Today is Record Store Day – 13th April 2019, a celebration of Independent Record Stores worldwide with new releases and events scheduled in the UK, US and other countries. The day is an opportunity for music fans to gather and support their local indie music retailers and find something a little special such as all kinds of deluxe editions, brand-new material, desirable rarities, or reissues of classic tracks on new formats. The Official Charts Company in the UK has compiled a list of 545 exclusive Record Store Day releases which can be found here.
Record Store Day is the highlight of the year for independent music shops in the UK, and has been a major factor in the increased popularity of the vinyl format. Not only that, but the resurgence of the cassette and the availability of special editions and limited releases have influenced an increase in visits to indie record stores in the UK. The UK Official Top 40 biggest selling albums in independent record stores since Record Store Day 2018 can be found here.
Record Store Day was conceived in the US in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally. The first Record Store Day took place on 19th April 2008. Today there are Record Store Day participating record stores on every continent.
To find out about events in the UK go here and for events in the US go here. To find participating stores in other countries there is an international search page which can be found here.
So if you haven’t experienced the pleasure of serendipitously browsing through bins of LPs or CDs or want to relive the past when streaming and downloads didn’t exist – support your local record store on Record Store Day 2019.
