Photo Credit: Anthony Martino
eBay is helping Record Store Day continue its celebration of vinyl this year, despite serious disruptions from COVID-19.
The partnership with Record Store Day aims to help thousands of local record stores make sales online. This year, Record Store Day is a series of drops available online. It’s usually a single day celebration, but instead, RSD will last through October with three drops. The first has already come and gone on August 29, but you can still hit up the September and October drops below.
Record Store Day 2020 – Special Edition Drops
August 29:
- Charli XCX, “Vroom Vroom EP”
- Billie Eilish, “Live At Third Man Records”
- David Bowie, “ChangesNowBowie”
- The Pretenders, “Live! At the Paradise, Boston, 1980”
- U2, “11 O’CLOCK TICK TOCK (40th Anniversary Edition)”
- Midland, “Live From The Palomino”
September 26:
- Fleetwood Mac, “The Alternate Rumours”
- The Notorious B.I.G., “It Was All A Dream: The Notorious B.I.G. 1994-1999”
- The Rolling Stones, “Steel Wheels Live (Atlantic City, NJ, 1989)”
- Britney Spears, “Oops!…I Did It Again (Remixes and B-side)”
- The Doors, “The Soft Parade: Stripped”
October 24:
- Miles Davis, “Double Image: Rare Miles From the Complete B*****s Brew Sessions”
- The Rolling Stones, “Metamorphosis UK”
- Cheap Trick, “Out To Get You! Live 1977”
- Johnny Cash, “Classic Cash: Hall Of Fame Series – Early Mixes (1987)”
- Beck, “No Distraction / Uneventful Days (Remixes)”
Karl Groeger, president of Looney Tunes Record Store, shares some insight into how COVID-19 has impacted his store. “The last few months for our 49-year-old brick and mortar store have been difficult, to say the least, dealing with complications of the coronavirus,” Groeger said. “Our saving grace has been our eBay store. Our online business has skyrocketed from 15% of our business in 2019 to now over 35%.”
Online sales for Record Store Day 2020 will likely continue to drive online promotions. eBay is also celebrating the upcoming Vinyl Week starting on September 28.
Special exclusive collections sourced from Record Store Day-approved vendors will be available. The selection will include rare finds and staff picks from all participating shops. For those stores that can remain open, in-store purchases are obviously preferred. But social distancing and lockdowns are usually complicated for tight-quartered record shops.
Those who buy an album during Vinyl Week will also receive a free three-month TIDAL subscription. Another partnership with MusiCares will see a curated auction with all proceeds benefitting the charity.