Record Store Day Lines Start Early
Record Store Day 2026 drew fans who began lining up before dawn—Seasick Records reported people arriving at 4 a.m., and stores in Rochester and Champaign said shoppers were camping out for exclusives. Release roundups and full guides listing dozens of special RSD titles were published to help shoppers target rare pressings. (aol.com) (13wham.com) (ultimateclassicrock.com) (loudersound.com)
Record Store Day 2026 brought predawn lines to independent shops on Saturday, with some fans arriving hours before doors opened for limited vinyl releases. (cbs42.com) At Seasick Records in Birmingham, Alabama, people started lining up at 4 a.m. Friday for the Saturday event. Seasick scheduled breakfast at 6 a.m., live music at 7 a.m. and doors at 8 a.m. (cbs42.com) In Rochester, New York, 13WHAM reported that vinyl fans were preparing to camp overnight for exclusives at Record Archive. Store owner Richard Storms said shoppers could expect live music all day and special deals tied to the event. (13wham.com) In Champaign, Illinois, Exile on Main Street opened at 7 a.m. for limited items and planned 11 straight hours of live music starting at 10 a.m. WCIA said the store was part of a wider slate of Central Illinois Record Store Day events on April 18. (wcia.com) The annual event is built around independent stores and one-day releases that are sold in person on a first-come, first-served basis. Record Store Day said the celebration began with a 2007 meeting of store owners and employees, and the first event was held on April 19, 2008. (recordstoreday.com) This year’s official list was large enough that shoppers were using published guides to plan before sunrise. Record Store Day posted the 2026 official release list for April 18, while Louder counted 164 notable picks and Ultimate Classic Rock published its own rock-focused roundup. (recordstoreday.com) (loudersound.com) (ultimateclassicrock.com) The official Record Store Day releases page shows hundreds of special titles, from major-label reissues to small-run exclusives, each tagged with format and quantity. The event’s 2026 ambassador is Bruno Mars, according to Record Store Day. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) The rush comes as vinyl keeps gaining ground in the United States. The Recording Industry Association of America said vinyl passed $1 billion in U.S. sales in 2025, sold 46.8 million units, and generated more than three times the revenue of compact discs. (riaa.com) For shoppers standing in line before dawn, the rules stayed simple on April 18: get there early, pick fast, and hope the record you came for was still in the bins. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2)
