Record Store Day: A Critique

For thousands of people April 20th, 2013, was a wonderful experience; for me, it was not. April 20th, 2013, was Record Store Day 13. Conceived as a holiday for vinyl enthusiasts to enjoy the camaraderie of fellow vinyl enthusiasts in a physical space that supported local economies, the day has evolved into something much more awful and insidious. You see, Record Store Day is no longer about enjoying vinyl, it has become about consuming vinyl. And there's a very real distinction between the two.


Ignoring the creation of a fake economy for small record stores that would sell the product regardless of whatever day the RSD exclusives would end up being released, what Record Store Day has become is a price-gouger's boon. As an example, Death Waltz Recording Company released a number of singles from old genre television shows like the Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and the Munsters. No sooner had they been sold at record stores than many appeared on eBay for double, triple, or even up to four times the original asking price. Another release from the label, Antoni Maiovvi's score to the short film Yellow, saw even steeper jumps from other enterprising scumbags. Label owner Spencer Hickman even opined about the revelation that he was being scammed by one of his own subscribers:

That sinking feeling when you find out a scubscriber is not only selling his subscription viny on eBay but also loads of #rsd13 stuff :(
— Deathwaltzrecs (@deathwaltzrecs) April 21, 2013

Admittedly, Death Waltz is a somewhat unique example among many modern labels in that there is a very large demand for what they release because they've found a popular niche with a rabid fanbase that is woefully underrepresented in the current market (genre soundtracks). And they support that niche with high quality records that offer amazing artwork, all at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, this also creates a second, much sleazier market for their vinyl since all records are pressed in very limited numbers and demand for many of those records can be high. And that is exactly the problem with Record Store Day: it incentives and rewards price-gouging and second-hand resale. Most reasonable people can only consume a limited number of records on Record Store Day due to economics, geography, and time. What Record Store Day does by restricting quantity to a limited number of stores on one day is creates this second-hand market and exploitation of regular enthusiasts. Although that clearly was never the intention of the day or the people trying to give enthusiasts something special, it is a real problem that has still been unaddressed by the community at large.