26 May 2020 – The Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) has welcomed the UK government’s announcement that so-called “non-essential” stores including record shops can re-open on June 15.
ERA CEO Kim Bayley said, “This is fantastic news. June 15 will be a banner day for the entire music industry. High Street stores are the lifeblood of the music business. The past 10 weeks have been devastating for record stores and music fans alike, so it is a huge relief that an end is now in sight.”
The coronavirus lockdown has meant that more than 2,500 music outlets have been closed since late March.
Throughout the lockdown, however, 6,000 outlets which sell music, predominantly supermarkets, have remained open. More than half of sales of last week’s biggest-selling album, Now 105, were sold in retail stores. At the same time, the bulk of specialist retailers, including the UK’s biggest chain HMV and over 120 independent stores have been trading online.
“In terms of music outlets, we estimate more than 70% have remained open during the lockdown,” said Bayley, “but the 30% which have been closed included many of the UK’s biggest-selling stores so the impact on sales has been substantial. Overall, however, including the specialists and indies who are trading online and the digital services which now account for over 80% of music retail revenues, we estimate that music retail has maintained around 92% of capacity even through the lockdown”
ERA is the organiser of the annual Record Store Day, which has been postponed this year because of the coronavirus lockdown. Record Store Day will now take place over three Saturdays – August 29, September 26 and October 24.