In July 2021, a teenage kid tried to cut in front of me in line on Record Store Day. When I politely stopped him from doing so, he began cursing me out. When I picked up the store’s final copy of the Foo Fighters‘ Bee Gees tribute album, he lost his mind.
He sent so much anger — and spittle — my way that I briefly thought about smashing the record over my knee, just to see if his head would actually explode. (I wasn’t buying it for myself, but for a coworker who shall remain nameless.) But truth be told, I also felt bad for him, and I wondered what either of us was doing in this situation.
Hail Satin was one of the most sought-after titles of Record Store Day 2021. The store I visited had five copies, and they were all gone after eight customers made their picks. Only 12,000 copies of the album were pressed, a small fraction of the number of copies a typical Foo Fighters album sells. Buying it that day was probably the only chance this kid had to own this record, which was the whole reason he got in line early that morning. The cheapest copy on Discogs right now will set you back $160.
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Now, obviously, this doesn’t even register on the scale of real-life problems. But it’s one reason that Record Store Day needs to either end or, preferably, evolve into something better. (Another reason: Let’s face it, a lot of veteran acts have already released most, if not all, of what’s worth releasing from their archives. There’s an increasing amount of “first time on purple vinyl!” type-listings on this year’s list.)
We all have (or should have) better things to do with our lives than wait in line for hours for an album that may not even have been sent to our local store. The only people who benefit from the artificial scarcity of these limited-edition releases are the ones who flip them for big profits on eBay and Discogs. None of that extra money goes to the artist, and more importantly, none of it goes to the record stores this event is designed to help.
Wouldn’t it be better to just make these Record Store Day exclusive albums available all the time at these same participating record stores? Or to offer a preorder window, with pickup only available at those same locations? Do we all need to cram in there on the same day? Can’t we just cut the resellers out of the picture and let the stores make more sales, while also reducing the amount of disappointed customers?
Most importantly, what if that kid’s been taking martial arts classes and comes looking for me next Record Store Day?
145 Artists Not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff
