Indie memorabilia going for a song.

Independents Day kicks off as record labels around the globe rally round with memorabilia donations

An Arctic Monkeys test pressing and Slade scarf are among the first items that will go under the hammer today (Monday) in the UK's biggest auction sale of rock and pop memorabilia, which kicks off Independents Day 08.

The massive auction, which involves hundreds of very rare and invaluable lots, is the first part of a whole range of activities to celebrate the indie sector on and around July 4 and which already involves thousands of labels in 10 countries, including the US and Australia.

Many artist managers and indie labels, including Beggars Group, XL and Domino, have scoured their attics and dusty basements for items that they have donated for the auction, which will be run by eBay. The online auction site is emailing 20m of its customers to alert them to the auction, which is in aid of the two charities - the Musicians Benevolent fund and Campaign Against Living Miserably. Similar auctions will also be run by eBay in the other countries - the US, New Zealand, Spain, Australia, South Africa, France, Austria, Japan and Italy - participating in this year's Independents Day.

The first phase of the UK's Independents Day Auction runs from today to June 18 with two further phases running from June 19-29 and June 27 to July 6. Many of the items that auction-site customers can bid on involve one-off experiences, including playing guitar with The Cult, working as an advertising music supervisor for a day, a drumming lesson with Nathan Curran from Basement Jaxx and two days in a top recording studio.

On top of that are hundreds of rarities, bootlegs, remixes and signed memorabilia, including the first pressing of Favourite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys, an original signed copy of ...