Along with being in the business of misery, Paramore‘s long been in the business of fighting for independent record stores. They’ll continue to do that as the ambassador for Record Store Day 2024.

RSD co-founder Michael Kurtz tells ABC Audio that Paramore’s support for record stores dates back to at least 2008, when they performed at a closing shop called Cat’s Music in their hometown of Franklin, Tennessee.

“They’re, like, teenagers, but they’re basically saying, ‘We love this place, we love what this is. Even though it’s being taken away from us, we are gonna celebrate it here and now,'” Kurtz says. “Now here we are … 15 years later, and they’re our ambassador. It’s really cool.”

Over the history of Record Store Day, Kurtz and co-founder Carrie Colliton have seen more and more younger people become interested in vinyl and physical media, which they feel is driven by artists such as Paramore contributing exclusive RSD releases.

“I remember a record store in Nashville telling me, ‘We had so many young people lining up,'” Colliton says of a past RSD featuring a Paramore release. “The owner of the store would take the record out to the line and show them how it worked, because they had never seen it before. It was totally brand new to them. And now, he sees them coming in for records all the time, some of those people who were in line.”

One of Paramore’s releases for RSD 2024 is a split single with David Byrne of Talking Heads, which Byrne feels reflects the blending of ages among record store shoppers.

“Both artists are super excited to be working with each other,” Kurtz says. “That’s the record store culture right there.” 

Record Store Day 2024 takes place Saturday, April 20.

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