Far Out Facts: Everything you need to know about Record Store Day 2024
As they do every April, this month thousands of record stores and hundreds of music artists will participate in the celebration of independent and analogue music that is Record Store Day.
If you live in the UK, US, Canada, Australia or even parts of mainland Europe, unless you’re holed away in the wilderness somewhere, the chances are you’re within travelling distance of a Record Store Day event. So, if you’re a fan of classic records, leafing through the bins at your local record shop, or just want to support independent artists and/or small businesses, this is the day for you.
There are many different aspects to the day, from special edition releases and promotional discounts to surprise musical performances. You’re probably wondering exactly what all that means in practice. Why this day, and what makes it so special?
Far Out’s got you covered with this ultimate guide to everything Record Store Day-related. We’ll be updating this guide continually as Record Store Day 2024 approaches. So consider this the place to check for everything you need to know about the event and how you can get involved.
What is Record Store Day?
Since the heyday of the album as a musical form in the 1970s, vinyl record sales have been in decline. First, they suffered from the arrival of portable cassette players on the mass market, such as the Sony Walkman in 1979. Then compact discs appeared to have finished them off by the mid-1990s. And that’s before digital downloads and streaming threatened physical music sales altogether.
Along with the vinyl record itself, an entire music subculture was at risk with the advent of these new forms of musical consumption. Record stores as local community hubs for music lovers, welcoming everyone from music historians to hipster connoisseurs and trendsetting indie kids, seemed destined to disappear.
The affectionately satirical portrait painted of an independent record store in Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel High Fidelity, later turned into a Stephen Frears film starring John Cusack, could have served as their eulogy. The days of rifling through second-hand shelves in search of a lost gem or opening up the artwork spread across a gatefold cover sleeve were numbered.
That is, until a 2007 meeting between indie record store owners in Baltimore, Maryland (including current RSD managers Michael Kurtz and Carrie Colliton). This meeting devised a way to save the record store business and the subculture it had created by boosting its profile and drawing together disparate layers of music consumers.
As explained on Record Store Day’s official site, the idea was to pour resources into a single day each year that could “celebrate and spread the word about” vinyl records and the independent shops that stocked them. The day would focus on “the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently-owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally.”
When was the first Record Store Day?
Less than a year later, on April 19th, 2008, the first Record Store Day took place. Metallica opened the event with a live performance at Rasputin Music, an independent record store in the San Francisco area. Billy Bragg did the same at a UK record shop, and ten major artists released musical releases especially for the day. Over 300 US stores and dozens of UK shops took part.
The following year, Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal became the first artist ambassador for Record Store Day. Since then, other artists, from Ozzy Osbourne to Run the Jewels, have followed suit in this annual tradition. This year’s UK Record Store Day ambassador is Kate Bush, for example.
Since its inception, Record Store Day has played a major role in reviving vinyl record sales and the indie subculture that surrounds them. Vinyl record sales in the US hit an all-time low in 2006 and 2007. They have since increased more than 40-fold, totalling 41.3million in 2023, which puts them at their highest level since 1988.
And now, every year, no day sees more vinyl records sold than Record Store Day.
When is Record Store Day 2024?
Record Store Day 2024 will be held on Saturday, April 20th. This is the second time RSD has taken place on this date, following 2013.
The day happens to coincide with the countercultural phenomenon of 420, international cannabis day, which takes place on April 20th each year. So, while you’re looking for special discounts on vinyl records, you might want to consider which LP you’d like to stone out to later in the day.
Who are the Record Store Day dealers this year?
There are now record stores in over 80 countries participating in Record Store Day. It’s impossible to name them all, but you can search for a store near you using this database on the official RSD site.
The event has national organisers in 14 countries: the US, the UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Poland.
Some of the best-known record dealers involved in RSD this year include Academy Records & CDs in New York, London’s Rough Trade, and Amoeba Music in Hollywood, Berkeley and San Francisco. There’s also the famous EDM hotspot Wally’s Groove World in Antwerp, Parisian black music specialists Betino’s, Glam-O-Rama for metalheads in Lisbon, and Tokyo’s punk paradise BASE.
Far Out will be bringing you more of our favourite record shops to look out for this RSD in the coming days.
How does Record Store Day work?
Record Store Day happenings all take place at local, independent record shops around the world. And they essentially fall into two categories:
- Special or limited edition releases, discounts and promotions related to record purchases
- Artist appearances, performances, interviews and other special events taking place at record stores
You should check the store’s website for the particular discounts and promotions your local record store is offering for RSD 2024.
However, there are also some promotions the global RSD organisers are running for record stores around the world. For instance, there will be a Beatles-themed 3” mini-turntable with Bluetooth speaker connectivity on offer for Record Store Day to celebrate 60 years since the group’s historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
As far as live performances go, Loud Pizza Records in Highland Park, Illinois, will be hosting multiple events to celebrate RSD. On Friday, April 12th, they host Braid and Bob Nanna for a live performance before hosting a listening party for Iron & Wine’s new album Light Verse on RSD 2024 itself. Meanwhile, Steve Turner of Mudhoney will be performing a DJ set at Jackpot Records in Portland, Oregon.
In addition, Record Store Day UK is running a competition for unsigned artists to have their music pressed and released on vinyl.
Which LP records will be released on RSD 2024?
This year, there will be over 500 new and special edition Record Store Day exclusive releases in the UK alone. In the US, the number totals closer to 1000 special releases.
While some of these releases include extended-player vinyl records and other forms of physical release, most are long-player vinyl.
A few big releases to watch out for include David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust-era collection of previously unreleased material, Waiting in the Sky, Pixies concert album Live From Red Rocks 2005, Donna Summer’s remix LP “Many” States of Independence, and a triple-LP boxset of Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings from Art Tatum.
Far Out’s new music experts will be picking out the RSD 2024 releases they’re most looking forward to getting their hands on closer to the date.
What is an independent record?
An essential part of Record Store Day is the celebration of independent music, as well as the independent shops that sell it.
Independent records are records released on independent record labels, traditionally known as indie labels for short. Indie labels are now considered to be any labels that are not constituent parts or subsidiaries of the so-called “Big Three” record companies—Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Group.
Some of the most notable examples of record labels which are still wholly independent from the “Big Three” are London’s Domino Recording Company and Rough Trade (which also operates Rough Trade record stores), and New York’s Glassnote Records.
What happened on RSD 2023?
The headline from Record Store Day 2023 was the 25th-anniversary release of Pearl Jam’s live performance at Melbourne Park in 1998. Released for the first time on vinyl as a double LP, this record satisfied the band’s core fanbase and rarity collectors alike. Its only previous release was as a giveaway with another purchase, and only a few thousand CD copies exist.
Otherwise, The Cure put out their 1993 live album Show on Vinyl for the first time, and Violent Femmes released a limited vinyl edition of their self-titled debut for its 40th anniversary.
Does RSD also do something for Black Friday?
To capitalise on the mad rush of discount shopping that now takes place worldwide in the last week of November, RSD has added a second date to its calendar annually for Black Friday. 2010 was the first year a second Record Store Day took place on Black Friday, allowing vinyl enthusiasts to make the most of special promotions and sale offers before Christmas.
So, if you miss out on a special LP offer you want on April 20th, don’t worry. You can get a second bite later in the year.