Of all the aspects of normality Americans missed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, physical touch has been a common theme. The touch associated with browsing at a record store is no exception — clicking a download button can’t match the feeling of walking into a shop with other music fans, flipping through album covers and holding a new disc.
Vinyl may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the impacts of the pandemic, but for some business owners, it’s everything. This Saturday, the second of two Record Store Days being held this year, offers a sign of hope for independent businesses trying to recover from some of the darkest days they have seen.
The first Record Store Day was on April 19, 2008, and has since been a single day devoted to exclusive vinyl releases only available at participating record stores. It often features performances, cookouts and artist meet-and-greets.
A growing trend
Despite many record stores having to shut down in 2020, last year was the largest year for vinyl album sales in the past three decades, according to MRC Data, which has been electronically tracking sales since 1991.
Vinyl sales grew by 46% to 27.5 million copies sold in 2020, MRC Data told CNN. That’s despite an overall decline in album sales, which includes digital and CDs, compared to numbers from 2019.
Business owners told CNN while they were able to shift to online sales during the lockdown, there’s nothing like physically going to the store and getting your hands on a record.
Celebrating recovery
June’s Record Store Day drop came as many stores were in the process of reopening in alignment with states’ relaxing restrictions.
“My celebration essentially was popping a bottle of Champagne and furloughing every employee I had, except for two,” he said. “It was the most devastating day I’ve ever had — to let these people go.”
While the store could reopen last June, there were still restrictions in place. That made celebrating Record Store Day tricky, but some innovation went a long way. Lambert said his store used a warehouse next door and a canopy to set up tables outside, allowing people to socially distance and wait on the sidewalk instead of packing into the store, which would have more than 100 people at a time inside on a normal Record Store Day.
But Lambert said even though he doesn’t have the capacity restrictions he had last year, he planned to keep some outdoor elements for customers’ comfort.
Amoeba, which has locations in Berkeley, Hollywood and San Francisco, had to close for several months last year and celebrated Record Store Day online. While Amoeba still has some limitations in place, Henderson expected a “holiday-type atmosphere.”
“It’s just not quite yet the normal Record Store Day, but we know it’s coming. We’re getting there,” he said.
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