Harrogate, UK | ‘Best ever’ Record Store Day for independent Harrogate shop as long line of customers forms on pavement: Queues of people lined up outside an independent Harrogate shop for Record Store Day. The owner of P&C Music at Devonshire Place on Skipton Road said this year’s celebration of vinyl records saw people waiting on the pavement on Saturday from 3am before doors opened at 8am. Hailing it the “best ever” RSD, Peter Robinson said he was hopeful his long-standing shop which, first opened 30 years ago, had received a major boost to business. “This year’s RSD was our best ever,” he said. “I met some lovely people who, I hope, will become regular customers, instead of just visiting for RSD. “It’s important because it is repeat trade which gives us the financial security to take part in Record Store Day.” More than 260 shops in the UK hosted Record Store Day 2024 an annual event launched in 2007 to “celebrate the culture of the independently-owned record store.”
Nashville, TN | Chuck Indigo, Becca Mancari, Many More Rock Out on Record Store Day: The Groove and Vinyl Tap hosted blowout shows Saturday with a massive variety of live music. Records are fun to own, and if that’s the extent of your relationship with them, that’s fine. But shopping for them at a mom-and-pop spot where humans decide what to stock and rubbing elbows with others who share your interests (or have totally different ones) add lots of layers to the experience. That creates one more way to build a community with your neighbors, and that’s what Record Store Day is really all about. The boatload of Nashville musical talent on display on what turned out to be a gorgeous Saturday, via shows at two of the many local stores taking part in the holiday, enhanced that feeling. Per tradition, Acme Radio Live organized the setup in the backyard of The Groove. Despite minor technical difficulties, Bre Kennedy proved patience is a virtue as she opened her set with “Control,” a tune from 2021’s Note to Self, and softly serenaded the crowd with songs from her latest record Scream Over Everything.
Manchester, UK | Music fans queue around the block in Manchester city centre for Record Store Day: Music lovers got up bright and early in a bid to get their hands on some rare records. There were queues around the block in Manchester city centre today as vinyl fans took part in Record Store Day. Music lovers got up bright and early in a bid to get their hands on some rare records this morning on Saturday (April 20). An exciting day for hobbyists and collectors, special vinyl releases are made exclusively for the day and many shops are set to host artist performances and events to mark the occasion. Record Store Day first started in 2007 when a gathering of record shop owners came together in the US to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture of record stores. The first event took place on April 19th, 2008, and today it is celebrated by thousands of record shops all over the globe in what’s become the biggest new music event of the past decade.
Toledo, OH | Vinyl lovers turn out for Record Store Day at Culture Clash: The scratch on this year’s Record Store Day was the chilly weather, but the group of four who showed up at 5 a.m. outside of Culture Clash Records with their own propane heater came prepared to deal with the cold. Todd Green, 61, Nathan Ables, 48, Trevor Ables, 22 and Grayson James, 12, all from the Adrian area, trekked down to Toledo before the early morning light, prepared to be first in line ahead of the 200 other patrons who would queue behind them for the limited releases associated with the event. “The first time we didn’t show up so early,” Nathan Ables, the originator of the tradition back in 2010, said. “We were way back in line, and I missed some things that I wanted. “So that’s why we started making a point to get here early.”
Palm Beach, FL | Record Store Day draws big crowd at West Palm Beach business: You may have thought vinyl records were history, but with millions of people shopping for the flat disc, it seems the analog sound storage is regaining popularity. Typically held every third Saturday in April, Record Store Day recognizes independent record stores across the world. This year’s Record Store Day also came a day after Taylor Swift dropped her new album “The Tortured Poets Department.” Jesse Feldman, co-owner of Rust & Wax in West Palm Beach, said he sold plenty of Swift albums immediately. Rust & Wax celebrated the music holiday with hundreds of exclusive releases and limited edition music. Feldman said lines started forming outside the store around 5 p.m. Friday. He said by the time they opened at 8 a.m. Saturday, there were about 300 people in line. “I had it circled in my calendar,” Mark Servilio said. “I requested off from work.”
Wheaton, IL | ‘Best job I’ve had, bar none’: Wheaton record store marks a decade of vinyl revival: As an impressionable boy, Mike Paeth surveyed his parents’ record albums displayed on either side of the all-in-one stereo system. His mother’s albums were on the left: Elton John, Billy Joel, Sly and the Family Stone, “every single Chicago record,” Paeth said. On the right, his father’s collection: Merle Haggard, Tom T. Hall, Johnny Cash — considered outlaw country music men. When Paeth reached the sixth grade, he and his friends swapped influences: Journey, Kansas, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Rush. “Literally, everything changed with Rush,” he said. …Though not a straight line—Paeth began in graphic design, worked in prepress for himself and other companies, and gave it a go with a recording studio and record label for bands that never broke, like some he was in—he found success with Mile Long Records, which marks 10 years in October.
Seattle, WA | Gene Ween Plays First Solo Acoustic Show In 9 Years At Surprise Record Store Day Appearance: Gene Ween (government name Aaron Freeman) surprised a hometown crowd in his adopted burgh of Seattle on Saturday when he sauntered onstage at Royal Records for a brief solo concert. The surprise show on Record Store Day marked Gener’s first solo acoustic performance since 2015, a time when he was going by Aaron Freeman rather than his Boognish-baptized monicker. …it was a joyous sight to see Gene Ween take the stage at 4:20 p.m. on 4/20, whether you were one of the lucky few in attendance or tuning in via livestream thanks to the devoted online Ween community. Eschewing any grandiose reflection on his return to solo performing, Gene offered a simple greeting and the explanation “I live here so I just drove up.”
Meet the Florida couple who built the first solar-powered vinyl record press in the U.S.: Opening on Earth Day, Dave Newell and Betsy Bemis’s green record press, Audiodrome, is the music industry’s latest step toward being more eco-friendly. All it took was a little drama to teach millions of music fans worldwide about the environmental impact of vinyl. When pop star Billie Eilish, who is green in more ways than just her occasional hairstyle, gave an interview about sustainability last month, it went viral after the entire internet assumed her comments about wasteful packaging were aimed at Taylor Swift. It didn’t take any drama, however, to push musician Dave Newell into making his then-hypothetical vinyl press as eco-friendly as possible. Quite the opposite, in fact. All he needed was a loving nudge from his wife, Betsy Bemis, to start building what ultimately became Audiodrome—the first solar-powered vinyl record press in the United States, and an excellent use case of what is possible when entrepreneurs create every aspect of a business with the environment in mind.
Warwickshire, UK | Music geeks saved vinyl, says new University of Warwick research: Vinyl has been saved from extinction thanks to music geeks, according to new research from the University of Warwick. Vinyl has been saved from extinction thanks to music geeks, according to new research from the University of Warwick. New research has shown that innovations in vinyl production by music anoraks in the 1980s and 90s, which were written off at the time as commercial failures, have kept vinyl production alive. Warwick Business School’s Associate Professor Rene Wiedner said it’s not just revived demand which has kept vinyl flying off the shelves, but also innovations in their production: “This is a great example of how a technology many wrote off can survive and thrive decades later.
