Record Store Day began in 2008 and named its first official ambassador (Joshua Homme) in 2010, and in 2022, its 15th year, the event marks another milestone, tapping Taylor Swfit as the first Global Record Store Day Ambassador. Swift follows in the footsteps of recent ambassadors Pearl Jam, Run the Jewels and St. Vincent (who became the event’s first woman ambassador in 2017).
Swift has “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 15th annual celebration of record stores, Record Store Day is proud to welcome [her],” the event’s announcement notes.
“I’m very proud to be this year’s Ambassador for Record Store Day,” says Swift in a statement. “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.”
“We’re thrilled to learn that Taylor Swift is our 2022 Record Store Day Ambassador!” say Anna Lundy and Doyle Davis of Grimey’s New and Pre-loved Music in Nashville. “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 15th Record Store Day, we’re teaming up with a woman who does all that and just happens to be one of the biggest artists on the planet.”
Record Store Day 2022 is set for April 23, with a full list of official releases—including a special drop from Ambassador Swift—soon to come. You can find out more here.
