…when we say initial details, that pretty much just amounts to the date – 21st April 2018.
Although we’re certain that, even by our standards, it’s too early to start queuing outside your favourite record store, we’re already interested to see how this year’s event pans out. Last year’s event still attracted the scalpers who threaten to kill the collector’s market by buying anything they get their hands on and putting it straight on eBay but perhaps as worrying are the major labels who clog up both pressing plants and racks with product which misses the whole spirit of Record Store Day.
Re-issuing music which has already seen innumerable releases in different forms is a teeth-gnashingly annoying waste of an occasion when vaults could genuinely be explored and long-lost treasures be made available to fans who have kept a patient vigil for most of their music-loving lives. There appears to be little middle ground with releases – the two camps are very firmly, “vanished seemingly before it even hits the racks” and “over-stock for the rest of time”. This says much about both what is being released and the eye-stinging prices. We’d love to see the record-buying public and indie record stores take back Record Store Day away from the greedy opportunists of all sizes and remind us why we feel in love with music in the first place.
Of course, we’ll change our minds when they announce this year’s releases and we get all giddy!