UK National Album Day 2021 full plans have been revealed and this year will spotlight women artists and their huge contribution to music and culture through the art of the album. Returning for its fourth edition on Saturday 16th October it will revisit iconic and influential albums by women artists, from the earliest pioneers to present-day legends, and point towards exciting new and future talent. The 2021 event will also highlight the integral role women play within the wider music community, not only as recording artists, but as songwriters, producers, and cultural influencers.
Events to mark National Album Day
- Classic Album Sundays will this year present two exclusive audiophile listening events, supported by Bowers & Wilkins.
- On Tuesday 12th October, NAD ambassador and chart topping singer songwriter with the band Texas, Sharleen Spiteri, will join Classic Album Sundays founder Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy at London’s Royal Albert Hall to discuss her favourite women in music and how they have influenced her, culminating in choice cuts from the new Texas album Hi.
- On Thursday 14th October, Colleen will be joined by Carroll Thompson, the ‘Queen of Lovers Rock’, at the British Library to discuss the story of Lovers Rock and her classic album Hopelessly in Love (which is being reissued for National Album Day), her career in music and play classic tracks from the album in an all-vinyl listening session. For information and tickets for both events go to https://classicalbumsundays.com/category/events/uk/.
- BBC Radio 2 is supporting this year’s theme, Celebrating Women in Music, by dedicating the whole day to album tracks by women. From 6am to midnight, there will be an all-female playlist from Sounds of the 60s all the way through to Craig Charles’ House Party, with guests on the shows, plus a special show – The Official All-Time Female Artists Album Chart, presented by Jo Whiley (1pm-3pm). Additional coverage for National Album Day will air across Radio 4, Radio 5 Live, 6 Music, Asian Network, BBC Four and BBC iPlayer.
- NAD ambassador Joy Crookes has confirmed an exclusive in-store and performance at Resident Music, Brighton from 6.30pm on Saturday 16th October, to mark the release of her debut album Skin the day before – head here to pre-order the album and to guarantee your spot!
- Tim Burgess will join in the National Album Day celebrations this year with Twitter Listening Parties, confirmed so far are: Texas/Sharleen Spiteri for Hi on Thursday 14th October at 7pm, Kylie Minogue on Friday 15th October at 8pm for Fever, and Carroll Thompson for Hopelessly In Love on Wednesday 20th October at 7pm. Follow @LISTENING_PARTY for more information!
- An exclusive ‘Album Hunt’ activation in collaboration with Landmrk will be launched for this year’s National Album Day, with music fans invited from this coming weekend to go on a trail focusing on 10 iconic albums by women artists, including Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, Solange’s A Seat at The Table and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia. The trail of 10 albums will be available at multiple locations throughout the UK, with the hotspots outlined on a map via albumhunt.co.uk.
- Regional activities at record stores including Intense Records (Chelmsford), WINYL (Manningtree), Wax and Beans (Bury) and Record Revivals (Scarborough).
Up to date information on all these events and more can be found on the National Album Day website here or @AlbumDayUK on social media.
Recent articles of interest
Listening to albums is in decline
Britons turn to albums to boost their mental well-being
15% of under 25s have never listened to a full album
Over 1000 HiRes albums are released each month in US
