TAYLOR'S AMBASSADOR STATEMENT:
“I’m very proud to be this year's Ambassador for Record Store Day. The places where we go to browse and explore and discover music new and old have always been sacred to me. Record stores are so important because they help to perpetuate and foster music-loving as a passion. They create settings for live events. They employ people who adore music thoroughly and purely. Those people and shops have had a rough few years and we need to support these small businesses more now than ever to make sure they can stay alive, stay eccentric, and stay individual. It’s been a true joy for me to watch vinyl sales grow in the past few years and we, the artists, have the fans to thank for this pleasant surprise. Happy Record Store Day, everyone! Stay safe out there.”

In April 2008, Taylor Swift had her first Grammy nomination, and was getting ready to release her second album. Record stores were throwing their first party in April. Fifteen years later, Record Store Day has become the largest single-day music event in the world. And Taylor Swift has become… TAYLOR SWIFT. She’s had releases on the Record Store Day and RSD Black Friday lists often in the past (and supported record stores throughout her career) so for the 15thannual celebration of record stores, Record Store Day is proud to welcome Taylor Swift, the first Global Record Store Day Ambassador.

“I’m very proud to be this year’s Ambassador for Record Store Day,” says Swift. “The places where we go to browse and explore and discover music new and old have always been sacred to me. Record stores are so important because they help to perpetuate and foster music-loving as a passion.”

While they occupy THREE spots on the Top Ten Best-Selling Albums of 2021 list (MRC Data), the albums of Taylor Swift, including Folklore, Evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) are constantly on record store sales charts the world over, partially because it’s important to her that they all be released physically, on CD and vinyl, and available to independently-owned record stores. In 2020, when the pandemic forced stores to close their doors and rethink physical sales, Taylor took her support a step further, directing fans to record stores around the US where they could find autographed CDs, bringing much needed traffic and attention at a time of business uncertainty. She also then made a quiet, thoughtful gesture to a store she knows well, Grimey’s New and Pre-loved Music in Nashville.

“We're thrilled to learn that Taylor Swift is our 2022 Record Store Day Ambassador!”, say Anna Lundy and Doyle Davis at Grimey’s. “Swift has shown her love and support for independent record stores by not only supporting our shop specifically during the dark, early days of the pandemic, when she directly donated to help us support our staff, but also by steering her eager, excited, and dedicated fans to independent record stores, places that many of them visited for the first time while in search of her signed CDs. As Swift has grown as an artist, we've watched her fans grow with her and have been delighted to see her taking control of her recordings and working with musicians like Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, artists whose music has resonated in shops like ours for years. We can't think of a better choice for RSD Ambassador for 2022!”

“The role of RSD Ambassador is, of course, something we take seriously in the sense that it helps us do our job of shining a light on these special places,” says RSD co-founder Carrie Colliton. “We’re pretty picky about the people we invite to “wear the sash”, and we always want to make sure those Ambassadors genuinely love record stores and are creative about ways to celebrate them. But mostly it’s a title we want people to have fun with, and we know that our RSD 2022 Ambassador loves having fun, loves music, and loves record stores. For our 15thRecord Store Day, and for our first Global Ambassador, we’re teaming up with a woman who does all that and just happens to be one of the biggest artists on the planet.”

Find out more about Record Store Day (April 23) and the first Global RSD Ambassador at recordstoreday.co.uk

The full list of Official Releases for RSD 2022, including a special RSD 2022 release from Ambassador Swift, is coming soon.