UK Music chair says record shops should be in first wave of retailers to open after lockdown

Watson, who was appointed as UK Music chair last month, has expressed that record stores should be included in the first wave of retailers to open once the coronavirus lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

i reports that over four million vinyl LPs were sold last year, and Watson is concerned that many independent record shops may not be able to reopen after the lockdown.

He said, "Our many brilliant record stores that have suffered a hammer blow while forced to keep their doors shut," and added, "Record stores should be in the first wave of shops to reopen after the lockdown provided sensible guidelines such as queuing and a limit on customer numbers can be observed."

UK Music Chair @tom_watson calls for a “Marshall Amp” plan to revive the music industry.

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— UK Music (@UK_Music) April 25, 2020

Record Store Day, which was originally planned to take place this month, has been postponed until June due to coronavirus. When organisers announced the postponement, they wrote, "This decision comes at a time of unprecedented uncertainty and the health and safety of the general public must come first. This was absolutely not an easy decision to make as hundreds of independent shops and labels have been working hard towards this year's celebrations."