Today, there are more options than ever available to music buyers, iPods, digital downloads, legal and illegal file sharing among them. But none of these formats can replace the experience of browsing through a record shop, touching and seeing physical products and chatting with knowledgeable store staffers.
Hundreds of independent record stores nationwide hope to drive that point home during the first-ever Record Store Day on Saturday, April 19, with giveaways, special offers and in-store appearances. The whole thing kicks off with an autograph signing and meet-and-greet by Metallica at Rasputin Music near San Francisco. (There’s more info about Record Stay Day, including testimonials from artists like Paul McCartney, Henry Rollins, Patton Oswalt and Adam Duritz of Counting Crows at www.recordstoreday.com.)
Closer to home, the eight Gallery of Sound stores and both Wayne’s World locations will celebrate with a slew of events featuring local and national acts, video game competitions and even free music lessons.
The Gallery Sound store in Hazleton outside the Laurel Mall will host a meet-and-greet with Shadows Fall at 1 p.m. as well as live performances by local artists Fighting Zero, Goodbye Soundscape, DJ Randy & Diesis-I at its downtown Wilkes-Barre location. All Gallery Sound locations will hold Guitar Hero competitions from 11 a.m. through 8 p.m., with the top five finishers earning a right to play in the finals next week at the Edwardsville store for prizes.
Gallery of Sound will also hand out DVDs from Comedy Central, a Record Store Day T-shirt, an exclusive Record Store Day-edition Bullet for My Valentine comic book and sampler CDs from Flyleaf, Sub Pop Records, Vice Records, RED Distribution and Fontana Distribution. Check www.galleryofsound.com for any updates.
Wayne’s World, meanwhile will offer deals and events of its own. Anyone who comes in gets a free CD and a pack of incense, as well as 20 percent off all pre-owned music, DVDs and video games. Anyone that purchases a musical instrument at Wayne’s World on Record Store Day will get two free lessons. And there will be periodical performances by local musicians at both stores throughout the day; check myspace.com/waynesword for more info and updates.
With many younger listeners opting to go the digital route, big-box stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart dominating the marketplace and record labels coming under fire for high-priced releases, the music retail business is facing multiple challenges.
“People are more into music now than ever,” said Gallery of Sound’s Joe Nardone Jr. “It’s just how they’re consuming it.”
Nardone said the business is starting to resemble the way it was 15 years ago, where it’s not built on multi-billion dollar sales. The bloated major labels have cut their staffs and marketing and advertising budgets to please stockholders.
“It’s definitely the rise of the independent labels again,” Nardone said.
Another bump in the road came when the business shifted from a singles business — remember CD and cassette singles? — to an album business. Labels took flak for forcing customers to buy the more expensive full-length album just to hear one song, with many people deciding to buy nothing at all.
Wayne’s World — which just celebrated its 11th year in Pittston and second year in Dallas — honors Earth Day each year, so tying in Record Store Day with Earth Day was a no-brainer for owner Wayne Sorbelli.
“Let’s face it,” Sorbelli said. “Earth Day is always celebrated through music. I’ve always recognized Earth Day, so this fits right in with it.”
Despite media reports about digital platforms trumping traditional releases, Nardone noted that 80 to 85 percent of music sold is still physical goods. Also, vinyl records are making a comeback, and not only for collectors. Younger bands are releasing vinyl versions of their albums, and younger listeners have caught on to the higher sound quality of the old-fashioned platters.
That said, record store owners are adapting and entering new lines of business, like video games, and they hope that Record Store Day gives visitors a chance to rediscover their neighborhood shops, not stroll through what they see as an antiquated museum of a bygone era.
“Hopefully it’s not a nostalgia day,” Nardone said. “We’re still here, and we’re plugging away.”
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