Record Store Scavenger Hunt

1. Ryan Williams
Vinyl Remains
Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania

2. Extended Play Album
They had the debut Extended Play from R.E.M Chronic
Town. Released August 24, 1982, this EP is where the
band established the haunting folk and garage rock
signature sound that the group became known for.

3. Long Play Album
Just a little over a year after his passing, Circles from Mac
Miller, was released January 17, 2020. A statement from
Miller’s parents on Instagram read, “At the time of his
passing, Malcolm was well into the process of recording
his companion album to Swimming, entitled, Circles. Two
different styles complementing each other , completing a
circle-Swimming in Circles was the concept.” They would
go on to state that producer, Jon Brion who helped with
Swimming was determined to
fi
nish this project for Mac.

4. –Greg Anderson, Vinyl Remains owner
“Every once in a while they will come in the store, but it is pretty
rare. Most of the time they communicate with me through e-mail.”
Research Question
❖ Question: How often do marketing reps visit from the record labels?

5. Events
❖ Greg told me that they do mainly buying,
selling and trading vinyls with people. His
shop is very small so he doesn’t host any
events inside, but he does have
fl
yers and
tickets for events happening in the
Pittsburgh area. I have put the
fl
yers
displayed in the store in the ‘Promos’
section since they are for promoting the
bands or artists.

6. Exclusives
❖ There were no exclusives and it was for the same reason as the events. They don’t sell many
new albums and they don’t do album drops. Essentially, they just aren’t big enough to be
involved in Record Store Day. There may come the time where an RSD Exclusive gets traded
in, but that would probably be very rare. It’s unfortunate that there aren’t bigger stores in
my area.

7. SWAG
❖ Greg gave me a cool sticker with my
purchase. There was nothing else to pickup
there in terms of SWAG and I was really
hoping for more but at least a sticker is
better than nothing.

8. Promos
❖ There were many
fl
yers at the front
of the store promoting artists in the
area. One that caught my particular
attention was the “Four Chord”
Music Fest with Yellowcard
headlining. I just totally forgot that
they existed and was shocked to see
them still doing shows 20 years
later. Interesting venue choice as
well in at Wild Things Park.
Washington Wild Things are a
amateur baseball team.

9. Reflection
❖ Overall, I wasn’t totally disappointed, but the selections for my music taste were
severely lacking, so it was very underwhelming. I understand it, because he said they
do mainly buying off of people and selling those used vinyls rather than buying and
selling brand new. I purchased Circles from Mac Miller, Dean Martin’s Greatest Hits!
Vol. 1, and A Night At The Opera from Queen. They were in good condition so I was
happy about that. There de
fi
nitely needs to be a better store in my area though,
because Vinyl Remains is the only place that is close. I could have driven into
downtown Pittsburgh to go to The Attic in Millvale, which probably would have
been better, but would have been a much longer trip. I would be looking to pass on
this store if I were searching for a place to promote a local artist that was releasing an
album.

10. References
❖ Lamarre, Carl. January 8, 2020. Mac Miller to Release First Posthumous Album
‘Circles.’ Billboard. Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-
hip-hop/mac-miller-circles-album-8547555/
❖ R.E.M. (n.d.) R.E.M. Biography, Songs, & Albums. AllMusic. https://
www.allmusic.com/artist/rem-mn0000325459/biography
❖ Vinyl Remains. (n.d.) New | Old | Re-Told. Retrieved from https://
www.vinylremainspg13.com/