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On that day, record stores across the United States will give out free promotional music CDs, vinyl and videos as well as other bag-stuffers, and host performances and meet-and-greets by everyone from Metallica (Rasputin's in Mountain View, Calif.) to Regina Spektor (Sound Fix in Williamsburg, N.Y.).
The idea, conceived last fall at the indie store-focused Noise in the Basement convention, initially was launched and embraced by the three U.S. rock coalitions: 124-unit Music Monitor Network (MMN), which includes 23 stores in Canada; 51-unit Coalition of Independent Music Stores; and 32-unit Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS); as well as the 27-unit Newbury Comics chain and the 17 independent record stores run by the 60-unit Value Music chain. In addition, another 100 U.S. stores have signed on to support the concept, as have an additional 25 stores around the world.
In fact, the idea proved so popular that organizers were forced to have a sign-up cutoff date for fear that there wouldn't be enough promotional material to supply all stores. Maine Governor John A. Baldacci has also chimed in by proclaiming April 19 Record Store Day in that state.
With the mainstream press continually writing about how digital developments are causing the death of the CD, "it seems that there is a perception that record stores are something of a joke; like we are all dinosaurs stuck in the tar," says Eric Levin, owner of Criminal Records in Atlanta and head of AIMS.
Consequently, "it was time for the record stores to step out and throw ourselves a party," MMN president Michael Kurtz says. "We want to get the word out on what is happening in our stores and show our place in the community."
More important, Kurtz says his goals include evolving the event in a few years into a big volume sales day, like Black Friday, to help establish the indie record store as a different class of retailer from the mass merchants and online retailers. If that happens, maybe indie record stores can get special functional discounts like those afforded to the rackjobbers that service the discount department stores. Plus, retailers hope the day "will attract the kids, the generation that we lost, who don't know what a good record store is anymore," Kurtz says.
Artists have come out of the woodwork to support Record Store Day, including numerous testimonials on recordstoreday.com, which measures 60,000 unique visitors per month.
The April 19 lineup also includes Panic at the Disco meeting with fans at Waterloo in Austin and Steve Earle and AlIison Moorer doing the same at Manifest in Charlotte, N.C.
"Once we explained what Record Store Day was, Metallica was like, 'Lef s do it,'" says one of the band's managers, Marc Reiter of Q Prime Management. "It took no convincing on our part. [Metallica] shops at Rasputin's. They love [California's] Amoeba and they loved Tower."
In fact, Q Prime is trying to get as many of its acts involved as possible, whether it be through signings, in-store performances or working as clerks or cashiers in the stores, he adds.
"It's like lightning in a bottle when music consumers discover artists at an indie record store, particularly for new and developing artists who want to have an authentic, meaningful, long-term career," Spektor manager Ron Shapiro says.
In addition to signings and performances, MMN director of marketing Carrie Colliton estimates the stores participating in the event will give away 100,000 units of promotional merchandise, from about 25 different suppliers. This includes 3-D glasses from the One Little Indian label to screenings of a new 3-D version of Björk's "Wanderlust" video; an EP from 36 Crazyfists; a 12-inch album sampler from both Sony BMG and Universal Music Group; a Flyleaf EP from Octone; a Nonesuch sampler; and a Rhino Records calendar and the Freaky Creature Comics Book from WEA.
Also, plenty of catalog promotions and commercial releases are being issued in time for Record Store Day, including a $9.99 sale for Metallica's CD catalog and reissues of the band's first two albums on 180-gram vinyl. WEA is also supplying the event with for-sale 7-inch singles featuring the Black Keys, Panic at the Disco, Death Cab for Cutie and Jason Mraz. Whaf s more, participating stores will feature DVDs for $3.99-$9.99 and a massive selection of CD catalog for $10 or less.
So far, the reception for the event has been "overwhelming," according to Levin. "I don't think anyone could have imagined it would have rolled this quickly, received international attention and so many retailers and labels looking to participate, all in the first year," he says.
In the United Kingdom, Stephen Godfroy, director of the Rough Trade East store in London, says he's hard at work lining up performances and in-store signings. He reports that other U.K. stores have also embraced the concept.
"We heard about it from our friends in the trade and grabbed the baton to celebrate Record Store Day here in the U.K.," he says. "I know of 25 other U.K. stores involved, but I am sure there are plenty of others who have heard about it and are embracing the day."
But what about the name? To be sure, record stores are not just record stores anymore, what with all the DVDs, Tshirts, dolls, trading cards, comic books, collectibles and other product lines on offer. "We have mostly all morphed into something else," Bull Moose VP of operations and marketing Chris Brown says. "We need a new name."
Value Music buyer Brian Poehner agrees with Brown, saying that his stores are more like "pop-culture stores. We have a better selection of videogames than any Gamestop out there, and the same goes for DVDs. We are a multidimensional type of store and we are changing with the times."
