By Kathryn Pinto
In the lead up to Record Store Day I was surprised by how many people I talked to had never heard of the celebration, and not just civilians, but bloggers and band guys. I wanted to write a story about the day and reflect on it with all the optimism and enthusiasm for local music that are at the core of Radio Free Silver Lake. With a heavy heart and a huge, ominous deadline looming large at the day job I gave away this plum assignment to Radio Free Silver Lake staff writers Jackie and Jed. RFSL Jackie wrote an RSD Low Down for the event detailing what the various Los Angeles record shops have planned, and today RFSL Jed takes on Record Store Day 101 for the benefit of the uninitiated.
If the music scene has something like soul surfers—people make music for the love and joy of making it—that’s who Radio Free Silver Lake was is here to write about, review and document. At its heart Record Store Day is a day for people who really love music to get together in real life.
The day is worth paying attention to not because it’s going to “save” the record business or even because it’s a chance to score a limited edition LP to sell on ebay, but because it reflects some larger trends in the music world. The music industry as a business got bloated—selling $19 CDs then suing its customer base when they started downloading—and then it started shrinking and dying slowly (for a great read on the topic, see Greg Kot's Ripped), while at the same time music as something that people play and record and see live and listen to is quite vital.
When a fan can download nearly any album imaginable via the internet, where is the place for physical records? If we don't need a physical product to hear these songs and if no one is buying CDs or records by the millions and no one is making any money off it, then what is going on in this places? Why are new stores like Origami Vinyl opening? (We Listen for You has a passionate and entertaining discussion of vinyl love on their soundcast.) Maybe the more that we fans can have nearly unlimited music collections, the more we miss something physical and finite. Record stores are equally important because they are places where you can meet up and talk to other people about music, disagree, get recommendations and geek out a little. Get out there today and get yourself some records.
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