Record Store Day

Record Store Day is a relatively new holiday for music fans around the world and one of my favorite days as a music fan. It was started in 2008 as a way to spread the word about the independent record stores and is now celebrated in every continent (minus Antarctica of course). I was introduced to Record Store Day at Coachella in 2009 and ever since then I've been purchasing limited edition records and supporting local stores on that day. Although I grew up in the digital era, there's something about owning records that makes me think about my childhood.

Every single weekend during my childhood my family and I would cross the border to come spend the day in San Diego. I would eagerly wait until Saturday came around, even if I knew that we'd have to wait in the car for hours before being able to cross. Our days in San Diego would consist of grocery shopping, a mall, restaurants that we couldn't find in Tijuana, and a record store. While my mom and brother would be at Marshalls or Target, I would go with my dad to Tower Records. I clearly remember going there in hopes of finding a new CD to buy or good music magazine to read (even though my English wasn't the best at the time).

When Napster and then iTunes began taking over the world, the stores I grew up loving began closing down. The two Tower Records locations in San Diego closed down and soon enough even Virgin Records stores closed down as well, which made me quite sad. To make things worse the music selection and Target, Circuit City, and Best Buy shrunk in size. It felt like a part of me was being taken away all of a sudden and I was forced to adapt to the changes. I began buying digital music and an occasional CD here and there, but it just wasn't the same.

When I discovered Record Store Day I was introduced to the world of independent record shops and collecting vinyl records. The first vinyl records I ever bought was at the Zia Records tent at Coachella and they were all from the Killers. From there I started researching for independent stores around San Diego and going to them in order to find more stuff for my collection and also to support small businesses.

I know people often don't know about Record Store Day because it isn't a national holiday across the US (although it is in certain cities and countries like France). And then there's others that think buying records is something only "hipsters" do. For me Record Store Day is a day that music fans around the world get to celebrate the joy of holding and purchasing music. This holiday makes people come together for one objective and that is to celebrate music. It isn't about being pretentious and dismissing digital music, it's about preserving a part of music that is often forgotten about by the masses. For me Record Store Day brings back memories of how excited I would get when I would step into a record store. It's that nostalgia for my childhood and my love for music that keeps me coming back every year.

If you think that Record Store Day is only for hipsters in their mid-20's then you're completely wrong. There's people of all age groups present at Record Store Day! I remember in Paris I saw kids, elderly couples, people my age, and businessmen browsing records. Record Store Day is held every 3rd Saturday in April and it's celebrated worldwide. To find out which local record stores are participating and to see the list of releases please check out their website.

I hope you enjoyed this post about Record Store Day. If you participated let me know which records you picked up! Also if you collect vinyl let me know which record is your favorite.