The third Saturday of April has been called the Record Store Day internationally, since 2007. A celebration of old-fashioned record stores – keeping alive small communities that still believe in finding valuable music by digging into piles of records.
In the ever changing world of music, purchasing songs has become faceless as a result of expanding digital businesses. Nowadays, it takes only a few clicks to buy a track online or to order an album. The adventure of taking the time to walk into a record store, search among publications and discs, talk about them with music fanatics has become a nostalgic memory for the most of us. Not to mention the problematics pirate downloading causes to musicians. In the shrinking market of music publishing the renessaince of vinyl records brought independent record stores a new opportunity to captivate music fanatics’ hearts. There is still a group of enthusiasts who believe community plays a key role in developing ones musical literacy, and collectors appreciate special edition CDs and musical rarities just like in the golden age. Buying a physical album and listening to it is an exciting experience – just like getting a new book and opening it for the first time.
“The indie record stores are the backbone of the recorded music culture. It's where we go to network, browse around, and find new songs to love. The stores whose owners and staff live for music have spread the word about exciting new things faster and with more essence than either radio or the press. Any artist that doesn't support the wonderful ma and pa record stores across America is contributing to our own extinction.” – These are some thoughts on the topic by Joan Jett, a supporter of record stores. She’s not the only one believing in the community-building force of record stores – if you visit the official site of Record Store Day, you can find plenty of similar opinions by the greatest artists.
photo: www.phenomenon.hu
This year, the event takes place at various record stores around the globe - on every continent except Antarctica - on the 19th of April. On this day, independent record store owners and employees celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1000 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally. Special releases and promotional products are made exclusively for the day, and each participating store offers something special. Concerts, meet and greets with artists, unique performances and special prizes are available.
Budapest has quite a few unique record stores that worth a visit. One of the most popular second hand record store is Laci Bácsi Lemezboltja (Uncle Laci’s record store), which is a gold mine for vinyl lovers, with possibly the largest selection of albums the city can offer, since 1999. Records can be bought and sold there, and you won’t leave with empty hands, once you visit the place. There are plenty of small stores on Erzsébet boulevard, and the 7th district is rich in record stores as well.
photo: www.kontaktmagazin.hu
To get the feel of what it’s like to celebrate the international Record Store Day, visit Musicland and Neon Music at Almássy square 8. (these shops take place in a fancy basement and offer second hand CDs, vinyl records and new albums as well) or Wave at Révay köz 1. – there will be various mini concerts and special offers all day, at both locations.
For more details, check out the following web-sites:
Record Store Day – official site
