When Matt Vaughan heard that a Saturday in April had been set aside two years ago to honor indie-music stores, the owner of Seattle's Easy Street Records thought it was “a waving of the white flag." Still, he went along and opened his doors with modest expectations.
“To my surprise, it turned out to be the busiest day of the year," said Vaughan, who has a store in West Seattle and another on Queen Anne. “I wasn't even staffed for it."
Now in its third year, Record Store Day has become bigger than Christmas for many mom-and-pop music shops, making it an important weapon in their fierce battle against digital downloads and big-box discount chains.
On April 17, die-hard music fans are expected to head to more than 1,400 record stores worldwide, including nearly three dozen in the Puget Sound region. The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys and Soundgarden all plan to mark the occasion with exclusive releases. Some stores will host musical performances.
At Sonic Boom Records in Seattle, the take from last year's Record Store Day surpassed owner Jason Hughes' top daily mark of the holiday-sales season by nearly a fourth.
“I hear people all the time say, 'God, you're still around?' “ said Hughes, who has a store in Ballard and another on Capitol Hill. “They're also the kind of people who say, 'I can't believe book stores are still around. I thought everyone had a Kindle.' It's like, c'mon, get a life."
The predicted demise of brick-and-mortar music stores has become a sore spot with Hughes, who remembers being counted out in the late 1990s when Amazon.com began selling CDs.
“To my surprise, it turned out to be the busiest day of the year," said Vaughan, who has a store in West Seattle and another on Queen Anne. “I wasn't even staffed for it."
Now in its third year, Record Store Day has become bigger than Christmas for many mom-and-pop music shops, making it an important weapon in their fierce battle against digital downloads and big-box discount chains.
On April 17, die-hard music fans are expected to head to more than 1,400 record stores worldwide, including nearly three dozen in the Puget Sound region. The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys and Soundgarden all plan to mark the occasion with exclusive releases. Some stores will host musical performances.
At Sonic Boom Records in Seattle, the take from last year's Record Store Day surpassed owner Jason Hughes' top daily mark of the holiday-sales season by nearly a fourth.
“I hear people all the time say, 'God, you're still around?' “ said Hughes, who has a store in Ballard and another on Capitol Hill. “They're also the kind of people who say, 'I can't believe book stores are still around. I thought everyone had a Kindle.' It's like, c'mon, get a life."
The predicted demise of brick-and-mortar music stores has become a sore spot with Hughes, who remembers being counted out in the late 1990s when Amazon.com began selling CDs.
