Record Store Day Sets Sales Spinning

It's vinyl time again. Saturday, April 16 is Record Store Day. The first was held in 2008, with the goal of building traffic at independent record stores.

Today, vinyl has become very sought-after around the world, for the sound and for the retro authenticity, as well as the album art and liner notes. The entire experience contrasts with the click-to-download music experience of the past decade.

Slowly, steadily, vinyl sales are back from the trough and increasing worldwide. And with high-profile events like Record Store Day, labels are timing many new releases to take advantage of higher interest and stronger store traffic.

On social media, look for #RecordStoreDay, #RSD16, and @RecordStoreDay. The official Twitter feed has 150,000+ followers. The official FB page has nearly 390,000 likes.

Newbury Comics, always strong on vinyl, is promoting special pressings and collection-worthy LPs. Yet not all indie vinyl retailers are participating.