Indie Book & Record Stores: Great Together

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If you're a book or music hound, you already know that loyal indie record store customers and indie bookstore customers are cut from the same cloth -- they're usually discerning aficionados seeking the next big thing before it becomes big, or that hidden gem that can only be found through a knowledgeable staff and an eclectic selection of product. So, it's only fitting that this year the American Booksellers Association and IndieBound will be joining with indie record stores around the globe to mark the second annual celebration of Record Store Day.

Michael Kurtz, president of Music Monitor Network, one of the event's organizers, told BTW via e-mail, "I think [independent bookstores and record stores] share the same connection to our local communities, and we definitely share a desire to work with each other. Working on Record Store Day is hopefully the first step on a long walk together." Added Kurtz: "Our goal is to make independently owned businesses stronger as well as more compelling to their customers so that we can continue to serve our communities."

"We're happy to help publicize this year's celebration of Record Store Day and look forward to working with indie record stores on future promotions," said ABA COO Oren Teicher. "Creating an environment where independent businesses of all types thrive is crucial to the health and diversity of every community. With IndieBound, we're spreading the Local First message in towns and cities across the country, and we welcome the opportunity to partner with locally owned record stores to create promotions and events that highlight each of our unique contributions as well as our common ground."

Record Store Day, sponsored by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), will be held Saturday, April 18, to celebrate the culture and unique place that independently owned record stores occupy both in their local communities and nationally. In solidarity, ABA will be placing an ad in Monitor This!, the magazine of the Music Monitor Network, which will be available at participating record stores, and NARM will advertise Record Store Day in Bookselling This Week. Additionally, Record Store Day organizers provided IndieBound with a list of indie record stores that have been added to IndieBound.org's store search.

Record Store Day debuted last year with about 600 stores. "We just got word last week that there are now 987 stores signed for Record Store Day, with about 250 of them in various countries, and the rest here in the USA," Kurtz said. "The original idea was borrowed from the indie comic book business as we noticed that they had something called 'Free Comic Day.'"

Last year, the celebration garnered a "tremendously positive story about the music business," Kurtz continued. "After years of negativity, Record Store Day was a blast of fresh air." Moreover, the event received the "stamp of approval" from such artists as Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, Metallica, and Peter Gabriel. "Having the artists proclaim their love for our stores was huge."

This year Record Store Day has several innovative campaigns going, Kurtz noted. "We're working with RED Distribution and Metal Blade Records to 'search for the next great metal band' and this has really helped us to connect with fans of heavy metal music, as well as bands like Killswitch Engage, Disturbed, Static X, and Cannibal Corpse -- who will be doing events with us," he said.

This year's event will also see the launch of a "buy vinyl -- make your own t-shirt" promotion with Universal where free "iron-on transfers" will be given away with the purchase of vinyl. "Wilco is also providing the stores with a special edition live concert DVD that, with purchase, will allow fans to go online to download an entire second live concert on video for free," Kurtz said. "The innovations just keep on coming, and we are really looking forward to partnering with the folks at IndieBound for next year's event!" --David Grogan