Love Record Stores day generates £1M in revenue for UK shops

“We sold a month’s worth of records in 29 minutes.”

The Love Record Stores initiative has generated over £1M in revenue for UK record shops, reports Music Business Worldwide.

Read more: How record shops are getting vinyl to you during the Coronavirus pandemic

Taking place on what would have been Record Store Day 2020 on 20th June, Love Record Stores hosted 24-hour online “in-stores, live performances, DJ sets and interviews, alongside limited vinyl releases, hoping to boost online for record shops during the Coronavirus pandemic.

“The feedback we’ve had from participating record stores has been phenomenal with reports of some doing a month’s business in less than an hour on Saturday,” shares Jason Rackham of PIAS – one of the events co-organisers.

“The online traffic on Saturday was insane,” shares Rupert Morrison of Drift Records in Totnes. “We sold a month’s worth of records in 29 mins. I am stunned by how amazing and successful this event was.”

There were 83 new and reissued vinyl releases exclusively released for the Love Record Stores event, with approximately 50,000 units shipped to stores.

Over 130 UK record shops participated – including Phonica, Honest Jons, and Mr Bongo, with a selection of exclusive and limited edition releases and reissues from Radiohead, Robyn, Moses Boyd and more.

Alongside the vinyl offerings, labels including Soul Jazz, Mute and Transgressive will be participated in online “in-store” events, alongside sets from artists including Nabihah Iqbal, Ghostpoet and Four Tet, as well as a 2019 set from the late Andrew Weatherall.

Love Record Stores 2020 also fundraised for Black Lives Matter, Covid-19 Relief Fund, and the #SaveOurVenues campaign.