Record Store Day Announces June Date For 2021 Event
Instead of its traditional April date, the next RSD is scheduled to fall on June 12 next year.
Record Store Day has announced that the 2021 event will take place in June. The annual RSD celebration is usually held in April, but it was spread across three separate dates in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis.
However, looking ahead to 2021, organizers have now confirmed that Record Store Day will return on Saturday, June 12. “Hey record lovers, get out your diaries…,” the announcement post began.
Hey record lovers, get out your diaries… Record Store Day 2021 will be back on Saturday 12th June! #RSD21 🧡 pic.twitter.com/dY9xkYjtB1
— Record Store Day UK (@RSDUK) December 1, 2020
The last in a trio of RSD 2020 events took place on Saturday, October 24. Fans were able to get their hands on exclusive releases from Beck and St. Vincent, Def Leppard, Eminem, Suede, Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, Snoop Dogg and Thin Lizzy.
Back in September, it was revealed that the first Record Store Day (held in August) resulted in a 3% rise in vinyl sales in the UK, despite the COVID-19 pandemic causing significant disruption to the retail industry. In July, Discogs’ mid-year report revealed that physical sales (vinyl, CD and cassette) rose by 29.69 per cent – 4,228,270 orders – on their website between January and June this year, compared to the same period in 2019.
In an interview with Music Week last month, RSD organizer Megan Page said: “While not all of these additional sales are down to RSD, it was responsible for a substantial proportion of the uplifts achieved in those weeks.”
Record shops were forced to close their doors in March until June as a result of the UK’s national lockdown. Today (December 2), non-essential retailers have been permitted to reopen once again following England’s second lockdown, which began on November 5.
During the intervening period, however, many stores set up delivery services as well as a click-and-collect option in a bid to survive.
“The success of the drops is also testament to just how brilliant indie stores are at adapting to change”, Megan Page said. “Within days [of lockdown], many had set up brand new online stores, introduced booking apps for appointments and coordinated curbside pick-ups and same day local deliveries. The RSD drops just wouldn’t have been possible without their resilience and adaptability.”
Last month, Record Store Day released limited vinyl from the likes of Motörhead, My Chemical Romance and Beastie Boys for Black Friday 2020. More than 200 UK indie record shops participated.
