Record Store Day brings big business to local record store

While many music fans attending Coachella may have slept in this morning, a few hundred people got up early to score some limited edition vinyl at the 9th annual Record Store Day.

“I’m so excited for it,” Cheyenne Escobar says as she waits in line outside of Record Alley in Palm Desert. “So so excited for The White Stripes. It’s their 15th anniversary of Get Behind Me Satan and they did it special for Record Store Day.”

Record Store Day is an annual event held on the third Saturday of April. Music labels release limited edition and special issue vinyl only to independent record stores to help bring in business.
Some music retailers have folded in the digital music era, but independent record stores have seen a big boost thanks to this annual music holiday.

Eleni Austin works at Record Alley, and she sees the impact Record Store Day has. “It’s the one thing big box stores can’t compete. You go across the street and you can buy a new CD at Target or Best Buy for under ten bucks and we can’t compete with that we just can’t. But because they made Record Store Day as a celebration for independent record stores everywhere, you’re giving us the opportunity to get people to come to us just for what we have.”

Most Record Store Day releases have less than 5000 copies produced, but they still have enough variety to bridge multiple generations of music fans.

“They have David Bowie splitting a song with Tom Verlaine from Television,” Austin says. “There’s also a Syd Barrett song, the originator form Pink Floyd, splitting a song with R.E.M. And a guy named Freedy Johnston, he’s not a very well know singer songwriter but his song is being split with Death Cab for Cutie.”

The experience and quality are bringing some older collectors back to vinyl as well.

“Back in the 70’s when we first moved here, we left a record in the living room and the next day it was warped just from the sun hitting it,” Austin explains. “And now the quality is much better, they give you a lot of extra stuff and for anybody that’s a collector, it’s a fun experience.”

It’s not just local music enthusiasts at Record Alley either. The timing couldn’t be better with thousands of music fans in town for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Elliot Estrada comes to the Coachella Valley every year for the festival and to shop at Record Alley. He tells us, “I came from Peru I came for two reasons, one is Coachella and two for Record Store Day because in my country it’s difficult but I hope I can get the things I wanted.”

Record sales and Record Store Day continues to grow. Many cities like New York, Los Angeles, and even Boise recognize record store day as an official city wide event.
But the real impact is felt by locals who own the independent record stores.

Austin says, “This is like Christmas for us because it’s the biggest day of the year for record stores and there’s a lot of excitement because Coachella is here too.”