While thousands rush to get bargain basement prices on electronics, toys, and other brand name merchandise on Black Friday, Record Stores are encouraging people to avoid the commercialism of the day by stopping in to their independent stores. While stores won’t be offering huge price cuts or bargains, you can still look forward to special releases on rare and limited edition records. Record Store Day celebrates the art of music, worldwide.
Record Store Day brings together artists, musicians, and record stores, alike. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Record Store Day festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists,
parades, djs spinning records and more. Metallica officially kicked off the first Record Store Day at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008 and Record Store Day is celebrated each year on the third Saturday every April.
Starting in 2010, Record Store Day jumped on the bandwagon with large retailers, taking advantage of people’s enthusiasm for shopping on the day after Thanksgiving by introducing Record Store Black Friday. On Black Friday this year, shoppers can grab releases from Rolling Stones, My Morning Jacket, The Lumineers, Skrillex and The White Stripes.’
Some of our favorite specials from Record Store Day Black Friday 2011 include:
- The Beatles – The Singles Box Set – 7″ vinyl box set
- Crowded House – Intriguer Live: Start to Finish – Double CD/DVD
- Miles Davis – Miles Davis Quartet – 10″ vinyl
“Five years ago when Record Store Day helped, and guided, the re-launch of vinyl we had no idea where it was going. Looking at this year’s wonderful vinyl offerings, you can see just how far we’ve come. There are some real treasures in here,” said Michael Kurtz, co-founder and organizer of Record Store Day. So before you head home after hitting all the big box stores at midnight, stop by your local record store and check out their deals and exclusives being offered for Black Friday.
Want to know what record stores in your area are participating in Record Store Black Friday? You can download their app for iPhone or Android and it will use GPS to tell you which Record Store Day-registered stores you’re nearest to, and lets you find others via State and Zip Code look-up. The app also give you info on store events, promotions, contests and other news along with letting you follow the Record Store Day Twitter and Facebook feeds. The most valuable feature on the app is how it serves as a mobile product guide for the exclusive releases on Record Store Day and Back to Black Friday (complete with descriptions and pictures).
After your regular Black Friday shopping is done will you be checking out your local record store this year? What do you hope to find? Let us know in the comments.
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About Kathryn Denton
Kathryn is studying Public Relations and Advertising at DePaul University. An avid reader and musician, she loves cats, cross-stitching and anything Chinese - except the food.
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