For many collectors of those spinning plastic discs of joy known as vinyl records, Record Store Day is better than Christmas. Every April (and Black Friday), music lovers emerge from their winter hibernation to line up at record stores around the world in hopes of getting their hands on exclusive and limited-release records pressed especially for the big day. It’s also a day to get out and bump elbows at the record bins with like-minded vinyl nerds and support independent, local brick-and mortar-stores. It can be a blast and it can be a bust, but it’s a vinyl community event that must be experienced.
But what is RSD, as it’s colloquially know, where’d it come from, when is it, and what can you expect from it? I’m gonna break it down for you.
When is Record Store Day?
The very first RSD took place on Saturday, April 19, 2008. Amid the uprising of digital music and streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music no one other than serious vinyl collectors was thinking about records, and the format was on life support. The 1,400 indie record stores in the U.S. were dying and needed a little love, so they banded together and Record Store Day was born.
Now, twice a year, music lovers and vinyl collectors get a day just for them. With the spring weather, the flagship RSD event happens every April, with the 2025 edition coming on Saturday, April 12. Record Store Day brings exclusive, limited-edition vinyl releases to indie record shops in more than 14 countries around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the U.K.
In 2010, the first RSD Black Friday event happened — because who says only big-box stores get to have all the fun? Instead of battling crowds for budget TVs, why not score a rare record or two instead? The list of releases might be smaller than April’s RSD, but the thrill and comraderie is the same.
What’s available on RSD?
A month or two before every Record Store Day event, a list of up to several hundreds of release titles is distributed through the official Record Store Day websites of each country. When the lists are released, they’re not hard to find — they’re shared all over social media and you’ll often find them posted to the websites of your local record stores as well.
The U.S. RSD list includes all the titles that will be distributed to American record stores. Titles include everything from rare releases and exclusives, colored pressings, and box sets to 7-inch singles, live concerts, various artist complications, soundtracks, and even CDs (gasp!).
It’s a great opportunity to add something unique to your record collection, and as someone who’s stood in the rain in line for hours to get my hands on many cool pressings, when you’re successful, it’s like winning the lottery.
How do I get the most out of RSD?
Once the RSD list goes out, there’s some work to be done to help ensure you find and secure the records you’re looking for. The list can be big, so take some time and go through it, jotting down the records you want. Make note of the quantity of copies pressed — limited run pressings can number in the low hundreds to several thousands. This will help you gauge the likelihood of you getting a copy, but it goes without saying that so will the artist and title — you’re not going to be the only one standing in line for Taylor Swift’s 7-inch white vinyl Fortnite remix that’s on this year’s list.
Once you have your want list, as the weeks leading up to RSD approach, your local record stores will likely start reaching out on social media asking their customers to let them know what RSD records they want them to order. Don’t be shy, let them know, either through their socials (if they’re friendly like that, and most of them are), drop by in person or give them a call. If you’re not sure what record stores near you are participating, each RSD website for your country will have a handy locator or list of stores.
While you cannot pre-order RSD records, your local stores will try their best to get in the ones their customers want. But there are no guarantees: it’s been my experience that the stores get what they get.
As the day approaches, many record stores will post the RSD titles and quantities they’ve gotten in on their socials or on their websites, and many will do this up to the day itself. Armed with this info, you can now decide what store or stores will give you the best chance of securing that Limited Run Top Secret! soundtrack featuring Val Kilmer (rest in peace). Now all you have to do is get up bright and early and get in line before everyone else and hope it doesn’t rain.
Cover your bases
Lastly, and this might be hard to hear: after all that prep, there’s still a good chance you might not even get the record you want.
So, here’s what you do. Have the phone numbers of the other potential record stores handy in a note on your phone, piece of paper or something, and call them to see if they have the records you’re looking for. Some will post live stock on their sites or socials, but that’s such a moving target it’s best to just call. They may or may not hold it for you once the rush dies down, but at lest you’ll know where to go next.
Another good idea is to divide and conquer. You surely have other vinyl enthusiast friends, so work together, spread out to the other stores if you can to get the titles you each want.
RSD aftermath and hope
I’ll leave you with a ray of hope. When Record Store Day is over and done, record stores will likely allocate all their leftover titles to a RSD bin or crate in the store. I’ve gotten lucky several times in the weeks and even months after the day and stumbled upon records I missed out on in, for example, a Sunrise Records in a shopping mall or something — keep your eyes peeled!
All this is to say that all is not lost, even if you don’t get the record you wanted — you got a pretty great shared community experience out of the day, regardless. And while you wait six months for the next RSD, keep your crate fingers sharp and you never know what you’ll find.
Happy Record Store Day hunting!