Vinyl rules Record Store Day's Black Friday sale

On Black Friday, as shoppers stampede malls to bag deals on Blu-ray players and cashmere sweaters, a fringe army of music lovers will be swarming indie record shops.

Record Store Day's fifth Back to Black Friday event promises scores of coveted, exclusive releases, mostly vinyl, by contemporary and legendary acts. Most titles are in short supply and are sure to sell out by midday as fans rush to fatten their collections or nab holiday gifts that rank several notches above garden-variety ties or robes.

'It's become huge,' says Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz, who was knighted by the French minister of culture in January for rescuing a distressed sector of the music industry. 'We'll have people camped out. Some of these releases are very limited and rare.'

Unlike Record Store Day, a single-day celebration staged the third Saturday of every April, Back to Black Friday merchandise remains available through the holiday season.

But there's a catch: Much of the exclusive vinyl is being issued in small lots and won't last through Day 1.

U2's vinyl release of Ordinary Love and Breathe, for the Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom soundtrack, will sell out in minutes, Kurtz predicts. And the Rolling Stones' Got Live If You Want It! EP, on vinyl for the first time since 1965, will be gone by noon. Also sure to vanish fast is the 1964 vinyl reissue of Linus and Lucy from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

'You wouldn't expect it, but the second-most-traded images through record store Facebook pages are Charles Schulz cartoons,' Kurtz says. 'People love Peanuts.'

Discs by the Grateful Dead, Rush, Dave Matthews, Duran Duran, Jack Johnson and Nick Cave also are expected to fly off shelves. If the hot list seems to tilt Boomer, think again.

'When Record Store Day started (in 2007), the average customer age was 49, and now it's 23,' Kurtz says, estimating that consumers younger than 25 buy 70% of vinyl sold. 'Vinyl has had a huge resurgence, especially this year, and it's the young generation's thing. They've adopted it.'

In the first six months of 2013, CD sales fell 14.2% and digital tracks slipped 2.3% compared with the year before, but vinyl sales surged 33.5%, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Young vinyl geeks are scooping up veteran acts and cherry-picking hip contemporary artists. Highly sought discs in the indie realm include a Lana Del Rey picture disc, The Foals' six-song CCTV Sessions and a Silversun Pickups single with two new songs.

'We're delighted to see and hopefully help fuel the resurgence in interest in vinyl,' says Adam Block, president of Sony Music's Legacy Recordings, which on Black Friday is unleashing vinyl by Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon and others. 'Whether this is being driven by sonic, aesthetic or cultural factors, or a combination of these, the excitement over the format exists on both sides of the counter. What makes Record Store Day so interesting is the incredible range of offerings the community supports. Where else will you find Nas, Uncle Tupelo, Miles Davis and Harry Nilsson in the same conversation?'

The vinyl boom has helped sustain independent record stores, with Record Store Day events serving as the year's biggest tent poles. This year's combined sales for both days should exceed $20 million, Kurtz says.

'In Los Angeles, we've had about 10 new record stores open in the past two years. Across the country, I'd estimate another 150 stores have opened, and that's directly attributable to Record Store Day. We give these people confidence. And vinyl gives them something to take ownership of.'

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