Record Store Day 2020 Postponed Until June over Coronavirus Fears

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Mar 13, 2020

After a whirlwind week that saw multiple tours, events and festivals get called off due to the coronavrius pandemic, it appears Record Store Day may now be delaying its 2020 event.

Slated to take place on April 18, RSD is rumoured to be postponing its event until June due to fears over the coronavirus. The rumours first arrived earlier today via a now-deleted tweet from Mello Music Group, which stated RSD 2020 would now be getting postponed until June 20.

UPDATE (3/13, 11 a.m. EDT): As expected, Record Store Day 2020 has officially been postponed. Today organizers announced the event would be moving to June 20.

RSD organizers issued the following statement:

We've decided that the best of all possible moves is to change the date of Record Store Day this year to Saturday, June 20. We think this gives stores around the world the best chance to have a profitable, successful Record Store Day, while taking into consideration the recommendations of doctors, scientists, the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, and the need to be good citizens of both local and worldwide communities.

We're working with all of our partners and our stores to make this change as smooth as possible for everyone who participates in Record Store Day: customers, record stores, artists, labels and more. Record Store Day is everywhere and we want to hold our party when everyone can gather around safely to celebrate life, art, music and the culture of the indie record store.


You can see a screengrab of the initial Mello tweet below.



While RSD organizers have not officially made any sort of announcement about delaying the April event, Exclaim! reached out to businesses, artists and labels connected to the event. According to our sources close to the matter, U.S. suppliers have begun informing clients that RSD 2020 will indeed move to June 20, with an official announcement expected to arrive from Record Store Day organizers on Friday (March 13).

At this point, though, nothing is for certain, and this should all very much be considered a rumour for the time being. However, keep your eyes peeled for an official announcement.

As previously reported, RSD 2020 will see exclusive releases from the likes of the Cure, Black Sabbath, Tyler, the Creator, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, k.d. lang, Charli XCX, Ennio Morricone, Billie Eilish, Judas Priest, Mac DeMarco, Denzel Curry, Brittany Howard, U2, Paul McCartney, the Weeknd, Curren$y, Chief Keef, Iggy Pop, Kevin Morby and Nas, among many others.

You can check out the official North American list over here on RSD's website or in PDF form over here. The U.K. list can be viewed over here on its website, while a PDF version is available here. There's also a Canadian list, which has a few special exclusives, over here

As previously reported, Brandi Carlile and Marie-Mai will serve as the Record Store Day 2020 Ambassadors.

 

Latest Coverage