Taylor Swift Teases a New Release as She's Named Record Store Day's First-Ever Global Ambassador
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ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is being honored for her work in support of record stores throughout her career.
Swift, 32, was named the first-ever Record Store Day Global Ambassador on Thursday. The 15th annual Record Store Day (RSD), which celebrates independent record stores, will take place this year on April 23.
"I'm very proud to be this year's Ambassador for Record Store Day," Swift said in a press release. "The places where we go to browse and explore and discover music new and old have always been sacred to me."
She added, "Record stores are so important because they help to perpetuate and foster music-loving as a passion."
Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Taylor Swift
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Swift will drop a "special RSD 2022 release" in honor of the holiday's 15th celebration, according to the press release. On past RSD celebrations, she has released new versions of albums 1989 and Speak Now, and unveiled a 7" vinyl single version of Haim's "Gasoline," according to Billboard.
Previously, Pearl Jam, Brandi Carlile and Fred Armisen have all been named Record Store Day ambassadors for the United States, according to Pitchfork. Swift is the first artist to be named a global ambassador.
RSD co-founder Carrie Colliton said in the release that the organization is "pretty picky about the people we invite to 'wear the sash'" for Record Store Day.
"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 store," Colliton said. "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."
Swift stepped up to support record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic by sending them signed copies of her album Folklore. One independent store in particular, Grimey's New and Pre-loved Music in Nashville, received donations directly from Swift to help cover their employees' healthcare and salaries.
"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," owners Anna Lundy and Doyle Davis said in a statement included in the release.
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"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," they added. We can't think of a better choice for RSD Ambassador for 2022!"
Swift's appointment as Global Record Store Day Ambassador comes after the "All Too Well" singer saw plenty of success with her vinyl releases in the past year. Her vinyl editions of Red (Taylor's Version), Evermore and Folklore ranked on MRC's list of top 10 best selling vinyl albums of 2021, according to Forbes.
