Record Store Day is a good thing. It gets lotsa people into little record shops when lotsa people swing in and out of JB Hi-Fi too often these days. So it is with bemusement that I see www.recordstoreday.com.au featuring in-store apperances at JB Hi-Fis, Virgin Megastores, Sanitys and HMV. Surely this is not the point of Record Store Day? So what’s the story?
It turns out that AMRA (who represent those big music chains) was told it couldn’t participate in Record Store Day because the day is supposed to be an excercise in promoting independent shops. But of course AMRA and the big chains pushed on anyway and are promoting their ‘unofficial’ involvement in Record Store Day. And guess who owns and runs www.recordstoreday.com.au? Yep, AMRA. Sticky Carpet in the Age touched on this today but continued to promote both the indie shop events and the AMRA shop events (#AMRAfail, #HMVfail, #JBHiFifail, #VirginMegaStorefail, #Sanityfail, #TheAgefail).
So please visit www.recordstoreday.com/Australia for the complete, authentic list of independent record stores to support tomorrow. After all, the little guys only get one day. The chains get Christmas.
Unbelievable, isn’t it? I was astounded when I found out. Good on you for posting about it, and enjoy the day!
i agree. what silly nongs those chains are. you, however, are a nice man.