Record Store Day: the best day of a fan's life or an easy meal ticket?

After weeks of anticipation, Record Store Day has been and gone. Humble, defiant local record shops have long been the bedrock of indie music scenes all across the land. A day devoted to their celebration them is richly deserved.

It was a beautiful, exciting day for any music fan. A day that promised guerrilla in-store gigs and heralded the opportunity to snap up swathes of limited edition vinyl released by bands and record labels especially for the event; at super-cheap prices. The reason? To raise the profile of independent record shops; to entice music fans through the shop door and money through the till.

Since Record Store Day however, much has been made in the media of how these rarities have been exchanging hands for vastly inflated prices online. Blur’s Fool’s Day, for example, is now going for over £150 on eBay.

As a pinchbeck attempt at edgy journalism, I have taken it upon myself to illustrate this price-hike with a very unscientific financial analysis of the records I managed to purchase on April 17th. Let’s begin.

===================================
Rolling Stones – Plundered My Soul
An unreleased track from the Exile On Main Street Sessions by the greatest band ever. Only 1,000 made. My proudest purchase.
Price paid: £4.99 // eBay: £60.00
===================================
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Just Like Honey
The pioneers of shoegaze? Very possibly. A re-release of the white noise specialists’ 1985 single. Only 750 made.
Price paid: £4.99 // eBay: £16.99
===================================
Foals – Spanish Sahara
Unless you live in a cave or in the sea, the intricate riffery and ice-cool melodies of Foals are pretty much inescapable. That’s a good thing. Numbered 7”. 1,000 released.
Price paid: £4.99 // eBay: £24.99
===================================
Queens Of The Stone Age – Feel Good Hit Of The Summer
A re-release of the blistering track that ignited QOTSA’s rocket-propelled ascent to cult status. Picture disk, only 500 copies released.
Price paid: £5.99 // eBay: £24.99
===================================

So based on what’s being charged on eBay, I could make £126.97 from my initial £20.96 spend. That’s a profit of £106.01. Not bad for just buying a few records. (Just call me Branson.)

It’s little wonder, then, that these rarities are exchanging hands for as much as 400% their original price. It’s playschool economics that teaches us that if something has short supply and high demand, its value will increase.

I’m not about to part with my newly acquired loot. (I purchased those records because I’m a music geek and I get a kick out of owning them.) But you can see why people would sell them on for a quick profit. But is that fair? Does it bring into question the moral fibre from which these pelfish peddlers are sewn?

Sure, the record shop still gets its money. But those that are profiteering from rare vinyl tarnish the essence of Record Store Day. It’s a celebration. Those that turn it into a personal business crusade do so at the expense of the genuine music fan; the fan who is one step behind the man in the queue with £s in his eyes. It’s desperately sad if music fans are missing out, particularly as the exorbitant prices being charged online will simply be too much for some.

But this phenomenon is by no means bound to music. I wonder how much Picasso or Monet used to sell their paintings for? That those paintings went on to be worth millions was of slim relevance to their personal bank accounts and so it is for those of their beneficiaries today. It’s the owners that are quids in.

The flip side of the argument is that these musical rarities would not be for sale at such inflated prices were there not a market for it. It’s heartening and encouraging for the music industry that people are prepared to pay over the odds to get their mitts on rare music. It shows passion.

“I think it’s a double-edged sword” says my local record shop man, Adrian Dutt of North Devon’s Solo Music. “People know they can make money so they buy things they don’t want to keep. I have paid big money for rare records in the past that I just haven't been able to get hold of normally. As a fan, I don't mind paying it.

“It’s ridiculous how the Blur record is worth so much. But in the current economic climate can anyone be blamed for being a budding entrepreneur?”

Whether or not the scapegrace wheeler dealers that make a clever profit from these rarities plunder the soul of the music industry is a matter of opinion. The only sure thing is that it cannot be stopped.