Record Store Day
| Record Store Day | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Cultural, commercial |
| Celebrations | Live performances, limited edition music releases |
| Frequency | annual |
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday every April to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores across the world. A number of records are pressed specifically for Record Store Day, and are only distributed to shops participating in the event.
Sparked by a comment by Bull Moose employee Chris Brown that something could be done along the lines of Free Comic Book Day, and with inspiration from a brainstorming session during a record store owners' meeting in Baltimore, Record Store Day was officially founded in 2007 by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner, and is now celebrated at stores across the world, with hundreds of recording and other artists participating in the day by making special appearances, performances, meet and greets with their fans, the holding of art exhibits, and the issuing of special vinyl and CD releases along with other promotional products to mark the occasion.
Each store holds their own party for the day, to celebrate the perceived individuality of each store, and the place it holds in its community. Although Record Store Day, the day, only occurs once a year, Record Store Day, the organization, provides promotions, marketing, and other opportunities for stores throughout the year, maintaining a website, social media and other means of promulgating its views about the value of independent record stores. Record Store Day is managed on a day-to-day basis by the Dept. of Record Stores, along with the Coalition of Independent Music Stores and the Alliance of Independent Media Stores.
Universal Music's sales manager, Marc Fayd’Herbe, has described Record Store Day as "the single best thing that has ever happened" for independent record shops. The 2013 event was credited with the highest U.S. vinyl sales, and the 2014 edition resulted in independent retailers recording the highest percentage of physical album sales, since the SoundScan system was introduced in 1991. In their 2015 Libera awards, the American Association of Independent Music awarded Record Store Day its "Marketplace Ally" award. Record Store Day 2016 produced the biggest week of sales for the vinyl LP format since the introduction of SoundScan.
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