RECORD store owners in Worcestershire are gearing up for one of the biggest days of the year for the industry.
Independent shops in Malvern and Worcester are among those celebrating Record Store Day on Saturday, April 22.
The day celebrates the unique culture of record stores and the roles they play in their communities.
Special edition vinyls are released on the day and cannot be pre-ordered online - the whole point is you go to a record store to buy them.
This year, there are releases by Taylor Swift, the 1975, Self Esteem, Pearl Jam, Pixies, Sam Smith and many more.
Sam Barriscale owns Spin The Black Circle, a record store and coffee house in Pump Street, Worcester.
He said: “We’ll be opening up early. There are 250 titles being released on the day so we’ll be opening at 8am so people can come in out of the rain, take a look at the records and pre-order for 9am.
“We’re going to be selling records, coffee and beer all day. We even have a special edition Record Store Day beer for sale.
“We’ve only been open since September so this is my first Record Store Day. There has been a lot of interest from customers and on the socials - people can’t wait to get their records.
“It’s been going very well, the start of the year is always difficult if you’re in hospitality but we’ve got some nice customers, some nice regulars.
READ MORE: Stewart Lee recommends Malvern record shop Carnival Records
“We have live gigs, which have been going really well, and quiz nights on a Friday. We’ve also got some film screenings coming up so there’s plenty going on.”
Carnival Records in Great Malvern will also be opening at 8am on Record Store Day.
“It’s our 11th Record Store Day in the shop in Church Street, our 13th in Malvern overall,” said Chris Heard.
READ MORE: Spin The Black Circle to open on Pump Street
“The collectors start queuing from the early hours, maybe 3am onwards, to try to get hold of the limited edition stocks that come in on this celebratory day, for one day only, every year.
“The most hyped record on this year’s list of more than 400 titles is probably the Taylor Swift album, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.
“This is a record Swift made during lockdown.
There will be 14,000 in circulation throughout the UK - a relatively large number for a vinyl pressing - and we have a couple of handfuls at Carnival.
It will be first come, first served. We also have a super-limited supply of posters to give away to early-queuing Swifties.
“Overall we have well over 100 limited edition titles coming into stock, including The 1975, Bastille, Blur, The Cure, Suede, London Grammar, David Bowie and many others.”
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