Do you remember when Tower Music went bankrupt for the second time in 2006? Many in the media blamed “industry changes” for the downfall of the record superstore. They suggested that the rise of digital downloading signaled the decline of traditional music stores. However, Michael Kurtz, co-founder of Record Store Day, believes that’s not the case at all.
Kurtz said the media’s non-stop coverage about the “dismal state” of the music industry was a misnomer. ‘That wasn’t the independent record store experience at all,” he said. “We were opening stores and having a great time.”
To address the backlash, Kurtz helped create a think tank called “Noise in the Basement” that brought together record-store owners. The group was interested in the idea of Free Comic Book Day, where publishers make special editions just for comic book shops. “We thought it would be smart to try something like that for music,” Kurtz said.
Enter Record Store Day
Kurtz decided to sell the the idea of Record Store Day, designed to celebrate the culture of music by offering special edition vinyl records, CD’s and other items that are only available at participating retailers. It was not an easy sell at first. Many stores he approached thought the name was inaccurate, since many record stores also sell video games, books, apparel and more. Kurtz was also challenged with seeking participation from popular artists like Metallica who, until recently, were signed to Warner Music Group (an SAP customer). Metallica loved the idea and officially kicked off Record Store Day at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008. Warner and a few other labels agreed to release 10 different records, worth about $35,000.
Today, that number has grown to $7 million, making Record Store Day a bit of an industry phenomenon. This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet and greets with artists, parades, djs spinning records and more. Record Store Day’s impact on vinyl records cannot be denied.
An Inconvenient Truth
The success of Record Store Day turns a lot of things on its head. The notion that everything has to be cheap and convenient – something we are taught over and over again – is thrown out the window. “It’s an anomaly,” as Kurtz puts it. “There’s nothing convenient about going to Record Store Day. It’s like going to a rock festival. Stand in line, hang out with other music fans and hear music all day.”
Philip Anselmo, front man of the multi-platinum metal act Pantera, and now owner of indie record label Housecore Records, can relate to the fact that more people are taking the time to visit record stores. When he was younger, Anslemo used to constantly scour underground record stores and to this day still believes in the vinyl format. “Record Store Day promotes this type of passion of having the actual product in your hand instead of just a download,” said Anselmo. “I love having the full album, art, lyrics and I think vinyl sounds better. And as a label owner, it makes me happy to see that people slowly but surely want to have this tangible copy in their hands instead of a free [expletive] download, which is driving me [expletive] bananas.”
Sponsorship Speaks Volumes
Beck’s Beer (an Anheuser-Busch InBev brand) is a sponsor of Record Store Day and is working with Universal Music Group to distribute 2,000 special edition vinyl recordings featuring tracks from several Universal Music Group artists. “We’ll hand these out at a bunch of record stores,” said Chris Curtis, Brand Manager, Beck’s Beer. “We chose to sponsor Record Store Day because it’s a cool movement that deserves to grow. Record stores occupy a unique place in our culture.”
Curtis believes the transition to digital music puts pressure on record stores and Beck’s has elected to sponsor Record Store Day to honor the irreplaceable institutions.
“There’s something magic about vinyl that digital music has not been able to replace,” said Curtis. “This is not a slight against digital music, but more of a testament to the enduring value of vinyl.”
This story originally appeared on SAP Business Trends.