Record Store Day set: April 18

Record Store Day returns on Saturday, April 18, with hundreds of limited vinyl releases landing only at participating independent shops. (recordstoreday.com) The official Record Store Day site says the 2026 list will be sold at brick-and-mortar stores, not through Record Store Day itself, and stores choose their own orders title by title. It also says there are no preorders, and unsold stock may go online starting Sunday, April 19. (recordstoreday.com) This year’s list includes releases tied to Taylor Swift, Paramore, Charli XCX, Weezer and Madonna, part of a broader slate that runs into the hundreds across pop, rock, hip-hop and catalog reissues. Record Store Day UK says all titles are sold over the counter at independent shops on April 18. (recordstoreday.com, recordstoreday.co.uk) The format is built around scarcity. Record Store Day divides titles into “Exclusive,” “Record Store Day First” and “Small Run/Regional,” with the smallest runs limited to under 1,000 copies or specific markets. (recordstoreday.com) That setup turns the day into a traffic driver for local stores rather than a normal online drop. Record Store Day says the event began in 2008 to celebrate independently owned record shops in the United States and similar stores abroad, and it now spans roughly 1,400 U.S. stores and thousands more internationally. (recordstoreday.com, recordstoreday.com) In New York, Rockefeller Center is again using the date for a larger public event. Time Out New York reports that iNDIEPLAZA, now in its fifth year, will run from noon to 9 p.m. on April 18 and is expected to draw tens of thousands of people to 30 Rockefeller Plaza. (timeout.com) The Rockefeller Center event is being curated by Rough Trade and will include live performances by Superchunk, a DJ set from Avalon Emerson, and additional sets from Incendiary, Hotline TNT, Momma, Winter, Friko, Nuovo Testamento and Weird Nightmare, according to Time Out New York. Rough Trade’s Rockefeller Center shops are scheduled to start sales at 9 a.m. at rink level and 10 a.m. upstairs. (timeout.com) The same event also has a family program. Time Out New York says TiNY iNDIE will run from 9:30 a.m. to noon with activities including DIY vinyl-making and tie-dyeing, while a separate listing says the program is presented with Space Club at Rockefeller Center. (timeout.com, broadwayworld.com) For shoppers, the practical advice is simple: check whether a nearby store is a participating location, ask what it actually ordered, and expect lines before opening if you want the biggest titles. Record Store Day’s own guidance says not every shop carries every release, even on the official list. (recordstoreday.com)