In July 2021, a teenage child tried to minimize in entrance of me in line on Record Store Day. When I politely stopped him from doing so, he started cursing me out. When I picked up the shop’s last copy of the Foo Fighters’ Bee Gees tribute album, he misplaced his thoughts.

He despatched a lot anger — and spittle — my manner that I briefly considered smashing the document over my knee, simply to see if his head would really explode. (I wasn’t shopping for it for myself, however for a coworker who shall stay anonymous.) But fact be instructed, I additionally felt unhealthy for him, and I questioned what both of us was doing on this state of affairs.

Hail Satin was one of the crucial sought-after titles of Record Store Day 2021. The retailer I visited had 5 copies, they usually had been all gone after eight prospects made their picks. Only 12,000 copies of the album had been pressed, a small fraction of the variety of copies a typical Foo Fighters album sells. Buying it that day was most likely the one probability this child had to personal this document, which was the entire purpose he obtained in line early that morning. The least expensive copy on Discogs proper now will set you again $160.

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Now, clearly, this does not even register on the dimensions of real-life issues. But it is one purpose that Record Store Day wants to both finish or, ideally, evolve into one thing higher. (Another purpose: Let’s face it, a whole lot of veteran acts have already launched most, if not all, of what is value releasing from their archives. There’s an rising quantity of “first time on purple vinyl!” type-listings on this 12 months’s record.)

We all have (or ought to have) higher issues to do with our lives than wait in line for hours for an album that won’t even have been despatched to our native retailer. The solely individuals who profit from the factitious shortage of those limited-edition releases are those who flip them for giant earnings on eBay and Discogs. None of that extra cash goes to the artist, and extra importantly, none of it goes to the document shops this occasion is designed to assist.

Wouldn’t it’s higher to simply make these Record Store Day unique albums out there on a regular basis at these identical collaborating document shops? Or to supply a preorder window, with pickup solely out there at those self same areas? Do all of us want to cram in there on the identical day? Can’t we simply minimize the resellers out of the image and let the shops make extra gross sales, whereas additionally lowering the quantity of disillusioned prospects?

Most importantly, what if that child’s been taking martial arts lessons and comes on the lookout for me subsequent Record Store Day?