shit what the majority, or minority, you or anyone else will be doing on the day. I shall, once the queues subside - I don't like queuing - be popping along to Rough Trade East or Sister Ray or similar to have a browse and treat myself.

 

Perhaps you'll be there too, with your AK-47, ready to take those bastards with the temerity to do some shopping on RSD down, you big scary keyboard warrior you.

 

PS - Can we hear some of your own bright ideas on how to save the music industry? Or perhaps you'd you're just happy to go on threatening billy goats from beneath the bridge?

Posted on: 22 February 2013 by Hook

This was an RSD purchase last year, and I think it's a classic.  A great gig, plus it's right up there with Reckoning in terms of sound quality.

 

 

 

Posted on: 22 February 2013 by Mike Hughes
Kevin, The great thing about the Internet is it's really hard to read who people are. I tend to do deadpan a lot which doesn't play well on a screen if you've not met me.i also don't give a damn about majority views etc. I care passionately about factual discussion etc. So, for the record, my teenage years revolved around Penny Lane in Chester plus regular trips to London to buy obscene and obscure amount of vinyl and then CDs. I could read endlessly about record shops and vinyl and anything related but the fact is that it's done. It's over. A few high quality individualistic stores will remain, RT being a lovely example, but no RSD will save or change anything and, to be honest, it's a miserable @&£@&£g day - queues; people who haven't been near a record shop in years; miserable amounts of product; miserable gits behind the counter with little knowledge etc. There are exceptions obviously but what RSD has succeeded in doing, with no irony whatsoever, is highlighting EXACTLY what is wrong with the music industry whilst simultaneously showing that consumers eager to grab at a slightly different "exclusive" have absolutely no grasp of how such marketing and pricing might have led to precisely the position the music industry is I now. There are some fab "days" out there around specific health conditions or issues but RSD is on any sane level an unmitigated unironic joke. Enjoy it but it's an event that is contributing to its own demise. You simply have to ask yourself the one basic question - what is it that prevents those people shopping in those record shops on other days of the year? On RSD shops put all those worst aspects on display and celebrate that. Bloody weird and not a little dim.
Posted on: 22 February 2013 by mudwolf

I spent a hell of a lot of money and traded in half my vinyl collection I wasn't listening to.  I tried small shops, some not interested, ended up at Amoeba on Sunset spending too much but enjoying the spree.  I have to digest it all, feel like a fat pig gorged on a turkey dinner. Won't be spending more for years. 

 

I really do like putting my hands on items, thumbing thru stacks, seeing the circus at Amoeba or smaller shops, comments back and forth to other buyers.  Seems tho I rarely even get my friends to come over for a listen so it becomes a solitary event.  I've had a few over in the past and with great sound they start talking about things, not paying attention.  One good friend loves my system and sort of folds up, closes his eyes and drifts away. That I like. Told me once he likes to hear people's TV or stereos when they say they have the best and don't.  However, says I DO HAVE the BEST he's ever heard.  I like that guy

Posted on: 23 February 2013 by Kevin-W
Originally Posted by Mike Hughes:
Kevin, The great thing about the Internet is it's really hard to read who people are. I tend to do deadpan a lot which doesn't play well on a screen if you've not met me.i also don't give a damn about majority views etc. I care passionately about factual discussion etc. So, for the record, my teenage years revolved around Penny Lane in Chester plus regular trips to London to buy obscene and obscure amount of vinyl and then CDs. I could read endlessly about record shops and vinyl and anything related but the fact is that it's done. It's over. A few high quality individualistic stores will remain, RT being a lovely example, but no RSD will save or change anything and, to be honest, it's a miserable @&£@&£g day - queues; people who haven't been near a record shop in years; miserable amounts of product; miserable gits behind the counter with little knowledge etc. There are exceptions obviously but what RSD has succeeded in doing, with no irony whatsoever, is highlighting EXACTLY what is wrong with the music industry whilst simultaneously showing that consumers eager to grab at a slightly different "exclusive" have absolutely no grasp of how such marketing and pricing might have led to precisely the position the music industry is I now. There are some fab "days" out there around specific health conditions or issues but RSD is on any sane level an unmitigated unironic joke. Enjoy it but it's an event that is contributing to its own demise. You simply have to ask yourself the one basic question - what is it that prevents those people shopping in those record shops on other days of the year? On RSD shops put all those worst aspects on display and celebrate that. Bloody weird and not a little dim.

You are 100% correct Mike  in your assertion that it is - unless you are a superlative writer - very difficult to convey certain tones (sarcasm, irony, dryness etc) on email, web forums, etc. In most cases it's not worth trying. 

