Record Stores to Celebrate Their Independence

April 16 marks the fourth annual Record Store Day [1], a celebration of the art of music and the culture that exists among more than 700 independently owned record stores in the U.S. In the spirit of IndieBound, booksellers are encouraged to take this opportunity to help promote their indie neighbors.

Eric Levin, a co-founder of Record Store Day and owner of Criminal Records [2] and Aurora Coffee [3], in Atlanta, Georgia, told BTW that he works closely with Atlanta’s A Capella Books [4], and the businesses constantly cross-promote. Levin hopes other bookstores will spread the word on Record Store Day.

“The helping hand of telling customers to support independent record stores on that day is more than we could ask,” he said. “And, of course, we’ll do the same to help celebrate book stores.”

Locally owned record stores across the U.S. and around the world are scheduled to take part in this year’s celebrations, which include in-store artist performances, the release of special vinyl records and CDs, cook-outs, meet-and-greets, and numerous promotional giveaways.

The event’s organizers have created a Facebook page [5] and made available several web banners and printer-ready signs [6] to help stores promote the festivities. A search feature to find participating record stores is on the Record Store Day website [7].

Locally owned book and record stores share the same connections with the people and businesses in their communities. A cross-promotion between indies can be especially valuable in strengthening awareness of each one’s unique contributions.

“Shopping local, in all aspects of our lives, not just our entertainment, is such an important message,” said Levin.