Saturday is the beginning of the pandemic version of record day, which this year is being split into three Saturdays across three months to (hopefully) thin out the crowds and make it easier for stores to handle the logistics of socially distanced crate digging. Some are taking reservations for shopping time slots, some are using lottery systems, some will sell Record Store Day product only online (previously an RSD no-no) and one apparently will let customers shop via ZOOM, Variety's CHRIS WILLMAN reports. Among the goodies on sale Saturday will be vinyl from BILLIE EILISH, the WEEKND, DAVID BOWIE and THELONIOUS MONK... A great way to understand the peculiar magic of Record Store Day is to watch the first few minutes of VINYL NATION, a documentary valentine to vinyl records that opens virtually today. And then settle in ad watch the rest of the film, which travels across the US to trace the rise, fall and resurgence of vinyl through the eyes of musicians, labels, manufacturers, collectors and totally-not-intimidating record store clerks (it's almost disappointing how nice they all seem). The doc examines how those collectors have changed over the years from weird middle-age dudes with ponytails, to young women buying Billie Eilish and Britney Spears records at URBAN OUTFITTERS, to kids with small collections of DISNEY records, to middle-age dudes without ponytails casually dropping $400 on used copies of obscure '60 psych-rock albums, and how that's changed the business along the way. (You might also enjoy the vinyl real-estate porn of seeing everybody's shelving, some of it rather spectacular.) Congrats to MusicREDEF reader KEVIN SMOKLER, who co-directed and -produced with CHRISTOPHER BOONE... Make it a double feature with OTHER MUSIC, a moving documentary about the legendary New York indie store, now available through various digital channels, and then start working your way through this list of 100 Other Music-associated albums put together by filmmakers PULOMA BASU and ROB HATCH-MILLER... In the non-vinyl universe, the DIGITAL MUSIC ASSOCIATION, a trade group representing AMAZON, APPLE, GOOGLE, PANDORA, SPOTIFY and YOUTUBE, reports that streaming generated $10.3 billion in revenue in the US in 2019, and that US households had 87.2 million subscription accounts, which, through family plans and similar packages, covered 99 million people. The 43-page "Streaming Forward" report "could have alternatively been titled, 'You Need Us as Much as We Need You,'" quipped Billboard's GLENN PEOPLES. MARK MULLIGAN of MIDIA RESEARCH, which put the report together, tells Rolling Stone that growth is starting to slow "but there’s still this significant amount of momentum"... 99 metal singers collaborating on "99 BOTTLES OF BEER," a project apparently seven years in the making, may be the best high-concept track of 2020, and I banged my head at least 87 times while listening, and it's a benefit for foster dogs... TORI KELLY's cover of LEONARD COHEN's "HALLELUJAH" got some featured airtime during the final night of the Republican National Convention, and she seems less than pleased. "I'M STILL STANDING" by ELTON JOHN, with whom PRESIDENT TRUMP has something of an obsession, was the walk-on music for IVANKA TRUMP. According to a new book by MELANIA TRUMP's ex-BFF STEPHANIE WINSTON WOLKOFF, the president's wish list for his 2017 inauguration included AEROSMITH, the KILLERS, KELLY CLARKSON and MEAT LOAF. His wishes were not granted... MTV's VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS, whose exact nature remains a mystery, air at 8pm ET Sunday... JETHRO TULL's IAN ANDERSON has some very specific thoughts on how to bring back live music...It's FRIDAY and that means new music from KATY PERRY, DUA LIPA (remix album featuring the BLESSED MADONNA, the regular MADONNA and many others), INTERNET MONEY, GREGORY PORTER, BETTYE LAVETTE, ANGEL OLSEN, DISCLOSURE, TONI BRAXTON, LEDISI, YUNG BLEU, NINES, KELLY LEE OWENS, ALUNA, KEM, BBYMUTHA, JYOTI (aka GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW), CHRISTIAN SCOTT ATUNDE ADJUAH (live album recorded in March at the BLUE NOTE), METALLICA & THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY (the irony of hearing even one song from AND JUSTICE FOR ALL with, literally, double bass will never fail to make me smile), BLACK THOUGHT, TIWA SAVAGE, TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS, DIANNE DAVIDSON, BOBBY RUSH, DAN PENN, JADEN SMITH, NASTY C, WIFISFUNERAL, the LOX, HAROLD LÓPEZ-NUSSA, SEVDALIZA, SAMIA, HALF GRINGA, JASON MRAZ (personal shoutout to producer MICHAEL GOLDWASSER), MOLLY TUTTLE, RUSTON KELLY, AVETT BROTHERS, PIG DESTROYER, KNOT (ex-members of KRILL), PHONY, NARROW HEAD, FROM ASHES TO NEW, PVRIS, RICKY REED, LOVELYTHEBAND, BOB MOSES, WIDOWSPEAK and NEEDTOBREATHE.