Record Store Day was conceived in 2007
at a gathering of independent
record store owners
and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the
word
about the unique culture surrounding over
700 independently owned
record stores in the US
and thousands of similar stores internationally.
This is the one day that all of the independently
owned record stores come together with
artists to celebrate the art of music.
Special vinyl
and CD releases and various promotional products
are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists
in the United States and in various countries across the
globe make special appearances and performances.
are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists
in the United States and in various countries across the
globe make special appearances and performances.
Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting,
meet &
greets with artists, parades, DJs spinning records and on and on.
Metallica officially kicked off Record Store Day
at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008.
Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday every April.
A
Record Store Day participating store is defined as
a stand alone brick
and mortar retailer whose main primary business
focuses on a physical
store location, whose product line consists
of at least 50% music
retail, whose company is not publicly traded
and whose ownership is at
least 70% located in the state of operation.
(In other words, we’re dealing with real, live, physical,
indie record stores—not online retailers or corporate behemoths).
