Art of Listening #6 with Keith Jopling
In this sixth edition of the Art of Listening by the ever-incisive Keith Jopling, Keith looks at Record Store Day and Tim Burgess’ Merch Market.
Record Store Day is here again, and now The Merch Market is coming too. Get involved!
There is so much that is good about Record Store Day. It knits together independent record shops so as to be more than the sum of their parts. It turns music fans into (much needed) music shoppers. It rallies artists and labels to create special editions and re-releases. It is democratic, good capitalism, also much needed right now; enjoyable, and not exploitative (provided the flippers and touts stay clear, there’s always someone trying to cash in beyond the spirit of it all). It’s a movement created by music people for music people. It has evolved into a genuine global community. It isn’t networked or monetised via an app, and it isn’t obsessed with ‘engagement’. The community is unspoken, but browsing record stores is a universal experience - the idle flicking through covers, random chat with staffers, the serendipitous joy of discovering something totally unexpected. A record store is both local and yet somehow very global, and the growing return of independent record stores around the world has as much to do with harnessing communities, if not more, than Facebook, TikTok or Instagram or any other platform.
The co-founder of Record Store Day, Michael Kurtz, didn’t anticipate the initiative’s success, especially with younger music fans. In Jen Otter Bickerdicke’s book Why Vinyl Matters, he told the author: “There was always a culture, and love, of vinyl before Record Store Day. In the first year or two, most of the people that came out to celebrate Record Store Day were in their 40s and 50s. Now it's mostly people under 25”. Kurtz had previously run the ‘Department of Record Stores’ and together with some other independent store owners and a supportive email from Sir Paul McCartney, he rounded up the Coalition of Independent Music Stores and the Alliance of Music Stores (you cannot accuse US independent record shops of lacking in collectives) to make these various networks of record stores to be more than the sum of their parts, at least for a day.
The event has steadily grown in stature, now with record stores in over 40 countries participating with live performances, artist signings, and in-store events. Independent record stores see massive business spikes on Record Store Day, sometimes equating to a month’s worth of sales in a single day. For the 2025 event, Post Malone has taken the role of Global Ambassador and Sam Fender UK Ambassador. Artists love it.
Now, to Tim Burgess. Erstwhile singer of The Charlatans, founder of Tim’s (Twitter) Listening Party, coffee enthusiast. An avid record shopper himself (his Tim Book Two: Adventures in Vinyl is great), Burgess is becoming something of an industry advocate, campaigner and all-round renaissance man. He’s announced ‘The Merch Market’, a one day (but here’s hoping annual, multi-location) event on May 25th - inaugurated in Manchester. Across three separate venues, bands can sell their merch and keep 100% of the takings. It’s a stroke of genius. It solves a knotty problem of venues and promoter commission on Merch (often creaming off the profits that would make a difference to the artist) and gives artists a positive boost to their income. It gives fans a chance to once again convene as a community and support their artists knowing that the middlemen and tech bros are not allowed in.
I hope artists show up in person. Imagine an all star line-up of market stall holders from Shirley Manson to Tom Odell, to…well Tim Burgess, happily trading merch while passing the time of day with fans and casual shoppers. And why not? If Shirley Manson sells 100 Garbage T Shirts at £25 a pop and keeps 100%, the band can expect to make a profit of between £1-2k, equivalent to one million streams. Not bad for a day's work and some serious fan engagement, as in eyeball to eyeball. Expect T-shirts, posters, and hopefully posher collectable merch such as lithographs. Chris Martin could even pitch up and sell the surplus Moon Music kitchenware products that didn’t sell out on QVC!
This coming Saturday 12th April, get down to your local record shop or make the trip into the big city near you. And come May 25th, if that happens to be Manchester then get yourself there. If we want a fairer market system whereby artists can make proper income and connect with fans directly, then these self-starter industry initiatives are the way to go, and they need our support and custom. It’s win-win, good capitalism. And the music is great too.
Learn more about Keith Jopling:
Keith is a music strategist, advisor, consultant, writer and mentor. In 2021 he started the music podcast The Art of Longevity, featured under Spotify’s “must listen” music podcasts and on all other platforms. The archive sits on his music curation site The Song Sommelier.
Keith has worked with the boardrooms of labels, streaming services, start-ups and investors. He has held previous roles with Sony Music, Spotify, EMI and the BPI. Most recently he was Consulting Director at boutique music agency MIDiA Research (2019-2024) and began his career in music as Research Director at global trade body IFPI (2000-2006).
As an educator, he has lectured in music business, strategy and innovation at Henley Business School, NYU, BIMM, ACM, Belmont, Syracuse, Westminster and the University of Krems, Austria.
The FAC's 100% Venues campaign has also been fighting to combat punitive merchandise fees. Artists can see the venues that have signed up to be commission-free and see the other work that the FAC has been doing in this area via our 100% Venues hub.