 

Back to RSD - if it keeps a few shops going through the rest of the year, then that's good, surely? If it means that people go into record shops when they don't normally do so, then good. They might come back again at a later date. If it raises the profile of record shops in general, that's great?

 

Really I can't see what you're getting het up about. It's just a bit of fun, nobody's forcing you to participate, and, to be quite frank, there are more important things that you could be concentrating your ire on. (You don't even possess a record player, if I read your profile right, so I find it even more difficult to understand your attitude, given that most exclusive RSD product is on vinyl).

 

Also, your conflation of RSD and the dire state of the industry/record company greed is a tad tenuous and, again to be frank, rather poorly argued. The question about why people don't shop in record shops on other days of the year is a fair one, but you know the answer as well as I do - Amazon, decline of physical media, consumers' desire for convenience and speed above all else, etc. But it is not RSD - if anything RSD is an attempt - flawed perhaps, but an attempt - to try to correct this.

 

Personally I find your attitude as expressed in this thread a bit defeatist and fatalistic, but there you go - it's a free country.

Posted on: 23 February 2013 by lutyens

Blimey this discussion has taken an interesting turn since I posted! I think anything that helps save our small independent shops is great and I love the idea that on one saturday they will have live bands and other fun happenings . I still feel that much of the 'product' specially issued for special sale on that day is vastly overpriced and judging by how many suddenly appear on ebay, simply bought by 'dealers'. Which surely doesn't help anyone?

 

And like book shops that became coffee shops etc, maybe its time, like Rough Trade, for these shops to think a bit bigger to get us in? If HMV can put on gigs then why can't others.....and yes I know some do! 

 

And yes I have bought 'product', it just annoys me that it costs twice as much as it should. If an artist gave special permission for that rare track to be released in aid of a good cause then i will only applaud them.But who is making that extra buck? not sure it is my local independent record shop but maybe someone can let us know?

Posted on: 23 February 2013 by Mike Hughes
Kevin, Any chance you could just, like, post without quoting in full every single time? Just putting the thought out there. Not sure anything has been poorly argued; conflated or is defeatist or fatalist. Find all of that a bit bizarre actually when you argue that it must surely be a good thing if it brings new people in and raises the profile. And the evidence for either of those is??? RSD doesn't statistically help any shops survive. Around 70% of last years participants er... shut. Most "new" customers are buying exclusives to sell on eBay as others have stated and the profile of record shops is pretty much doomed. That's not fatalist. It's just hard fact. Look at the numbers. FWIW I also don't buy the Amazon argument. The fact is that I could buy no more on Amazon years ago than I can now. I shop at Amazon now but didn't then. In that time what has changed? Record companies business model remains greed. We have ceased to have definitive versions of albums. Lama Del Ray being a fine example of that. As a result sales are not consistent or sustainable but wedged into short spikes. Not a sustainable business model for shops and so it has proved. They can't even agree standards for downloads, which could be a money spinner but is in danger of being peed away. Your average shop now has speaker bins at the entrance; a security guard and a play list governed by commercial considerations not a love of music. How welcoming? Music is no longer the major player in a world of console games; downloadable films etc. Singles are on radio weeks before release and again sales are spiked. Downloads are not replacing physical sales as yet and may never do so but no shop has figured a way to give added value on downloads. Margins are now so fine that diversification is the easiest way for mode to survive but most shop owners don't possess the skills to make diversification a success. Even something as big as HMV couldn't do it. Bands in shops? Pure genius. Anyone ever remember the joy of trying to shop for music when there was an effing band in the shop and the queue and behaviour made it such an unpleasant experience. Better still let's do it at lunchtime to piss off the maximum number of people. I know, why don't we remind people of exactly why they don't do this any more? Why don't we have a day where you can buy over-priced product that may or may not be exclusive in an environment that is unwelcoming: far too loud and crowded and based on an archaic and doomed business model that has been killed by the music business over 25 years. Let's create yet another small spike cos that's been such a success! Lets remind people exactly why they don't do this anymore. Yay, winner THAT was sarcasm by the way
Posted on: 23 February 2013 by Mike Hughes
And before anyone asks it's the Naim app that has decided once again to take my neat paragraphs and amalgamate them. Sigh.
Posted on: 23 February 2013 by Drew Turner

Very entertaining , sharp witted  banter guys. Please continue 

Posted on: 24 February 2013 by Kevin-W
Originally Posted by Mike Hughes:
And before anyone asks it's the Naim app that has decided once again to take my neat paragraphs and amalgamate them. Sigh.

Stop using the app then. It makes your posts very difficult (an unkind soul might say "even more difficult to read" but not me) to read.

 

Do that and I'll "just, like, post without quoting in full every single time". How's that?

