The BRIT Trust’s White Label Auction is set to return on 6 June this year, with over 100 lots of collectable ‘white label’ test pressings up for grabs.
This year’s auction will be hosted live online and on-site for by Omega Auctions from their Newton-Le-Willows base in Greater Manchester. Attendees will be able to bid on a selection of white labels including some hugely coveted signed test pressings. Already confirmed are items by The Cure, Bryan Ferry, Sam Cooke, The Specials, Meat Loaf and Brian Eno, a set of NOW Yearbook releases and reggae and ska 10” EPs and classic albums including The Mighty Diamonds and Gregory Isaacs. Many more items are set to be added over the coming weeks.
White label test pressings are rarely available for purchase, as they are produced ahead of the full release of an album to ensure its audio quality. Rising demand for vinyl albums has in turn resulted in a growing archive of these copies, and the three previous White Label Auctions have seen huge interest. First conducted in 2019, the auctions have raised around £100,000 to date.
The UK’s major and independent record labels led by Universal Music UK, who founded the event with the BPI, along with BMG, Domino Recordings, Cherry Red, Sony Music Entertainment UK, Warner Records and others, each year join forces to curate a broad selection of white label auction lots to raise funds for the vital work of music industry charity The BRIT Trust – which promotes education and wellbeing through music and the creative arts to support causes that include the BRIT School and Nordoff and Robbins.
Johnny Chandler, A&R Director at Universal Music Recordings, who founded the White Label Auction, says, ‘We’re all delighted there’s another White Label Auction in aid of the BRIT Trust taking place later this year and hope that super fans and collectors will again find some compelling lots from their favourite artists. As ever, we are grateful to all the artists, their labels and teams for making the event possible with their generous support, and hope to generate as much as we can to help the Trust continue its valuable work.’
