Kingston vinyl fans queued for hours outside Banquet Records on Record Store Day to celebrate independent record stores and get some of the exclusive vinyl releases.
On Saturday 13 April, hundreds of vinyl records were exclusively released to independent record stores to mark Record Store Day 2019.
Banquet Records in Kingston was one of the 200 independent record stores in the UK which took part in Record Store Day.
Jon Tolley, owner of Banquet Records in Kingston, said: “I really will forever believe in the record shop experience. In browsing, in feeling connected to something, in the emotional experience you have when you pick up a physical record.”
Tolley added: “Sales figures show that vinyls are at a 25 year high at the moment, it absolutely has a future.
“Whatever we go through and however the world changes… people are always going to want physical products and people are always going to need music and art, so I think of all the industries, this one is probably the safest.”
Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, writers and stars of comedy The Mighty Boosh, are the UK ambassadors for Record Store Day 2019.
Fielding said: “One of the things that’s quite tricky about buying music online is you have to know what you’re looking for.
“Whereas when you come to a record shop, often you’re looking for something and then you find something else because it’s all visual and it’s all there.”
The first Record Store Day was held in the United States in 2008 and it has since spread to 12 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.
Marc Fayd’Herbe, Universal Music Sales Manager, described Record Store Day as “the single best thing that has ever happened” for independent record stores.
But the day has faced criticism. The limited edition records are sold to record shops on a no returns basis and the limited edition titles bought in the independent stores are often resold online at a higher price.
Paul Weller said: “It’s such a shame because I am a big supporter of independent record stores but the greedy touts making a fast buck off genuine fans is disgusting and goes against the whole philosophy of Record Store Day.”
Jon Tolley discusses why vinyl records and independent record stores are still thriving.
