Record Store Day 2014: Coming to a UK independent record shop near you... the best exclusive releases
Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in with the hunt for some of these vinyls
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Music fans will be racing to more than 240 vinyl shops in celebration of the seventh annual Record Store Day on Saturday.
Participating UK stores will be selling a diverse range of over 600 exclusive releases and limited editions to offer listeners a chance to expand their tastes and check out an artist they might not have stumbled across before.
For truly original bargains, check out Camden's "only exclusively punk record shop", All Ages Record, which has asked small independent UK punk labels to create some new music for the event.
Or, if that sounds far too cool for you, One Direction are releasing a "Midnight Memories" 7" picture disc, just so everybody's catered for.
The fun doesn't end there as many stores are putting on live music – head to Soho's Berwick Street to catch Augustines, Edwyn Collins and Adam Ant then hot-foot it over to Rough Trade East or West for performances from East India Youth, The Rails and Slow Club.
"The whole idea behind Record Store Day is to try and attract new and different customers into the world of independent record shops," said Spencer Hickman, Record Store Day UK coordinator.
"This year's stellar line-up of titles should hopefully do that and with some big pop releases, we'll hopefully introduce the next generation of record buyers to vinyl."
Sales of the 66-year-old format have been steadily rising for nine years. Last year saw vinyl sales double from 2012 with a massive 780,000 LPS shifted - the most since 1997.
“The LP is back in the groove,” stated BPI's chief executive Geoff Taylor. “We’re witnessing a renaissance for records – they’re no longer retro-mania.”
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One-off Record Store Day releases are available on a first come, first served basis, so don't be surprised if you come up against a mammoth queue. Some music lovers will have been there since 5am – you have been warned.
Online sales for any leftover stock are set to begin the following weekend on Saturday 26 April but again, you’ll need to be quick. Last year's event generated £2 million worth of vinyl sales.
Flick through the gallery above for some of the best exclusives out there for the picking (and we mean some, as mentioned there are more than 600). You never know, you might strike gold and find something awesome - like this Motown fan did in Detroit.
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