Event moves from spring to summer
Record Store Day 2020 has moved from April 18th to June 20th due to the coronavirus outbreak. Organizers shared the news on Friday (March 13th), citing unrest around the world forced the decision.
“We’ve decided that the best of all possible moves is to change the date of Record Store Day this year to Saturday, June 20,” they share.
“We think this gives stores around the world the best chance to have a profitable, successful Record Store Day, while taking into consideration the recommendations of doctors, scientists, the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, and the need to be good citizens of both local and worldwide communities.
“We’re working with all of our partners and our stores to make this change as smooth as possible for everyone who participates in Record Store Day: customers, record stores, artists, labels and more. Record Store Day is everywhere and we want to hold our party when everyone can gather around safely to celebrate life, art, music and the culture of the indie record store.”
The full list was released last week and displays a gamut of genres featuring popular artists and soundtracks including Britney Spears, Post Malone, The Rolling Stones, Toto, Eminem, Fleetwood Mac and more. Brandi Carlile has been tapped as Record Store Day Ambassador 2020.
The news follows the majority of the entertainment industry suspending entertainment productions through at least March 31st. Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, has suspended all domestic and international touring through at least the end of March. Billboard reports that the company has instructed tours to return home in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak worldwide. The company will re-evaluate the outbreak in hopes to resume touring in May or June.
A slew of artists and festivals were either canceled or postponed due to the worldwide pandemic in the past week. Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Chris Stapleton, The Who, Pearl Jam, Dan + Shay, Sammy Hagar, Santana, Sons of Apollo, Zac Brown Band, Slipknot and others, have canceled or postponed spring shows due to the outbreak.
Major festivals and events have also been canceled including the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to shutting down 11 days early because of public health concerns, SXSW in Austin and the Ultra Festival in Miami. Promoters Goldenvoice Entertainment announced earlier this week that Coachella and Stagecoach have been pushed back six months to October 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival in Nashville has also been rescheduled “in light of the tornado this week as well as growing health concerns over the coronavirus.”
The C2C: Country to Country Festival in London, Dublin and Glasgow and the iHeartCountry Festival slated for May 2nd in Austin, TX have also been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The 35th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony set for May 2nd has also been indefinitely postponed. No new date has been set as of this writing.
The Country Music Hall of Fame has postponed all programming events for the next two weeks, including Hatch Show Print Block parties.
The ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards are still slated to be held in Las Vegas in April, but organizers are monitoring the situation closely. CMA Music Fest organizers are also closely watching the outbreak as they prep for the June event in Nashville.
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus a worldwide pandemic. More than 125,000 cases have been reported in 110 countries with nearly 5000 deaths. However, nearly 70k people have contracted and survived the virus that was discovered last year.
On Wednesday (March 11th), U.S. President Donald Trump declared a 30 day travel ban to European countries, except the U.K., for foreign nationals that goes into effect at midnight on Friday, March 13th. He shares, “I am confident by counting and continuing to take these measures we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus,” per Fox News.