Sabrina Carpenter performs at Coachella on Friday, April 12, 2024. Credit: Christina House/Los Angeles Times via TNS
Disclaimer: This story was originally published 9:41 p.m. Tuesday. According to a Wednesday post on Magnolia Thunderpussy’s Instagram page, the store’s Sabrina Carpenter listening party has since been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Local record stores are working late not because they’re singers, but to allow Carpenters — fans of pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter — to celebrate the release of “Short n’ Sweet.”
Carpenter’s sixth studio album will be released on all platforms at midnight Aug. 23, and record stores around the country — including two Columbus record stores — will stay open late Thursday night to celebrate the release.
The Columbus listening parties — one at Used Kids Records at 11:30 p.m. Thursday and one at Magnolia Thunderpussy at 11:45 p.m. Thursday — are part of an official record-store-listening-party series hosted in connection with Carpenter’s record label, Island Records, that involves over 140 record stores nationwide. Both events are free to attend, and along with selling the album at midnight, both Used Kids Records and Magnolia Thunderpussy will stream the new album in its entirety when the clock strikes 12 a.m.
Tara Ryan-Gallagher, Used Kids’ marketing, communications and booking manager, said the Used Kids event will include snacks, raffles, exclusive Carpenter merchandise and giveaways from radio station Mix 107.9, which will also be in attendance.
Ryan-Gallagher said attendees can enter the free raffle to win official Carpenter merchandise provided by Island Records, including notebooks, posters, lip-shaped candy and an event-exclusive poster — which will be the raffle grand prize, considering just one was made for each participating record store.
Additionally, Ryan-Gallagher said Used Kids purchased some prizes of its own that will be raffled off throughout the night.
“We wanted to have even more grand prizes to give away because, for a crowd of probably 100-plus people, it’s not enough, so we bought some unofficial Sabrina Carpenter merch off of Etsy,” Ryan-Gallagher said. “There is a Sabrina Carpenter flag we are going to give away, a T-shirt and a display shelf for if you bought the record or CD.”
In contrast to many early-access listening parties Used Kids hosts — which provide fans with the chance to listen to the album before the release — Ryan-Gallagher said the album will be available to purchase on vinyl, CD and cassette after midnight, and the first 100 attendees to purchase the album during the event will receive exclusive stickers.
Additionally, Ryan-Gallagher said there will be an indie-exclusive alternate cover cassette that will be available to purchase.
“We have only done midnight releases a handful of times,” Ryan-Gallagher said. “Having the opportunity to allow people to actually walk away with the album is super exciting.”
Ryan-Gallagher said having the opportunity to host a listening party for pop fans is particularly important to her.
“We have never done [a listening party] for a pop artist before. It has always been for Metallica or Queens of the Stone Age, which are super fun too, but my personal bread and butter is pop music,” Ryan-Gallagher said. “Historically, the stereotype of record stores is these old dudes that listen to Led Zeppelin, so we’ve been working really hard to break down that stereotype and make it a more welcoming space to people who listen to all sorts of music.”
Ryan-Gallagher said Used Kids will always host as many listening parties as it can.
“We’ve been building this culture of listening parties. Whenever we see a solicitation for any listening party or release party, we sign up for it,” Ryan-Gallagher said. “We just want to give [fans] a place where they can celebrate their favorite artists and meet people who have similar interests.”
Charlotte Kubat-Vishak, one of Magnolia Thunderpussy’s buyers, said when she first began planning the store’s event, her first thought was to make it a pajama party.
“The first song I knew by [Carpenter] was called ‘In My Bed,’” Kubat-Vishak said. “The music video takes place in a bedroom, and everything is plush and pink, and I just thought it would be a perfect aesthetic. Plus it’s going to be late at night, and I would want to be in my PJs anyway.”
Similar to Used Kids, Kubat-Vishak said Magnolia Thunderpussy will have official Carpenter-branded notebooks — which will be given away to the first 50 attendees — stickers — which will be given to those who pre-ordered the album — lip-shaped candy and the event-exclusive poster.
Kubat-Vishak said she is excited that Magnolia Thunderpussy has the opportunity to participate in this event.
“We wanted to do this listening party because we learned from Record Store Day 2024 that [Carpenter] had an enthusiastic fan base in Columbus,” Kubat-Vishak said. “We also haven’t done a midnight sale in a very long time so, for me especially, it’s exciting to be able to offer the album for sale at midnight.”
To learn more about Island Records’ “Short n’ Sweet” listening party series, visit Record Store Day’s website.
