The Benefits of Annual Events for Enthusiasts

Today was Record Store Day. For the first time in a few years, I was able to go out and celebrate by visiting a couple record stores. Record Store Day and similar events for enthusiasts, such as Free Comic Book Day (FCBD), are always enjoyable enough for me to look forward to.

The obvious benefit for fangirls and boys is the loot. As FCBD has grown, more publishers have come out with special publications just for the event, which are available for free at comic book stores. Similarly, music labels have special releases on Record Store Day. The local Disk Union had a wall displaying these releases, and many were tempting. I would have loved to walk away with stoner metal group The Sword’s 7-inch “John the Revelator,” but an enthusiast must control expenses, so I opted for only the melodic death metal group Dark Tranquility’s extended edition of their 2007 album Fiction: transparent red vinyl plus a 7-inch disk with extra tracks.

 

A thing of beauty.

But the loot at these types of events often isn’t that great, which is all right because these events are usually created for another purpose: to promote an industry and support local retailers. Small music and comic shops often have trouble attracting enough customers to stay open, but events like Record Store Day and FCBD bring in crowds. Lee’s Comics in San Mateo, California would have at most a handful of people at any given time I visited, but on FCBD, it was hard to get in the door. Sure, your Sheldon Coopers would be there obsessively flipping through the racks, but so would lots of other sorts of people. And Lee’s was great at making the day a family-friendly event, with massive sales and a shopkeeper always ready to direct kids to the children’s comics.

As an enthusiast, I’m happy to show small businesses support. Drops Record wasn’t participating in Record Store Day in any official way today, but I popped in anyway. It’s a new shop in the area that’s trying to attract business. Every time I go, I half expect to find it has disappeared, but so far it has hung in there. I was one of two people looking for records today, and I walked out with a cheap-because-it's-grubby Japanese pressing of the Pink Floyd classic Atom Heart Mother:

 

In addition to the above benefits, it’s simply fun to have an excuse to get out of the house, enjoy yourself, and participate in a subculture. Record Store Day came early for me because I live in Japan, so many places in the world still have the day ahead of them. If you’re into vinyl--or want to be--go hit your local record store. (The Record Store Day website will help you find one.) And if you can’t do that, mark Free Comic Book Day on your calendar. It’s May 7 and good for at least a couple free comics and a good time.


A related post:
Listening to Vinyl: Dust in the Grooves