Scratch that: Why this music company boss can't wait for Record Store Day
Robert Buck, president of Atlantic Music and Merchandise, has helped prepare vinyl releases for acts like Rum Ragged, Nick Earle and Valmy. (Sarah Blackmore/CBC )
Music fiends are looking ahead to a big weekend filled with rare and exclusive vinyl drops released solely for an annual day of celebrating local record stores.
Record Store Day 2024 is Saturday. Long lines of vinyl hunters are expected to reach the hundreds at participating stores.
"Vinyl has really come back with a bit of a rage," said Robert Buck, president of St. John's-based Atlantic Music and Merchandise.
"There's so many options out there now. We're actually able to do things like coloured vinyl and splattered coloured vinyl and pictured vinyl and all that kind of stuff that really was hip in the '70s and then kind of faded away. All these specialty sort of things are coming back."
Buck's company is the Atlantic representative for Microforum Vinyl, based in Toronto. He says that operation is one of the premier vinyl pressing plants in North America.
Atlantic Music and Merchandise is manufacturing the latest records for local acts Valmy, Rum Ragged and Nick Earle.
WATCH | From two years ago, see our spotlight on folksinger Valmy:
Buck said fans are seeking not only high-quality vinyl but packaging and album art that can be enjoyed for their own merits, too.
For instance, Rum Ragged's new album, Gone Jiggin', features a vertical design so the album opens up lengthwise.
"It's actually been designed from top to bottom as opposed to left to right, so you get a full kind of image on it, which is really cool," he said.
As streaming services dominate the music landscape, vinyl — despite its resurgence — still accounts for a minority share of music sales.
Merchandise, a specialty of Buck's company, can provide important revenue to artists, but so too can vinyl.
"It's almost the same thing as akin to merchandise.… People don't go to concerts because they're looking to fill their wardrobe. They don't buy your T-shirt at the show because they don't have any T-shirts home," he said.
"In the same respect, they buy the music not because they don't have it, but because it's a mechanism to support you."
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