Record Store Day preview

Record Store Day’s 2026 release list is out, with more than 350 special titles headed to participating indie shops on Saturday, April 18. (recordstoreday.com) Record Store Day said the releases will be sold through brick-and-mortar stores that choose their own stock, with no pre-orders through the event’s site and online leftovers not expected until Sunday, April 19. (recordstoreday.com) Goldmine’s early collector preview pulled out 10 “must-buy” titles from that list, while a separate Goldmine feature said producer Zev Feldman is attached to 11 Record Store Day 2026 releases, including 10 archival projects and one rare reissue. (goldminemag.com 1) (goldminemag.com 2) That split captures how the event works in 2026: part mass retail ritual, part scarcity game, with broad pop titles sharing bins with deep-catalog jazz, blues, and collector-only pressings. (recordstoreday.com) (goldminemag.com) Record Store Day said the official list is divided into “Exclusive,” “Record Store Day First,” and “Small Run/Regional” categories, a system that signals which records stay indie-only and which may reach wider retail later. (recordstoreday.com) One of the higher-profile crossover items is John Lennon’s *Love (Meditation Mixes)*, a Record Store Day First release on April 18 as a limited 4,500-copy, 3-LP set on 180-gram Pearl Arctic vinyl through Capitol and Universal Music Enterprises. (themusicuniverse.com) The Music Universe said Sean Ono Lennon produced nine new mixes from John Lennon’s 1970 song “Love,” with some tracks stretched past 23 minutes and four presented as binaural-beat versions tied to Beta, Delta, Gamma, and Theta brain-wave themes. (themusicuniverse.com) On the electronic side, 48 Hills flagged a vinyl reissue of Flying Lotus’ 2006 debut *1983*, describing the April 18 edition as a remastered gold-spattered pressing available at participating stores. (48hills.org) Goldmine’s February rundown pointed to the scale of the broader drop, citing runs of 11,000 for Bruno Mars’ *Collaborations*, 12,000 for Bruce Springsteen’s *Sea.Hear.Now* set, and 6,500 for Ethel Cain’s *Inbred* vinyl debut. (goldminemag.com) Record Store Day said the event began after a 2007 meeting of independent record-store owners and employees, with the first celebration held on April 19, 2008; the organization now says about 1,400 independently owned stores in the United States and thousands more internationally take part. (recordstoreday.com) For buyers, the practical takeaway is simple: check which local stores carry a Record Store Day pledge badge, ask what they ordered, and be ready for uneven supply when doors open on April 18. (recordstoreday.com)