Vinyl fans queue overnight to snap up new and exclusive releases from Southsea record shop as Pie and Vinyl takes part in Record Store Day

Today is Record Store Day, an annual event which sees music shops across the country celebrate their unique culture and communities.

Independent record shop Pie and Vinyl marked the occasion with a special sale of new vinyl and releases made exclusively for the day – with music-lovers flocking to the retailer.

Founder and owner Steve Courtnell was kept busy behind the counter, serving customers and helping them find items.

He said: ‘It’s been a lovely atmosphere, amazing customers coming out to support us.

‘Lots of happy faces with people getting what they want - it shows how passionate people here are.’

New music hitting the shelves included tunes from Fontaines D.C., Spiritualized, Pip Blom, S. Carey, Hatchie, and Michael Rother.

Samuel James has been a retail assistant at Pie and Vinyl for about a year and a half.

He said the shop expects to see a few hundred people walk through the doors today, and that records by Sam Fender, The Streets, Mel C, and David Bowie had been particularly popular.

Samuel added: ‘We’ve got exclusive titles released for this day only - they’ll be in store for a week before they go to online sales, so it’s all exclusive for independent stores around the country. It’s quite an activity for people.

‘The shop really works for the community as it is, and it then it kind of brings outsiders in as well, as the attention has quite a reach.’

Keen vinyl shoppers equipped with chairs and warm layers set up camp outside the record store at 6pm on Friday in the hopes of snapping up coveted records when the doors officially opened at 8am.

Samuel said: ‘The titles that you can only get on this day around the UK are very limited, so we have people queue for around 12 to 20 hours, leading up to the opening.

‘I think it’s a nice thing for the town, and particularly this street - it gets a little bit of attention.’

Staff at Pie and Vinyl have seen an increase in demand for records over the past two years as vinyl increases in popularity.

Samuel said: ‘The last couple of years, vinyl has outsold digital sales, and the production of vinyl was becoming a huge demand.

‘The popularity of it has gone up a lot - I think people have got quite nostalgic about it and enjoying the physical side of owning releases.

‘They’re being made in all types of colours now - things are becoming limited, one-offs, and variants.’

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Steve added: ‘Record Store Day is a great event but it highlights that the demand is outweighing supply - it’s hard getting stock.

‘It also shows that customers need to support independent record stores all throughout the year - it’s all about trying to get people back in the shop.’

Due to manufacturing delays at pressing plants, some titles will arrive late and will instead be available on June 18.

Visit recordstoreday.co.uk for more details.