17th May, 2021: The Record Club, in partnership with Bowers & Wilkins, is proud to be celebrating the milestone of its first birthday this week, having aired more than 25 episodes of the new music livestream series since last May.
The digital collaboration was launched at the height of the pandemic by Record Store Day, National Album Day and OfficialCharts.com to support new album releases and independent record stores through the challenges of the UK’s national lockdowns.
Since May 2020, The Record Club has welcomed 25 incredible artist guests on the show, and in just 12 months the initiative has contributed to the promotion and success of no less than 3 Number 1 albums, while 8 of the showcased releases have become best sellers of the week in UK independent record shops - hitting Number 1 on the Official Record Store Chart, and 18 have reached the Top 10 of the Official Albums Chart. Guests have also received critical acclaim, with featured artists shortlisted for the Hyundai Mercury Prize and at The BRIT Awards.
Presented by BBC Music’s Jess Iszatt, The Record Club is a bi-monthly Facebook Live series that offers music fans and record collectors exclusive interviews and album insights from some of the biggest artists in the world. Since its inception, the “book club for albums” has featured Phoebe Bridgers talking all things Punisher, Tom Grennan taking us through the making of Evering Road, plus Evanescence, Paloma Faith, Rina Sawayama, Pale Waves, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, McFly and many more.
Ahead of each episode, the Official Charts, National Album Day and Record Store Day encourage their 3 million-strong digital audience to pick up a copy of the selected new-release album from their local record shop in person or on home delivery, immerse themselves in it, then tune in to the broadcast for their chance to ask a question to the artist about the record.
In keeping with the initiative’s purpose, artists are also encouraged to wax lyrical about their favourite local record shop, while questions submitted by staff of UK record stores also feature prominently in the show. Plus the odd surprise thrown in including Pale Waves becoming one of the first recipients of Official Charts’ new Specialist Number 1 Award live on the show as their latest album Who Am I? landed at Number 1 on the Official Independent Albums Chart.
BBC Music’s Jess Iszatt who presents the series said “I think it's really important to celebrate the album as a body of work - especially these days when music has become so accessible online, nothing beats the hard copy after artists have grafted so hard on creating a project! And of course having something tangible for us fans of music is a huge thing. From speaking with some of the biggest artists in the world to acts who are releasing their debut, it's been a total honour and so amazing to meet artists at all points in their journey!'
In October 2020, The Record Club was thrilled to partner with premium audio brand Bowers & Wilkins who amplified the series even further to its 400k followers and contributed a set of its award-winning PX7 over-ear noise-cancelling headphones as a competition prize to every episode.
Giles Pocock, Vice-President of Brand Marketing, Bowers & Wilkins, said: “It's been wonderful to see The Record Club support so many great album releases throughout this challenging year. We are proud to support this great project, celebrating the creativity and craftsmanship of the album format.”
The Record Club series is set to continue every other Wednesday at 6.30pm BST across The Record Club, Official Charts, Record Store Day and National Album Day Facebook channels.
ENDS
For more information, please contact: megan@eraltd.org or helen@officialcharts.com
ABOUT NATIONAL ALBUM DAY National Album Day is the annual celebration of the art of the album. Organised jointly by record labels body the BPI and ERA (Entertainment Retailers Association), representing the nation’s music retailers and digital/streaming platforms, National Album Day has the backing and input of the wider music community. Each year, the music and artist community come together with the support of BBC Sounds for a series of events and activities celebrates the UK’s love for the album and the craft that goes into making this culturally significant body of work.
ABOUT OFFICIAL CHARTS OfficialCharts.com is the online home of the UK’s Official Charts, delivering breaking music news, interviews, new releases and competitions to 3 million of the UK’s biggest chart fans monthly. You can exclusively access the full Official Singles and Official Albums Chart Top 100, published Fridays at 5.45pm, plus official genre and format charts for Rock, Dance, Streaming, Vinyl and many more. You can also search the historical chart archive by date, artist, song/album title or keyword to pull up its complete chart history, chart stats and week-by-week chart position. OfficialCharts.com is owned and operated by the Official Charts Company, the providers of the UK's only official music and video charts, as heard on BBC Radio 1, MTV, Music Week, The Sun, Daily Star, and many more. The most comprehensive market data of its kind, covering 99% of the total UK singles market and 98% of the total UK albums market - the Official Charts are based on physical and digital sales plus streaming data gathered from all major high street retail chains, independent stores, supermarkets, mail order internet retailers and digital music and streaming services. A joint venture between record labels' body the BPI and the Entertainment Retailers Association, the Official Charts Company are responsible for the commissioning, marketing, distribution and management of the UK's industry standard music charts and industry sales data.
ABOUT RECORD STORE DAY Record Store Day is the one day of the year when over 240 independent record shops all across the UK come together to celebrate their unique culture. Special vinyl releases are made exclusively for the day and many shops and cities host artist performances and events to mark the occasion. Thousands more shops celebrate the day around the globe in what’s become one of the biggest annual events on the music calendar. In 2021, due to COVID-19, Record Store Day will take place across Saturday 12th June and 17th July.
ABOUT BOWERS & WILKINS Bowers & Wilkins, founded in the U.K. in 1966, has been at the forefront of high-performance audio technology for more than 50 years. It designs and manufactures precision home speakers, headphones, custom installation and performance car audio products that set new standards for innovation and sound quality, earning countless awards and accolades from the world’s leading recording studios and musicians. Bowers & Wilkins’ reputation is based on the unwavering pursuit of the best possible sound and an unsurpassable music listening experience. Bowers & Wilkins joined the Sound United LLC family of brands in 2020. Learn more at www.bowerswilkins.com.