As you may or may not know, this Saturday just gone (18th April) was Record Store Day. An international event, the basic idea was that a bunch of record labels sent out limited singles, live EPs, rarities discs and that sort of thing to independent record stores all over the world. The majority of participating stores were in America, but there was a sprinkling of others dotted about the globe, including, quite incredibly, three in my home county of Wiltshire.
Over the last few years, as I've slowly developed a passion for music, I've come to lament the lack of an independent record shop where I live (there was one in my hometown once, but it closed many moons ago, and there's only HMV where I go to uni). Of course, I don't need one. Through high street shops, online stores and eBay I can get my hands on pretty much any album I want to. All that's really missing is the personal touch. I savour the few occasions that someone serving me in HMV recognises the album I'm buying. In an independent place, you'd likely get that a whole lot more.
So anyway, last Saturday I was heading down to Salisbury anyway, and decided to take a look at the participating store there (StandOut Records - it's a nice place, with a section at the back dedicated to house, techno, DnB and "weird shit" vinyls). I bought a limited Smiths single, had a flick through the album racks and generally enjoyed the atmosphere. I was handed a couple of free CDs at the till as well, which I'll never complain about. It felt oddly sad though, as if I was somehow being bribed into coming back. The truth is that unless I had tracked down something elusive (example: when after a long search I found Person Pitch by Panda Bear in an independent store in Brighton for £12 - happy days), I wouldn't willingly spend £11-20 on an album, and as year by year it gets increasingly easier to find the music you want online, is there really a place for the independent record shop in the modern world? While they still exist, they are increasingly, unfortunately, becoming irrelevant, and I'm pretty sure the mainstream consumer doesn't really care either way. With each passing generation people will care less and less about the plight of these stores - if they are even aware of them at all, and I can't help but feel that gestures like Record Store Day just won't cut it in the long run. Regardless, it's a cause well worth supporting. All I can say is that it'd be nice to someday take my kids to the local record shop.
Comments/thoughts/debate welcome, if you're reading.
Over the last few years, as I've slowly developed a passion for music, I've come to lament the lack of an independent record shop where I live (there was one in my hometown once, but it closed many moons ago, and there's only HMV where I go to uni). Of course, I don't need one. Through high street shops, online stores and eBay I can get my hands on pretty much any album I want to. All that's really missing is the personal touch. I savour the few occasions that someone serving me in HMV recognises the album I'm buying. In an independent place, you'd likely get that a whole lot more.
So anyway, last Saturday I was heading down to Salisbury anyway, and decided to take a look at the participating store there (StandOut Records - it's a nice place, with a section at the back dedicated to house, techno, DnB and "weird shit" vinyls). I bought a limited Smiths single, had a flick through the album racks and generally enjoyed the atmosphere. I was handed a couple of free CDs at the till as well, which I'll never complain about. It felt oddly sad though, as if I was somehow being bribed into coming back. The truth is that unless I had tracked down something elusive (example: when after a long search I found Person Pitch by Panda Bear in an independent store in Brighton for £12 - happy days), I wouldn't willingly spend £11-20 on an album, and as year by year it gets increasingly easier to find the music you want online, is there really a place for the independent record shop in the modern world? While they still exist, they are increasingly, unfortunately, becoming irrelevant, and I'm pretty sure the mainstream consumer doesn't really care either way. With each passing generation people will care less and less about the plight of these stores - if they are even aware of them at all, and I can't help but feel that gestures like Record Store Day just won't cut it in the long run. Regardless, it's a cause well worth supporting. All I can say is that it'd be nice to someday take my kids to the local record shop.
Comments/thoughts/debate welcome, if you're reading.
2 comments:
it is a weird situation. i think ppl are greedy. whilst i enjoy perusing vinyl in a record shop and buying the odd thing i am an online thief. in soho they hav awesome vinyl though. i got some sweet white stripes stuff and live radiohead stuff on vinyl.
i think we should have a little jaunt in brighton no?
ye i think i'm pretty much the same! that soho shop sounds sweet though, i feel like buying more vinyl. excursion into brighton sounds good! think the one i went to was called rounder records. was a nice place x
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