I’ve participated in Record Store Day since 2008. I’ve woken up at 4am to unload pallets. I’ve managed queues that wrapped around the block. I’ve watched people buy six copies of a record they’ll never play because they know it’ll sell for triple on Discogs by Monday.

And I’m tired of pretending the event still works the way it was supposed to.

Record Store Day was created with a simple idea: get people into independent record stores. Celebrate the experience of flipping through crates, talking to someone who knows the stock, finding something unexpected. Somewhere around 2018, it became something else entirely.

The Flipper Economy

A significant percentage of people queuing on RSD morning aren’t music fans. They’re resellers. They know which titles will spike on the secondary market, they buy the maximum allowed copies, and they list them before they’ve got back to their car.

I’ve had people come in with a printed spreadsheet of projected Discogs values. Not artists they love. Projected. Resale. Values.

The organisers have tried to address this — per-customer limits, wristband systems, priority for regulars. But when you create artificial scarcity around collectable releases, you attract people motivated by scarcity, not by music.

The Title List Problem

Every year, the RSD title list gets longer and more confusing. Stores have to predict months in advance which titles their customers will want.

Here’s what most people don’t realise: independent stores can’t just order what they want. Allocation is based on account size and distributor relationships. A small shop in regional Victoria doesn’t get the same allocation as a flagship store in Melbourne’s CBD. The system rewards scale, which is exactly the opposite of what a day celebrating independent stores should do.

Then there’s the cost. RSD titles are premium-priced, and stores commit to ordering before knowing every title’s final retail price. I’ve been burned ordering 20 copies of something that came in $15 higher than expected. Those unsold copies sit in the rack for months.

The Environmental Question

Nobody talks about the environmental cost. RSD generates a surge of vinyl production globally. Pressing plants that should be working on independent releases from small artists get their schedules disrupted by RSD orders from major labels. A limited-edition Taylor Swift picture disc jumps the queue ahead of a debut album from a Melbourne band who’ve been waiting four months.

What Would Actually Help Indie Stores

Year-round exclusives. Instead of concentrating everything into two days a year, give indie stores exclusive titles throughout the year. One or two a month creates a reason to visit regularly.

Better allocation. Small stores should get proportionally better allocation, not worse. If the point is supporting the little guys, the little guys should get the stock.

Focus on new music. The RSD list is dominated by reissues and back-catalogue from major labels. Shift the emphasis to new releases from independent artists.

Ditch the artificial scarcity. Limited editions create hype but also frustration and a secondary market that benefits nobody except resellers.

The Australian Context

In Australia specifically, RSD puts additional pressure on an already strained supply chain. We’ve got one major pressing plant, and international shipping adds weeks and dollars to anything pressed overseas.

Australian labels like Chapter Music, Flightless, and Poison City do more for independent music in this country than RSD ever has. They work directly with stores, press reasonable quantities, and price fairly.

I’m Not Saying Cancel It

The event still brings people into shops who might not otherwise visit. The atmosphere is genuinely fun. The community aspect — live music, barbecues, people talking about records — that part works.

But the commercial machinery has drifted so far from the original spirit that it needs a serious rethink. I’ll still participate this year. I’ll still wake up at 4am. But I’ll also keep a stack of records from local artists next to the register, because that’s what actually supports independent music.