Nothing makes a music fan cooler than having a CD the second it comes out.

That's the mindset for many aficionados of audible art. Making the late-night trek to the music shop minutes before midnight on a Monday to get the newest releases before everyone else can be a highlight for a hardcore music fan.

But for State College residents, the need to be the first on the block with the new disc might require several blocks' worth of traveling up Atherton Street. Since the downtown location of Mike's Music closed earlier this year, the midnight sale has been absent from the immediate downtown area.

The other music shops in town haven't picked up on the loss. City Lights Records, 316 E. College Ave., used to hold Monday night sales but stopped when the effort became too much.

"We're too tired to come back," City Lights owner Greg Gabbard said. "We've been thinking about doing it for some of the bigger releases. All we have to do is have enough energy to come out and do it."

He said that reopening the store sometimes gets in the way of other interests. The staff once had to leave a performance by indie groups Superchunk and Guided by Voices to return to the store to sell new releases. But the stores do understand why some fans rush to get their hands on the newest music as soon as possible.

"For me, not just as an employee but also as a customer, it's really exciting," City Lights employee Tyler Kulp said. "Not that you can't wait 12 hours for the store to open the next day, but it's fun. It brings people out, you get to see the die-hard fans and you know you have something in common."

The die-hard fans still have a non-downtown option for midnight sales at Mike's Movies and Music, 1613 N. Atherton St. That location reopens at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday morning to sell discs and movies, which are also released that day.

"There's always excitement," said Rich Swope, video buyer for Mike's Music and Video, citing last Monday's release of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines DVD as a recent example. "They want to be first. It's like being first in line for a movie."

But even if employees don't have the energy to come back late at night, the fans still do. John Plasket (junior-film and video) used to shop at the downtown Mike's for his midnight releases, including Sigur Rós' () and Toxicity by System of a Down. For his money, though, it's more of a personal satisfaction.

"I guess there's the instant gratification thing," he said. "It's not really having it before everyone else does, it's having it as soon as possible and listening to it right away."

Swope said the "new release Tuesday" phenomenon has become part of music fans' mindsets, and customers often call to find out about that week's new entertainment. In spite of that, Gabbard said few people have complained that his store no longer provides the new music as early as legally possible. For now, though, an Atherton Street excursion is better than nothing.

"I miss [midnight sales], because I miss heading downtown at midnight," Plasket said. "I don't have a car, so I couldn't get to Mike's on Atherton unless any of my friends felt like it."