Record Store Day roundup

Record Store Day’s latest signal is simple: the vinyl event still runs on local crowds, not just limited-edition releases. In Kuala Lumpur and Almería this week, organizers built daylong programs around independent shops and drew in-person lines. (recordstoreday.com) (thestar.com.my) (lavozdealmeria.com) Record Store Day 2026 was held on April 18, according to the event’s official site, which says the celebration began in 2007 and first took place in 2008. The same site says participating stores now number nearly 1,400 in the United States and thousands more internationally. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) In Kuala Lumpur, The Star reported that Sputnik Rekordz and the TTDI Market will host a free public event on Sunday, April 26, from 1 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The program includes a collectors’ market curated by Kena Sound!, a sound system by Konscious Island Soundsystem, live performances, food and beverage pop-ups, and an art merchandise booth by Cultkids. (thestar.com.my) The Star said the Kuala Lumpur gathering is Sputnik Rekordz’s first major public Record Store Day event since 2019, after the celebration paused during the pandemic and the years that followed. The event also expands beyond the shop itself, using first-floor public space at the Taman Tun Dr Ismail market in a collaboration with Kuala Lumpur City Hall, or DBKL. (thestar.com.my) In Almería, La Voz de Almería reported long queues at record shops and live music tied to the city’s Record Store Day celebrations. The paper described the event as a day for independent stores, special-edition vinyl releases and in-person performances rather than chain retail or digital listening. (lavozdealmeria.com) That local-store focus is also how Record Store Day defines itself. The official site says it was created by independent record store owners and employees to celebrate the culture around independently owned shops, and its 2026 release list says special titles were issued through participating stores on April 18. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) Alliance Entertainment, in a GlobeNewswire release republished by The Manila Times on April 23, said it supported Record Store Day through a retail network of more than 35,000 storefronts and 340,000 stock-keeping units, or SKUs. The company cast that scale as back-end support for an event still experienced store by store. (manilatimes.net) The official Record Store Day events page still lists store-level appearances and listening parties after April 18, including dates in Los Angeles, Milltown, Wilmington and Hingham. A one-day retail promotion has turned into a longer calendar of in-store traffic, but the draw remains the same: people showing up at independent shops for something they cannot stream. (recordstoreday.com)