Vinyl Record Day attempting to gain momentum

This is an article in Goldmine Magazine and I thought that it is important to share with you the thoughts behind Vinyl Record Day and the Stamp Proposal:

Thomas Edison with his phonograph, in this photograph taken by Matthew Brady in 1877

By Pat Prince

In 2002 Gary Freiberg founded Vinyl Record Day, a nationally established day to celebrate as the organization’s Mission Statement says: “The Preservation of the Cultural Influence, the Recordings and the Cover Art of the Vinyl Record” and to have August 12th as a day of Family, Friends and Music. The choice of the date, August 12, is significant. Reportedly, it is the day Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph in 1877.

So far, Vinyl Record Day has not gained the recognition that, say, Record Store Day has. But it is gaining momentum. Getting national publicity without a budget or a paid staff can be tough. To solve this difficulty Freiberg has written a proposal for a series of First Class postal stamps that commemorate the historical importance of the recordings on vinyl records. The Vinyl Record Stamp proposal has been accepted by the U.S. Postal System, the proposal’s current status is ‘Under Consideration,’ which, according to Freiberg, is a “notable big step toward issuance according to representatives of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee.” Unlike Record Store Day, a for profit group whose focus is to sell music on any format, the goal of the 501 (c) 3 non profit Vinyl Record Day (VRD) is to increase awareness of the importance to preserve our audio history recorded on vinyl and to encourage a day in the middle of summer when friends and family gather together with their favorite music to remember that regardless of world news or personal difficulties life always has its goodness.

Below is a recent interview with Gary Freiberg, founder of Vinyl Record Day:

How did this idea of Vinyl Record Day become a reality?

Gary Freiberg: It was spurred by a couple of things. I conceived the idea in November of 2001 inspired in part by the events of September 11th. The idea for Vinyl Record Day (VRD) came from both the intense constant news that we were getting then, combined with my growing involvement in vinyl.........

Read the rest of this indepth interview here: http://www.goldminemag.com/article/vinyl-record-day-attempting-to-gain-momentum