The White Label Auction, held to raise money for the BRIT Trust, returns on June 7, 2022, with around 170 rare white label test pressing collectibles going under the hammer.
LPs by Adele, Robbie Williams, Wet Leg, The Human League, Mark Knopfler and Tom Speight are the latest additions to White Label Auction, along with two Sex Pistols God Save The Queen 7” singles.
First staged in October 2019, the auction will be hosted live on site and online by the music memorabilia and vinyl records specialists Omega Auctions.
Net profits will go to support the work of industry charity the BRIT Trust. Through its two editions to date, the White Label Auction has raised close to £60,000 for The BRIT Trust.
Other lots include repertoire by artists including Spice Girls, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, Moody Blues, The Police, Roxy Music, Simple Minds, Sparks and The Who; as well as recordings by sought-after collectible artists such as Eric Clapton, John Martyn, T-Rex and Paul Weller.
There are also more recent releases by UK/global artists including Anne Marie, Biffy Clyro, Charli XCX, Coldplay, Muse and Royal Blood. Genres such as punk are represented via The Buzzcocks, The Skids, and The Specials; and rock through Iron Maiden and Def Leppard among others, while soundtracks from ABBA’s Mamma Mia and TV’s Peaky Blinders are also available.
Johnny Chandler, A&R director at UMC, Universal Music UK, who devised the concept of the White Label Auction, said: “Interest in the auction has grown markedly over the past two successful editions, and this year we have even more rare test pressings to tempt bidders, including for the first time 7” singles, which we hope will help us set a new record for the amount we raise in aid of the BRIT Trust. Huge thanks must go to all the artists and artist management teams, the record labels and colleagues who’ve dug deep again this year and donated so generously with highly collectible recordings drawn from all eras and genres of music.”
Dan Hampson, auction manager, Omega Auctions, said: “We’re pleased to once again be working alongside The BRIT Trust, Universal Music and other record labels and the BPI on what has proven to be a very popular auction amongst our buyers. We’ve seen a sustained rise in prices paid for both vinyl and music memorabilia in the last few years which shows no sign of slowing down so this sale comes along at a perfect time for us. The fact that the items come directly from the label, the scarcity of the white labels and also that some of the records are signed has meant that we’ve seen some fantastic prices achieved in 2019 and in 2021 and we certainly expect to see the total raised for charity to be a record this year.”
The Brit Trust supports a wide range of causes that promote education and wellbeing through music, such as The BRIT School and Nordoff Robbins music therapy among many others.
