Now over three days , over three months. RECORD STORE DAY IS SOCIAL DISTANCING!
2020 is different. So what we’re doing this year is going to be different too.
No one knows what kind of party we’ll all be in the mood for, or able to hold safely, at any time this year, in any part of the world. So we’re focusing this year not on the party aspect of Record Store Day, but on getting the great releases on the RSD 2020 List into your local record store, and then into your collection.
RSD DROPS! Three street dates when titles from The List will be available only at participating indie record stores. We’re working on getting the new version of The List — with new RSD Drops dates — all nice and pretty for you. Look for that on the Record Store Day site on June 1st.
This new plan of action is thought to be a compromise solution that takes into account various territories around the world and the different stages they may be at in terms of managing the pandemic situation.
This is clearly an incredibly challenging situation for labels, retailers and the industry in general and it remains to be seen how it will all work out. By definition, the event has been diluted, and while the end of August seems like a long way away, we have no idea at this stage what social distancing rules may remain in place, wherever we may be in the world. Also, if stock does indeed become available online more quickly, is that likely to be a deterrent to getting out there and queuing up at your local record shop?
The other thing to consider is whether the record labels are still willing to honour their original RSD intentions. They have been sitting on stock for quite a few weeks at the time of writing, and may not be delighted at being told that at least some of their releases can now only happen on 24th October, which is nearly seven months away. There will be a temptation, perhaps, to redesignate releases as non-RSD and get them out into the marketplace much earlier. They could still support the local record shop community by making the releases ‘indie-exclusive’.
Of course, let’s not forget that as well as these three days, there is also the ‘RSD Black Friday’ which apparently is still being planned and on schedule for 27th November. So that’s four Record Store Days in a row in America, which certainly seems like overkill.
The Fat Angel Sings 