Long Live Vinyl and Record Store Day

Long Live Vinyl and Record Store Day teamed up in 2018 to produce the first official guide to the biggest day of the year for record shops and vinyl fanatics, when special vinyl releases are created exclusively for the day and many shops and cities host artist performances and events to mark the occasion.

The official Record Store Day guide is now bundled with the April edition of Long Live Vinyl each year, going on sale in over 250 independent record shops as well as across the UK newstrade in WH Smith’s, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, independent newsagents and more. It’s distributed under strict embargo to hit the shelves within 24 hours of the list’s announcement, giving collectors the chance to plan their purchases on the big day. The guide is also available as a free digital download once the magazine has come off sale, extending Record Store Day’s message right up to the day itself.

Long Live Vinyl has continued to build on the partnership, launching an annual competition to find the UK’s favourite independent record shop in association with Record Store Day. More than 10,000 readers voted in 2019.

Record Store Day’s Phoebe Scott said: “Here at RSD HQ, we think the Long Live Vinyl official guide has become an invaluable asset to the day. Producing a visually strong, informative guide allows us to deliver the full list in a much easier way. Our independent record shops find it useful to have an official guide for their customers, it helps them determine the demand for specific releases.”