Record store Rough Trade has reported a surge in shoppers looking to buy music by artists who performed at last weekend’s Glastonbury Festival.
The independent chain said it had seen an uplift in the number of online customers searching for music by acts on the bill at the event on Worthy Farm in Somerset, which was attended by a quarter of a million people and streamed on the BBC. Rough Trade, which has shops in London, Bristol and Nottingham and spawned the label Rough Trade Records, said there had been a 2,550% rise in the number of fans looking to buy albums by Elton John, who headlined the Pyramid Stage on Sunday night with what he said would be his final UK show.
The retailer said there was a 1,120% rise in traffic for Scottish alternative hip-hop group Young Fathers and a 150% uptick for soul trio Gabriels, with other notable increases for Fred Again (+ 250%), Cat Stevens (+150%) and Blondie (+65%). Rough Trade said Glastonbury provided an “incredible platform” for artists to inspire fans into supporting them by buying copies of their releases.
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Managing director Lawrence Montgomery said: “For decades, Glastonbury has been one of the biggest, most influential events of the year for those in the music industry. It’s great to see that music fans are coming to us to get their hands on music from some of their favourite acts from over the weekend – it’s true that nothing can beat a real-life copy – and our sales following this year’s event reflect just that.”
Mr Montgomery also spoke out in support of Bristol-based artist Billy Nomates, real name Tor Maries, who said she had requested the BBC take down a video of her performance at the festival, after she received “personal abuse” online.
Mr Montgomery said “the appalling abuse” had been “very upsetting to see”, adding: “As an artist who has been very open about how tough it is to make a living in this business, for her to go to work and share her art only to be torn down by nasty keyboard warriors just shows how out of touch some people are about what it takes to even be on that stage in the first place.
“We admire artists who do things differently and Tor Maries is no exception. Her creativity is something to be applauded and we feel very privileged she has chosen to share her art in the way she does.”
