Record Store Day, The New Opportunity To Make Money
The mecca of music, Amoeba
It turns out that all these people lining up at 5 am in front of record stores weren’t entirely doing it in the name of their passion for music? If you go on eBay, you will find tons of items already on sale! The Cake 12” vinyl box set for $499.99 (original price $124.99), R.E.M. Unplugged RSD vinyl box set $499.99 (original price $89.98), Crosley Peanuts Cruiser turntable $299.99 (original price $119), LCD Soundsystem ‘The Long Goodbye’ 5LP Box set $235.24 (original price $129.98), Camera Obscura 4AD Session 12” vinyl $199.99 (original price $11.99), and I don’t know the original price for Jack White’s ‘Lazaretto’ 7”, but I found one on eBay for $199.99, and one was already sold for $399.89 and another one for $649.99!! I bet that this person will never unseal the vinyl and that it was only bought for collection purpose,… as much as the song is enjoyable there’s no way this world’s fastest released record is Jack White’s best work or is worth that much money!
These pieces were intentionally bought to make a profit, meaning some people take Record Store Day as an opportunity to make a few bucks, the old scalper way. It has always been the case for concerts and gigs, but this is another opportunity,…I don’t just have this fiber in me and that’s why I am poor.
The fact that bands release very limited, rare or special edition for this specific day totally encourages this type of behavior. And this is nothing new, FuseTV has a few examples from last year: The Flaming Lips’ ‘Fuck You Frog’ (13 limited editions) sold for $1,600,… it’s true that this one contained an edible piece of candy made of frog urine, but this doesn’t justify such a price! Jack White’s ‘Liquid-Filled 12” of ‘Sixteen Saltines’ sold for $1,300, The Cure’s ‘Friday I’m in Love’ 7” sold for $923…etc. And I am sure you can find even more outrageous examples. The sad reality is that it doesn’t bring money in the artists’ pocket, and people who practice such a trade should be banned from record stores if they could be identified. But there is a sad observation to be made of all this: Record Store Day does more to encourage consumerism and collection mania fanaticism than it does to encourage listening to music.
