Record Store Day is a nationwide event that encourages music aficionados to go out and support local record stores. For Oxford residents, that means going to The End Of All Music for a chance to grab some limited edition and rare vinyl records.
Plenty of residents visited on April 16 to support the 5th Annual Record Store Day event at The End Of All Music. An employee at the store, William Boyle, said this year’s crowd was better than the past few years.
“That was my third Record Store Day here, and it’s always great. This year was the steadiest it has been,” Boyle said. “In the past, there is usually a two or three-hour big rush and then it quiets down a little bit.”
The owner of The End Of All Music, David Swider, said that participating in Record Store Day comes with a few requirements.
“The majority of your business must be records and in the store, not online. There are other guidelines like you cannot sell Record Store Day titles early by preorder,” Swider said. “The titles must be on a first come, first serve basis. You also cannot auction the pieces on places like eBay or Discogs.”
Outside of the limited edition releases for the event, shoppers also find it a great reason to support small business. Cody Thomason, who visited the shop on Record Store Day, said that local record stores have more to offer than large distributors.
“I think it’s a great reason to shop at a small local store instead of a large distributor. Sometimes you can get good prices from larger companies but it’s very convenient to have a great place like The End Of All Music in town,” Thomason said. “It’s so much more fun to go to Record Store Day and be a part of the community than it is just to buy from a large distributor.”
Thomason was one of many to take advantage of a chance to buy some music from the local record shop.
“I ended up buying Sunswimmer by New Madrid. They are a band I’ve seen play in Oxford a few times, and they’ve been great every time, but I didn’t own any of their music, and the album was a great price, so I was excited when I found that album,” Thomason said.
The event also included several local businesses. High Point Coffee, BBQ Smokeshop and Yalobusha Brewery were all at the event, including various local bands playing throughout the day.
While not every record store participates in the yearly celebration, it seems safe to say The End Of All Music will continue its annual tradition.
I’m glad we do because it’s great fun and it’s our biggest day of the year,” Boyle said.
Quinton Smith is an intern for hottytoddy.com and is a current student at The Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Quinton can be reached at qosmith@go.olemiss.edu.
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