Record Store Day comes to Glasgow!

Saturday, April 21 marks the UK’s fourth annual Record Store Day, helping to support independent record shops that have become increasingly marginalised by massive entertainment chains such as HMV and online digital download stores, like ITunes.

The day sees a number of exclusive releases from major artists such as Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Arctic Monkeys that are available only through independent shops.

Watch John Lydon speak to The Quetus about Record Store Day

The hope is that fans will be enticed to their nearest participating Record Store Day shop by these exclusive releases and help to create a passionate community of fans that will support the stores year-round.

In a climate that has seen the closure of big-hitting entertainment companies such as Zavvi and Borders, record stores have been hit the hardest with numbers falling from 900 to an all-time low of 269 in 2009. However, there has been a small rise up to 281 in 2011 and it is believed that Record Store Day has made a positive impact.

Organiser Spencer Hickman said: "Record Store Day is everywhere now. There are performances in every part of the UK. It's like an urban Glastonbury. The fact that we have seen new stores opening this year shows that there are still music lovers who want to buy physical music from people who are just as enthusiastic as they are. There are lots of people who still want music as an art form not just a download."

I think this is a fantastic idea during a time when independent record shops really need our support. Since the rise of online shops and digital downloads music lovers have missed being a part of a grassroots community like the old Rough Trade shops of the 1980s, which helped to bring innovative independent music to a captive audience. They also helped to give a voice to genres of music being ignored by the mainstream, such as punk and reggae.

However, events such as Record Store Day can only go so far and eventually buying physical music at all will become as niche as collecting old vinyl records. Like other forms of media, music is moving online and CDs will become as obsolete as cassettes in years to come. Last year CD sales dropped by 13 per cent to 86 million, while online sales jumped a quarter to 27 million. Interestingly vinyl sales are at its highest point since 2005 with 337,000 sales last year. There will always be a niche market for vinyl that Record Store Day should continue to attract, but CDs will likely soon follow the cassette into oblivion and independent music stores will need to adapt once more.

Glasgow has four venues involved in Record Store Day:

Love Music
34 Dundas Street
G1 2AQ

That’s Entertainment
217 Argyle Street
G2 8DL

Rubadub
35 Howard Street
GL1 4BA

Monorail Music
12 Kings Court
G1 5RB

Visit Record Store Day UK online!