Record Store Day plans

Record Store Day lands on Saturday, April 18, with independent shops in cities including Nashville and London planning exclusive vinyl drops, live sets and store-by-store promotions. (recordstoreday.com) (timeout.com) The official United States Record Store Day site says the 2026 special-title list will be released through participating record stores on April 18, and the organization says the event began in 2008 after being conceived in 2007 by independent record-store owners and staff. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) In Britain, the official Record Store Day list says all 2026 titles will be sold “over the counter” at independent shops on Saturday, April 18, underscoring the in-person, first-stop-at-the-store model that defines the event. (recordstoreday.co.uk) Nashville’s local guides say stores including Vinyl Tap, Third Man Records and Grimey’s are among the city’s focal points this year, with shops tying the day to in-store happenings as well as the hunt for limited pressings. (nashvilleguru.com) (nashvillescene.com) London’s version is similarly hyperlocal: Time Out’s April 15 guide rounds up participating shops and promotions across the city, from free vinyl giveaways to club-night tie-ins built around the April 18 event. (timeout.com) The selling point is scarcity. Record Store Day’s official 2026 list is built around special titles that are available through participating stores for the event, turning a regular Saturday into a queue-driven release day for collectors. (recordstoreday.com) That formula has spread far beyond one country. The United States site says there are nearly 1,400 independently owned record stores in the United States and thousands of similar stores internationally taking part in the culture around Record Store Day. (recordstoreday.com) The day also arrives after a long vinyl rebound. Time Out’s London guide notes that Record Store Day started in 2007, when many independent music retailers were losing ground to digital listening, and now the event is framed around packed shops and exclusive physical releases. (timeout.com) For shoppers, the practical detail is simple: the official lists are already out, but the records themselves do not go on sale until Saturday, April 18, at participating independent stores. (recordstoreday.com) (recordstoreday.co.uk)