Reinvent Retail

From Hear/Say magazine (www.hearsay-online.com)

By Jeff Niesel

There’s a scene in High Fidelity, the film based on Nick Hornby’s terrific book about the wiseass characters that work at an independent record store, in which one of the clerks (played by Jack Black) plays a Beta Band disc just to see how many customers come up wanting to know what he just spun. The trick works like a charm and everyone in the store wants to know what it was that he just spun. While it’s exaggerated for effect, the scene does ring true. Indie record stores have always been places where discriminating fans can discover obscure music.

But now that the digital age is upon us and MySpace has become a virtual proving ground for hot new bands, record stores have had to adapt. Even big box office retail chains have made adjustments. Last year, Best Buy inked an exclusive deal with Guns N’ Roses for its long-awaited Chinese Democracy and WalMart has had exclusive releases from Journey, AC/DC and the Eagles. So it’s only natural independent stores would attempt something similar, albeit on a much smaller scale.

This year, you’ll be able to find Wilco’s live DVD, Ashes, exclusively at indie record shops. In addition, indie stores will have exclusive rights to a double 10-inch vinyl version of My Morning Jacket’s Evil Urges as well as a series of Radiohead EPs. Merge Records will also put out an exclusive 18-track compilation. All those releases are scheduled to come out April 18, the date stores around the country celebrate the second annual National Record Store Day.

“When we were working with our friends at Warner Brothers last year on Metallica’s launching of Record Store Day, we were also talking with [Wilco], and the Nonesuch guys too,” Music Monitor Network president and Record Store founder Michael Kurtz explains. “They know how much our stores love this band so we talked about all kinds of cool ideas, including the possible release of [the Wilco live album] Kicking Television on vinyl, but the timing wasn’t right. We’ve been talking with Nonesuch and Warners about Wilco for almost a year.”

Last year’s Record Store Day was a success on many different levels. Metallica launched the event by holding an in-store signing to launch the reissues of the vinyl versions of their old albums. If anything Record Store Day is just an amplified version of what record stores try to do on a regular basis. Namely, offer exclusive merchandise, knowledgeable help and provide a connection to the city’s independent culture. New York City’s Other Music, for example, has hosted in-store appearances by acts such as the Tindersticks, DJ Shadow and Mouse on Mars. The store’s Web site boasts that the shop offers “an unparalleled selection of underground and experimental CDs, LPs, imports and out-of-print rarities.”

Last year’s in-store appearance by former Beatle Paul McCartney resulted in a Grammy nomination for Amoeba Records, which put out a live recording of the show.

“There’s nothing as glamorous to me as a record store,” says Paul McCartney in an email distributed by NARMM. “When played Amoeba in Los Angeles, I realized what fantastic memories such a collection of music brings back when you see it all in one place. This is why I’m more than happy to support Record Store Day and I hope that these kinds of stores will be there for us all for many years to come.”

For Hoodlums, an indie store that spent a decade on the Arizona State University campus until recently moving because of a fire, community involvement is key to surviving in the digital age.
“We are having local bands, local directors, and local artists teach, consign and showcase their work at our store,” says co-owner Steve Wiley. “We are doing co-promotions with the indie bookstore next to us. We are involved with local charities aplenty. We have a great location in a community center, and we are taking advantage of it. We’ve been making up own events to bring in customers and stay involved with the community. Check out our Pink Floyd support group or Community Movie Night. These things are easy to do, cheap to do, and they help create a buzz in the store and online.”

Stores like Portland, Maine’s Bull Moose have also tried to cater to customers by offering more than just CDs.

“Around here, indie record store culture is alive and well,” says vice president Chris Brown. “We have a lot of local bands play in the store and sell tickets for local events, plays fundraisers. As you know, the music stores that are still around are evolving into more general media stores by selling movies and videos. As tastes change, it’s natural. Rob Zombie makes horror movies, so his fans will be interested in his movies and horror movies. All those things fit together now.”
That last year’s Record Store Day gave stores a bump that lasted for a good while is a sign the independent store still has much to offer.

“I was in a Record Store Day planning meeting with UMG [Universal Music Group] last week and they rattled off some small percentage increase in sales that UMG saw for the indie retail sector last year on Record Store Day,” Kurtz recalls. “And then they said, ‘But the good news is that this small increase didn’t go away. It stayed!’ In this economic environment, I would call a ‘small increase in sales’ a victory. The reality is that Record Store Day is celebrated in our stores in a myriad of ways 365 days a year. The stores are finding better ways as retailers to reach their community and Record Store Day is just a touchstone to reinforce how special and essential these stores are to the music business and their local communities.”