This coming Saturday (April 20th), Record Store Day is being celebrated in independent record stores worldwide. Although this celebration has been around since 2008, it has recently become a lot bigger due to the increasing popularity of vinyl records. The purpose of this organisation is to support independent record stores and labels through the sale of records exclusively for this event in select stores.
The first supporter of this organisation was Metallica as they were fond of its aim, they supported it by signing records for fans in an independent store in San Francisco. Following this more and more artists joined in and there was the start of ‘ambassadors’, an artist or band representing the initiative the given year and creating a record for April 20th. The most famous ones have been Pearl Jam, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, and in 2022 Taylor Swift. Today RSD is recognised as a holiday in many cities like New York, LA, and Las Vegas and has received numerous awards awarding it for its success. Although the organisation is called Record Store Day, they work year-long. For instance through the creation of limited edition vinyl records on black Friday to guide the general public towards independent stores on this day of mass consumption and chain stores. To allow independent stores, artists, and labels to interact in 2016 they created the RSD summer camp and in 2020 to support stores during COVID-19 while staying safe they split up the event into 3 days. It was in 2022 with their partnership with Atlantic Records, home to Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Lil Uzi Vert, and Weezer, that they started gaining many performances and meet and greets at their events.
So what’s in store for this year’s events? The 2024 ambassadors are the alternative band Paramore who simultaneously announced they were in fact not disbanding but are rather now an independent band. Naturally, many performances, meet and greets, parades, and celebratory events can be expected globally. The rock band Pearl Jam held pre-release listening parties for fans on April 14th in independent record stores leading up to Saturday’s events. RSD started a podcast releasing a new episode daily with updates on new music coming out and what Saturday has in store for music fans worldwide.
If you are interested in visiting any independent record stores in Stockholm on April 20th, Bengans, Hot Records, Sound Pollution, and Pet Sounds are all participating in RSD. Make sure to have a list of the records you want to find and get there on time because there are no reservations and they sell fast. All information about the 2024 records can be found on the RSD Sweden website as well as the international one.
