Record Store Day 2023 - For The Love Of Record Stores

Whether you’re a crate digger, a record collector, or a vinyl newbie, a local record store is a home on the high street to not just find and discover the music you love, but a place to connect with artists through performances and events.

Record Store Day 2023, on Saturday April 22nd, is the day that music lovers and music makers come together to celebrate record stores across the globe. And 6 Music is celebrating in style with a full Vinyl Weekender - three days of celebrating vinyl and record collections on air, as well as the culture behind the counter.

We caught up with Bastille, Baby Queen, Alt-J and Record Store Day Ambassadors The 1975 to find out what record stores mean to them…

“I used to love going to record shops growing up. Banquet Records in Kingston was always brilliant - I loved looking through all the artwork of albums I'd never heard of. When we started touring we'd always try and go to whatever indie record shop we could find in each town, and I started trying to find copies of all my favourite albums. It’s one of my favourite ways to spend some time, and I hope everyone who is just discovering music can always have that opportunity.

There's a tiny, brilliant record store in the most northern town in Norway (which I think is the most northerly town in the world?) and I remember being really excited to get an original copy of the ‘Requiem For A Dream’ soundtrack there, and an old copy of Kate Bush's ‘Hounds of Love’.

When it comes to our music, I obsess over the artworks and the booklets because I used to love it when the bands I was into would be generous with theirs, using that space to try and build on the world of the album.

The whole experience of doing the Unplugged gig was so incredible. Any excuse to re-arrange our songs and show them in a new light is always really exciting. The idea that we’d only ever do them like that once also felt really special. So the fact that we’re able to release it on vinyl, and especially for Record Store Day, feels like such a great culmination of that and a confluence of musical things that are really important to us. I’m so happy that we have this release and a record of that night which - otherwise - probably wouldn’t feel that real.”

“I remember when I was at school in Northampton, every weekend we would all hang out at a store called Spin A Disc. It was a really cool indie store that sold loads of rock, punk and nu-metal. All the kids who played in bands hung out there. It really felt like there was a whole community of musicians based around the shop. They also stocked rare American imports that weren’t available in more mainstream shops. I think I bought everything ever recorded by Green Day, Rage Against the Machine and the Chili Peppers there.”

"In a digitally focused world, record shops give you the opportunity to hold and touch something tangible that has been created by an artist.  Streaming platforms can make music feel a little disposable, while record shops allow you to commit to an artist, or a genre, and really feel like you're a part of something.

You're also in the increasingly rare position whereby a shop owner, or an enthusiastic member of staff, an actual fellow human, may turn you onto your new favourite act in a completely different way, without being funnelled through an algorithm. Music is meant to bring different people together, and it does just that in a record shop."

“My first experience with a record shop was going into Rough Trade to buy our first album. It was an amazing ‘first time' coupled with the sad realisation of many missed years of nosing through shops like these.”

“Independent record stores are the lifeblood of the music industry and have played a crucial role in our story so far. It couldn’t be more important to support their vital community and culture”.