UK independent music retailers countdown to Record Store Day

Tomorrow (Saturday 20 April) is the biggest day in the calendar for independent record shops all over the UK as they celebrate the sixth annual Record Store Day.

Music lovers will flock to the nation's indie music retailers to get their hands on limited edition vinyl issued specially for Record Store Day, see live performances and generally be part of a celebration of record shop culture.

Pulp, Paul Weller, David Bowie, Nick Cave and Frank Turner are among the musicians to embrace the day by putting out special vinyl releases and their will be live in-store performances from a range of established and up-and-coming artists around the country.

The latest addition to Plymouth's record store trail, Last Shop Standing will be taking part. It will host DJ sets from Mike Offen (from neighbouring second hand record shop, Really Good Records) and Ben Hiscox-Smith. and live performances from Hillhead, Remnants and Moriaty.

The nations' record stores have endured a tough time over recent years as many people switched to buying music on-line via digital downloads or through giant retailers such as Amazon. Some didn't make it and were forced to close down, but many others are now bucking the apparent trend and the tricky financial climate by offering something different. Many serious music fans and collectors value the expertise and eclectic selection of music on offer, and sales of vinyl, eschewed by the high street chains, are on the rise as many crave the analogue purity, size, feel and even smell of the traditional format.

Many independent shops are seeking to stand out from the crowd by offering not only rare, limited and collectable music products, but also a variety of music related merchandise, coffee and in the case of Southsea's unpretentiously-named Pie & Vinyl, yep, you guessed it...pies!

It's a day for the music romantic, the vinyl fetishist and the independent shopper. Why not pay a visit to your local music emporium and take part...not forgetting to pick up a copy of your favourite cult artist's limited edition vinyl-only release of course.