Sainsbury’s launches own record label

Not content with being the biggest vinyl retailer on the High Street, Sainsbury’s has joined forces with Universal and Warner Music to set up its own record label. It's called ‘Own Label’. It will sell exclusive records under the imprint in 168 of its stores.

With vinyl sales on the rise (recently hitting a 25-year high), now certainly seems as good a time as any.

The first two records announced are compilation albums curated by Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne fame – Hi Fidelity – A Taste of Stereo Sound (which includes Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells), and Coming Into Los Angeles – A Taste of West Coast.

According to a BBC report, the records will come packaged with essays by Stanley - and as our recent chat with him reveals, he's exactly the man for the job. The LPs’ cover artwork is inspired by Sainsbury's in-house design studio of the '60s and '70s.

Prices are to be confirmed, but if they're in line with the vinyl albums already sold in Sainsbury's stores, they're likely to fall between £12-16.

[Image credit: CITY A.M.]

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Simon Lucas is a freelance technology journalist and consultant, with particular emphasis on the audio/video aspects of home entertainment. Before embracing the carefree life of the freelancer, he was editor of What Hi-Fi? – since then, he's written for titles such as GQ, Metro, The Guardian and Stuff, among many others.