Saturday 21 April is the UK’s Record Store Day 2018, where the nation's music fans come together and support their local indie music retailers, plus get their hands on special editions, brand-new material, desirable rarities or reissues of classic material on new formats.
Record Store Day is the biggest day of the calendar for UK independent retailers, it’s also been instrumental in the resurgence of the vinyl format, which last year passed sales of 4 million for the first time since 1991. New Official Charts Company figures today show that while independent retailers account for 6% of today’s physical albums market, your favourite local record shops manage to account for an incredibly healthy one quarter of 12” vinyl sales, and a staggering 53% of the newly resurging cassette market, proving collectability and special limited edition products to be a strong driver of footfall for indie stores and their shoppers.
But what are those titles that keep the tills ringing in indie record shops all year round? Which products have been finding their way into the bags of music lovers who prefer a more local record-buying experience? And does their taste mirror that of buyers in chain shops? The weekly Official Record Store Chart keeps track of what's big in independent record stores each week, and today OfficialCharts.com have unveiled the top-selling albums since last year's Record Store Day.
Coming out on top is a classic album which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2017. Collectors flocked to their local record shops to get Radiohead's reissued third album OK Computer, which first topped the Official Albums Chart in summer 1997 when it toppled Hanson’s Middle Of Nowhere, and re-entered the Official Albums Chart at Number 2 last summer. 82% of the album's sales in independent record shops over the last year were on vinyl.
Another classic finishes as runner-up, also thanks in part to an enhanced anniversary release. The special edition of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which marked 50 years since the release of the iconic Beatles album, returned to Number 1 in June last year.
Coming right up to date, Ed Sheeran swept the board in 2017 with his latest albums and indie record shops felt the benefit too, Divide is the third best seller in record shops over the past year, while LCD Soundsystem's critically-acclaimed American Dream and Villains, from Queens of the Stone Age, land in fourth and fifth place.
Record store shoppers have the definitive answer on which Gallagher brother they prefer – Liam's solo debut As You Were is the eighth biggest seller, while Noel's High Flying Birds' third album Who Built The Moon comes in tenth place.
The top selling female artist in record stores this past year is Courtney Barnett, whose collaborative album with Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice, is 13th, and when it comes to a female solo star, Bjork's Utopia finds her in 24th place on the newly unveiled rundown.
Classic collector albums are also still proving popular with independent record store punters. David Bowie secures two spots in the Top 40 with Hunky Dory (17) and The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust (19), while Fleetwood Mac's mega-selling Rumours and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon both just miss the Top 20.
1
OK COMPUTER
RADIOHEAD
2
SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
BEATLES
3
DIVIDE
ED SHEERAN
4
AMERICAN DREAM
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
5
VILLAINS
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
6
HOW DID WE GET SO DARK
ROYAL BLOOD
7
HUMAN
RAG'N'BONE MAN
8
AS YOU WERE
LIAM GALLAGHER
9
EVERY VALLEY
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
10
WHO BUILT THE MOON
NOEL GALLAGHER'S HIGH FLYING
