Watch a 12-part series celebrating independent record stores in the UK
Behind The Counter explores the vibrant culture of UK record stores
A video series celebrating independent record stores in the UK has returned for its fifth season. You can watch five of the 12 new episodes below now.
Behind The Counter first launched in 2019, with an aim to showcase to vibrant culture of independent and grassroots stores. Over the past five years, the series has featured 60 shops across the UK and garnered over 2.5 million views.
This year's series, hosted in collaboration with Bowers & Wilkins, Classic Album Sundays, and Record Store Day UK, features stores like Blitzkrieg Shop in Glasgow, Dark Earth in Merseyside, Defend Vinyl in Liverpool, Hey Joe in Essex, and more.
The first five episodes of the series have already been released – you can watch them here. Check out the inaugural episode, featuring Vinyl Van in Dorchester, below.
Despite numerous serious issues facing the vinyl industry – including the revelation that vinyl production is simply too expensive for most independent artists – record sales are on the rise, with album sales increasing by 17.8% in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to year-end market figures from the Digital Entertainment & Retail Association (ERA). CD sales also experienced their first rise in sales value in two decades.
In related news, Kate Bush was recently named this year's official ambassador of Record Store Day, which falls on 20th April, and announced a new vinyl release of 'Eat The Music'.
Revisit DJ Mag's recent in-depth feature on the world of reissue labels here.
