Vinyl may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the impacts of the pandemic, but for some business owners, it's everything. This Saturday, the first of two Record Store Days being held this year, offers a sign of hope for independent businesses trying to recover from some of the darkest days they have seen, reports CNN.
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What is Record Store Day?
Record Store Day is a global event to "celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1,400 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally," according to organizers.
The first Record Store Day was on April 19, 2008, and has since been a single day devoted to exclusive vinyl releases only available at participating record stores. It often features performances, cookouts and artist meet-and-greets.
Because of the pandemic, celebrations looked a lot different last year. Record Store Day was split up into three "drops" in August, September and October instead of the typical one-day celebration that happens earlier in the year.
This year, celebrations will have fewer restrictions, but will still look a little different from those that were held pre-pandemic. Record Store Day is split up into two drops this time -- June 12 and July 17.
Despite many record stores having to shut down in 2020, last year was the largest year for vinyl album sales in the past three decades, according to MRC Data, which has been electronically tracking sales since 1991.
Vinyl sales grew by 46% to 27.5 million copies sold in 2020, MRC Data told CNN. That's despite an overall decline in album sales, which includes digital and CDs, compared to numbers from 2019.
Last year, vinyl sales outpaced CD sales for the first time since the 1980s.
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