Record Store Day 2010: A Farewell to a Dying Trade?
Monday, 12 April 2010
Written by Rob Sleigh
Next Saturday, the 17th of April, marks this year’s Record Store Day, an international celebration of independently-owned record shops. This annual event first took place two years ago in the US to promote the recognition of a diminishing trade and to strengthen the belief that such shops still have an important place in modern popular culture. The date has since spread to many other countries worldwide, including the UK, and has proved that people still seem to have a great fondness for small music retailers.
This year, Blur, Lily Allen and Babyshambles are among the acts who have confirmed exclusive releases for Record Store Day and many others have announced plans to perform live at independent shops across the country. Leading up to the event, it is worth looking back at the history of record stores and considering their relevance in today’s society.
It wasn’t long ago that every town in the country had a few independent record shops from which to choose. Now, you would be lucky to find even one in your local city centre. In fact, there are only two-hundred and sixty-nine independently-owned music outlets remaining in the UK. Five years ago, there was roughly three times this number. Prior to this decline, it was not uncommon for a music buyer to walk into their local record shop in search of an album that the larger chain stores did not stock. But since the advent of websites such as Amazon and Play.com, it has become increasingly easier to find the more obscure music choices online and small retailers have struggled to compete.
Shops such as Rough Trade in London and Spillers Records in Cardiff (arguably the oldest record shop in the world) bring back memories of how record stores used to be. They were a place for music lovers to hunt for lost treasures and hidden gems. Often, this would take place to some background music from the latest artists, who would not necessarily have been heard on TV or radio. Even the larger chain stores were once an ideal place to shop for good music, before they started filling their shelves with cheesy pop and video games. The other great thing about independent shops was that the people who ran them genuinely cared about the music.
However, it isn’t just the independent outlets that are vanishing. The aforementioned growth of online music sales, combined with the ever-increasing popularity of games and DVD/Blu-Ray, has had a huge effect on high street retailers. It could also be argued that supermarkets have had a big impact by moving into the music market. But as they generally only sell chart records, they can hardly be described as a massive threat. Recent years have seen the disappearance of former chain store giants Our Price and Virgin Megastore, as well as a decrease in physical music sales. The HMV Group, who recently expanded into live music, are now one of the only original record store chains to remain.
Following the announcement of Blur’s first single in seven years as part of Record Store Day, Damon Albarn stated: "We want independent record stores to continue. They're an important part of our musical culture.” But in today’s industry, is that still the case? It’s obviously sad to see so many records shops disappear and it must be very difficult for the people involved, but do the listeners of today need this trade? With so many people now turning to the Internet to listen to music as well as to buy it, there is less of a requirement for shops to offer this service. It can’t simply be blamed on the music industry either. Bands like Arctic Monkeys have proved that it is possible for new artists to take advantage of the recent changes on their own initiative.
The biggest shame is possibly that the current situation may be the beginning of the end for the physical format of music. When vinyl gave way to CDs in the 80s, record collectors were up in arms and the same is happening now with digital releases. The artwork and sleeve notes that come with buying a record are an important part of the process for many music fans. If these were stopped altogether it would be a great loss. So, if Record Store Day aims to prevent this, it can’t be a bad thing. It may even give the younger, digital listeners an appreciation for older formats.
Regardless of whether or not Record Store Day will ever succeed in defending another failing institution, it looks set to be another major event on the musical calendar. Well over a hundred independent shops across the country are due to be taking part in the celebrations, so if you’re fortunate enough to have a local record store, get down there early.
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