Posted on: 24 February 2013 by Mike Hughes
I can't Kevin. I have a visual impairment and the app is by far preferably to powering up a PC every time I want to put you right Even thought there's no option for upping font size. Also, most of the time the app behaves itself. It seems to object occasionally though. Loved the way you couldn't resist quoting but didn't actually argue back "Disappointed face"
Posted on: 24 February 2013 by Kevin-W

Mike, I don't disagree with you that the music biz's business model is based on greed, short-termism and exploiting the gullibility of both public and performers. But I don't see what this has to do with RSD. It has always been the case.

 

You say that people go around buying up the limited editions and then selling them on eBay. But this trend was not started by RSD. I remember in the late '70s when the (then) Japan-only "Dylan Live at Budokan" album came out. A few ,er, enterprising souls started importing them and selling them at hugely inflated prices via small ads in the back pages of the music papers or in London record shops (£20 was a lot to pay for an LP back in 1978). Limited editions have always been snapped up by greedy speculators. It's the way of the world. Many shops on RSD make an effort to make life a bit more difficult for speculators by restricting purchases to one per person. Sure, it's not going to deter the hardcore, but then again what will?

 

Also, you say that 70% of last year's RSD participants have since shut. What is your source? THat is a powerful assertion, and I would like to see the evidence for it.

Posted on: 24 February 2013 by Kevin-W
Originally Posted by Mike Hughes:
I can't Kevin. I have a visual impairment and the app is by far preferably to powering up a PC every time I want to put you right Even thought there's no option for upping font size. Also, most of the time the app behaves itself. It seems to object occasionally though. Loved the way you couldn't resist quoting but didn't actually argue back "Disappointed face"

That's because I was in the middle of arguing back.

Posted on: 24 February 2013 by Kevin-W

Mike, in your post above you list a lot of complaints about record shops (bands playing in them, etc). Can I make a suggestion? Don't go in them. Sit at home moaning into your app. Or order online.

Posted on: 24 February 2013 by Mike Hughes
I do Kevin. And do does everyone else. That's why RSD is an ironic joke of an event. "We're doomed so let's repeat the things that doomed us and celebrate them. One of the most bizarre things I've ever seen.
Posted on: 24 February 2013 by Kevin-W
Originally Posted by Mike Hughes:
I do Kevin. And do does everyone else. That's why RSD is an ironic joke of an event. "We're doomed so let's repeat the things that doomed us and celebrate them. One of the most bizarre things I've ever seen.

Well, on Friday morning I popped into Sounds of the Universe and Sister Ray in "London's trendy Soho" and both looked pretty buzzy to me. Reckless was a bit quieter but still had a dozen punters in there - not bad for a Friday AM.

 

What about the evidence for your assertion that 70% of the participants in last year's RSD are now shut?

Posted on: 24 February 2013 by Mike Hughes
Sorry Kevin, preoccupied with a game at Wembley Back there in a month with Wrexham. A problem with using this app is that I sometimes can't see what I've written. The approx. 70% figure actually relates to prior to the start of RSD, not last year and should have read 90%.1989 we had 2,000 plus stores. By 2007 that was around 280. By this year we're down to around 220. There was actually a rise around 2009 but it's been downhill ever since and there's no indication it's abating. Interestingly, the percentage of remaining stores taking part is also now in decline. I believe that's fallen by about 12% since last year so there are at least some shops either questioning the merit or not seeing the point. You seem to have completely missed my point about RSD. At no point have I blamed it for causing the problems of the music industry. So yes, people but stuff and put it on eBay and have done for some years. My point was that the whole culture of exclusives has always served the industry badly but in recent years instead of seeing their accelerated decline as an indication they need to take their foot off the "exclusive" pedal they have instead seem it as a way to grab what little market share is left and shaft people left, right and centre. The concept of there being a definitive version of an album has pretty much died in the past 3 or 4 years. To celebrate that by further encouraging the very things that have killed you strikes me as utterly perverse; totally lacking in self-awareness and somewhat sad for all concerned. The exclusives thing is but one angle. Bands in store are also not solely responsible for the decline of record shops but they sure as hell never enhanced the experience. Again, it spiked the sales for that artist whilst it simultaneously killed those for anyone else that day. Not exactly the brightest idea a record shop ever had. Hey, let's celebrate that too. Piccadilly in Manchester is a fine example of that. 2 years ago no band or DJ. Big queues and large sales. Last year a DJ. Big queues; much anger and less sales. I could go on but what's the point. Record shops are dying and I'm as sad about that as the next person. Nothing to be done about it though. We are moving through a painful period of change in both hardware and software. There will be casualties. It's not nice but it will happen regardless and those queues for those exclusives won't change that. A few people like to feel that "at least I tried". Fair enough. My assessment is more brutal. We have different perspectives. Fair enough. Doesn't change the facts or the future though.