Tidwell was one of hundreds of independent record store owners participating in this year’s Record Store Day. RECORd STORE dAY began in 2007 as a way to spread the word about about the unique culture surrounding the hundreds of independently-owned record stores in the United States and the thousands of similar stores internationally, according to its official website, www.recordstoreday.com. Celebrated the third Saturday of every April, Record Store Day is endorsed by many mainstream artists who arrange for special releases and promotional products exclusive to the event. Musician support has helped Record Store Day boost the sale of vinyl, which has inched up each of the past few years. Nielsen SoundScan statistics show a trending increase in vinyl album sales, with a record 224,000 LPs sold in the United States during the week ending April 21, 2013. Coinciding with Record Store Day, those sales broke the previous record of 213,000 set the week ending Dec. 23, 2012. Record Store Day 2012 statistics showed 172,000 vinyl albums sold. Of the record 224,000 LPs sold in April, approximately 200,000 were purchased at independent record stores, according to Nielsen. 26 |
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Owner Paul Tidwell said photography and a love of antiques — along with a box of records he rescued from the trash 20 years ago — planted the seeds for The Record Store.
“SURPRISING TO SOME, BUT VINYL HAS A LARGE SOUND RANGE,” TIDWELL SAYS.