Hi Everyone,

This past week we wrapped the last of our RSD Drop events. I hope you have been checking out the awesome recaps that the stores have been sending out for each, but I wanted to provide you with a CIMS-wide wrap-up for the event as a whole. As you are reading the info below, remember this is meant to serve as a summary of all three days and to give us a comparison of RSD 20 vs RSD 19.

Most stores were open about 10-12 hours on the drops day with hours varying by store. Some concentrated their RSD efforts to the morning hours, curbside, etc., and left the afternoon for regular shopping, while others kept the full days open for shopping the titles.

Sales by Unit were up on average about 3% from RSD 2019

Sales by Dollar were up about 18-20% from RSD 2019 with at least one store (shout out to Homer’s) beating their RSD 2019 -- their biggest sales record ever!

The thing that I was very happy to see, which I am sure everyone else reading this will also be happy to hear, is that our sell-through overall on 2020 RSD titles were excellent. The average for our stores was about 80%. Online selling capabilities and the ability to market these titles across 3 special event days really contributed to the success here.

The stores wished they would have had more of….wait for it…. Fleetwood Mac! But also: Miles, Mingus, Billie Eilish, Grateful Dead, Neal Casal, Allman Brothers, Skid Row, Freddie Gibbs, and Judas Priest

Top Albums at the stores across all three drops (not ranked)

Fleetwood Mac- The Alternate Rumours
Billie Eilish- Live at Third Man Records
Gorillaz- D-Sides
Tyler the Creator- Cherry Bomb
Miles Davis- Double Image: Rare Miles from the Complete Bitches Brew Sessions
Paul McCartney- McCartney
David Bowie- I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour '74)
Gorillaz- G-Sides
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony- Creepin' On Ah Come Up
The Who- Odds & Sodds

Top Singles across all three drops (also not ranked in order)

Lennon/Ono w/ The Plastic Ono Band- "Instant Karma! (2020 Ultimate Mixes)"
Jimi Hendrix- "Message To Love (Live)" / "Changes (Live)"
Pink Floyd- "Arnold Layne (Live 2007)"
Beck- "No Distraction (Khraungbin Remix)" / "Uneventful Days (St. Vincent Remix)"
John Prine/Kelsey Waldon- "The Kentucky Sessions"

Even though stores were more limited in what they could do “event-wise” this year, they still went above and beyond to make the day feel special for their customers offering takeaways, giveaways and promotions, special used product in the mix, prizes and of course, hand sanitizer!

There were different opinions among our stores (emphasis on the Independent in CIMS) about how many and when the drops occurred, but the overall feedback was that our approach (though notably more work across the board) was a success. It accomplished our goal of making these days more manageable at the store level (crowds management, buying, credit limits, etc…) and making our customers feel safe while keeping the excitement for the releases.

Universally it would have been preferred to be able to space these dates out a little bit so that we were not so close to our Black Friday event, but we are all doing the best we can to roll with the punches of 2020.

I am so proud of our stores for all of the creativity and hard work they put into pulling off these events. I remain grateful to everyone that plays a role in bringing these products and this event to life, especially Michael Kurtz and Carrie Colliton, two people that really embody that motto of ours that “Record Store Day is Every Day”. Here is looking forward to a fantastic Black Friday.

Thank you all for your continued support,
Andrea

Here are the charts:

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
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