In the past week we have been able to read about the fact that Sweden now officially is a part of the world-round celebration of the Record Store Day on April 18th.
The past years a lot of Gothenburg's and Sweden's record stores have become victims of internet stores and downloads (legal and illegal). And i understand why, its cheaper and has a better coverage of all the music available for us. And its open 24|7. A colleague of mine said that she buys her music online when the kids are asleep at 11 pm at night. She could never find the time to actually go to a store and "shop around". Its easy to do it online, but shopping for music has lost that mystical feeling that is surrounding a record store. How many of us music nerds haven't dreamed of being slightly more like Rob [in High Fidelity] from time to time? I know i did.
The forecast for Swedish records stores are bleak. The local newspaper made some research and most of the one's that are open today will probably have to close down within the year. A business can't run on passion alone. A few is planning to start selling online too, or create a special nisch that attracts more people. Thought's of creating music cafés has been mentioned. Only the future will know.
Its with a slightly melancholy feeling i will celebrate the Record Store Day this spring. Sales, live acts and celebrations will hopefully attract the crowds too.
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Read more about The Record Store Day on the official website
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