How Record Store Day Became The Stupidest Day In Music

Like all worthwhile endeavors, the (semi)annual celebration of independent record store culture called Record Store Day started with an idea. Specifically, it started with a dashed-off email with a subject line reading, simply, “idea.”

“It could be a national event that drives people to indie stores,” Chris Brown, of Portland, Maine-based indie retailer Bull Moose Records, wrote to a consortium of colleagues. “We would need some nice licensed pieces–maybe something along the lines of the upcoming Guided By Voices rarities box…There is a huge press angle here too. Indies rule. We haven’t gone anywhere…Video, print and online testimonials from artists would run in every market to promote the event…Try to include movie stars and game developers…”

From those dashed-off half-thoughts, Record Store Day (RSD) was born. Launched in 2008, the branded event did what Brown had hoped: drive traffic to record stores with live concerts (fans camped out in the parking lot of Rasputin Music in Mountain View, Calif., to catch a kick-off show by local heroes Metallica) and exclusive releases. These early exclusives played pretty much directly to RSD’s founding, indie spirit: vinyl 7-inches from R.E.M., Stephen Malkmus, Built to Spill, Vampire Weekend, and so on. The event was a huge success. And in time, more and more stores, from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Kuala Lumpur to Szeged, Hungary, began taking part… read more >