MP3s, CDs and records, oh my!

Once upon a time, the local independent record store dominated musical culture.
However, as these one-time staples face increasing competition from higher-tech players like iTunes and Limewire, faithful record enthusiasts designated the third Saturday of April as Record Store Day.

This year’s Record Store Day will happen this Saturday. Landlocked Music, TDs CDs and LPs and Tracks are slated to participate in the day’s festivities.

In an age of mp3s, Record Store Day celebrates the physical music product, the stores that sell it and its place in pop culture.

For Landlocked, participating in Record Store Day “seems like a no-brainer,” Heath Byers, co-owner of Landlocked Music, said.

However, TDs’ manager Michael Anderson said his store’s choice to participate was due mostly to media pressure.

“It’s a cool idea, but the media has been a little manipulative in getting us behind it,” he said. “I guess that’s a good thing ... but if I didn’t do it I’d feel like a big dummy.”

A 2007 Rolling Stone article reported that around 2,700 record stores had closed since 2003, falling victim to the music industry’s presence on the Internet.

And although downloading a song from iTunes and syncing it to an iPod might be more convenient, it’s not what music’s really all about, said Jason Nickey, Landlocked’s other co-owner.

“It’s convenient to go through the McDonald’s drive-through, but you don’t always do that,” he said. “It’s fun to shop for records.”

In honor of Record Store Day, Landlocked will host two in-store performances by Death Vessel and DM Stith, as well as DJ sets by mayor Mark Kruzan and Paul Mahern from the 80s punk/hard-core band the Zero Boys. There will also be lots of freebies and free on-site screenprinting by two local artists, Byers said.

All used CDs and LPs at TDs will be 33 and one-third percent off on Saturday. The store also plans on having some “special surprise guests” in its back alley as well a table at Culture Shock, owner Michael Anderson said.

Andy Walter of Tracks said his store might have a band or two play, but mostly the store will just be open, doing the same thing it’s done for the past 30 years: selling records and CDs.

“Every day is Record Store Day to me,” he said.

Having grown up with record stores, many major artists are supporting the event.
“I buy CDs all the time,” Bruce Springsteen said on Record Store Day’s Web site. “I’ll go into a record store and just buy $500 worth of CDs. I will! I am single-handedly supporting what’s left of the record business. I hate to see record stores disappear, and I’m old-school in that I think you should pay for your music.”

Thanks to the support of artists like Springsteen, Record Store Day coordinators have also secured several exclusive vinyl releases for the occasion.

These include material from Wilco, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Modest Mouse and Magnolia Electric Co.

Byers said these releases will not be available anywhere else except participating stores like Landlocked and TDs.

“They’ll probably be gone forever after that day,” he said. “It’s kind of a thank-you to the customers and the stores. Everyone wins.”

Thus, while many people have already abandoned record stores and see digitized music as part of the future for pop culture, record aficionados think otherwise.

“(Record Store Day) highlights the record stores’ importance as part of culture,” Byers said. “We’re not dying and we’re not going away. ... It’s important to people. We love music for this – not ones and zeros on iPods.”