Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 to “celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store”. Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores around the world.

A number of records are pressed specifically for Record Store Day, with a list of releases for each country, and are only distributed to shops participating in the event. Record Store Day is headquartered in the United States, where it began. Official organizers operate in the UK, Ireland, Mexico, Europe, Japan and Australia.

The often heard criticism of Record Store Day is that records are being sold for inflated prices and that records end up being offered on Ebay for even higher prices, making it near-impossible for fans to get the items of their favourite artists.

Kate Bush has offered a handful of exclusive 10″ singles on Record Store Day: Running Up That Hill in 2011, Lake Tahoe in 2012 and Cloudbusting in 2019.

In 2024, Kate Bush was asked to be an Ambassador for Record Store Day. A special UV-printed 10″ single of Eat The Music is released for this year’s edition.

Kate Bush about Record Store Day

What a huge honour to have been asked to be Ambassador for this year’s Record Store Day. It really is a great privilege. Isn’t it great to see how the resurgence in vinyl has taken the Music Industry by complete surprise? It had decided to leave vinyl far behind, but it would seem that not everyone agrees! I love that!
I know there are many, many artists who are just as excited to see the audience turning the tide. In the same way that some people like to read a book on Kindle but also want to have a book as a physical object, a lot of people like vinyl and streaming. Both have different appeals.
The added bonus of vinyl is that it encourages people to listen to albums. An art form that I’ve always thought can be treasured in a unique way. An album on vinyl is a beautiful thing, given a strong identity by its large-scale artwork. There’s a much more personal connection with the artist and their work.
It’s been fun putting designs together for some of the previous RSDs. This year’s design echoes the cancelled release of ‘Eat the Music’ as the first single from the album, ‘The Red Shoes’.
The image was intended to be on the cover of the single bag and is now on the disc as a UV print.
The title, ‘Eat the Music’, is meant to be a playful nod to ‘If music be the food of love, play on,’ from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
Each year Record Store Day gathers more attention, more momentum, and attracts more people who cram into indie record stores all over the world to see what’s up. What’s new?
This year, I hope you have a fantastic time at this very important event, and that you get to celebrate music that’s been specially released for you.

Kate Bush, OFFICIAL RSD Statement

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