Record Store Day

There’s nothing quite like putting needle to record and listening to the crackles and pops of a good old vinyl record – harks your Granddad, sat in his rocking wicker chair. But as they say, you should listen to your elders! It gives a satisfaction & nostalgia whilst you crack on with whatever it is you’re doing whilst you listen. The same effect looking at old film photos has. I can’t say I’m too familiar with the science behind it all, but it’s just true.

Now don’t get me wrong, the ever-rising cost of getting into vinyl (a good quality turntable that won’t chew through your records, a decent set of speakers so it doesn’t sound flimsy etc) isn’t ignorable. It’s a fact that for many it’s just inaccessible. The cost of the records themselves, and accomplishing that, finding somewhere to store the great big discs of plastic. If you’re a non-vinyl head reading this, you’re probably sitting there wondering what the hype is, but let me try and flip the coin (or the record) for you a bit…

Let’s talk eras. If, like me, you’re a fan of Led Zep, Fleetwood Mac & suchthelike, vinyl was the only real port of call when it came releasing music. So their tunes were originally mixed & mastered to be played on turntables. It’s like listening the way it was intended to be listened to – so it’s no surprise that vinyl just sounds better for them bands. It wasn’t until the late 1970’s / early 1980’s that cassettes became all the rage – and then later on with CDs, which both required the music to be remastered and tailored to each format – therefore altering it from its original state.

Speaking from a more modern standpoint, vinyls offer a more personal connection between fan and artist. Particularly among independent musicians, that is. As streaming platforms pay a shockingly small fee per stream ($0.004 per stream on Spotify at the time of writing), having a fan shell out on a physical copy of your work is a proper sign of support, and can be the difference between artists calling it quits or making it big.

As for your local community, as with any local business, it helps the ecosystem thrive; it brings the community together; it creates local jobs; it’s wayyy more sustainable than big multinational corporations. Like I’ve said above, it helps support the music industry too, which at a grassroots level is struggling more than ever. Independent venues and artists alike are struggling to manage the costs endured to keep going, and your local record store is just one cog that helps keep that wheel turning.

Record Store Day began back in 2007 in the US, when a group of record store owners wanted to spread the word about the unique culture of record stores. Almost 20 years on, there’s over 270 stores here in the UK that celebrate. We’ve got artists & labels who curate exclusive releases for Record Store Day, and overall, it’s a day to celebrate these special stores and the role they play in communities everywhere. Pop down to your local record store, have a look for something you love (or find something you’ve never heard of), go home & whack it on the turntable in praise of these crucial musical strongholds. We’d miss them if they weren’t there.