ABOUT US
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FOR ALL PRESS INQUIRIES AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS, EMAIL PRESS@RECORDSTOREDAY.COM
Record Store Day was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently-owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally. The first Record Store Day took place on April 19, 2008. Today, Record Store Day is celebrated at independently-owned brick-and-mortar record stores around the world.
This is a day for the people who make up the world of the record store�the staff, the customers, and the artists�to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role they play in their communities. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, DJs spinning records, and on and on. In 2008 a small list of titles was released on Record Store Day and that list has grown to include artists and labels both large and small, in every genre and price point. For several years, 60% or more of the Record Store Day Official Release List came from independent labels and distributors. The list continues to include a wide range of artists, covering the diverse taste of record stores and their customers.
On the first Record Store Day, Metallica spent hours at Rasputin Music in San Francisco meeting their fans and now each year hundreds of artista�both internationally famous and from the block--flock to record stores around the world for performances, signings, meet and greets and to fill their own shopping bags with music. In 2009, Jesse "Boots Electric" Hughes (Eagles of Death Metal) declared himself the "Record Store Day Ambassador" as a way of shouting out how important the stores were to artists and since then Joshua Homme (Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures, Queens of the Stone Age), Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, Jack White, Chuck D, Dave Grohl, Metallica, St. Vincent, Run The Jewels, Pearl Jam, Brandi Carlile, Fred Armisen and Taylor Swift have worn the annual ceremonial sash.
Throughout its 15 years, cities across the United States, including New York City, Los Angeles, Boise, Charleston, Raleigh and Las Vegas have declared Record Store Day an official holiday. In 2013, Co-Founder Michael Kurtz was made a Chevalier of the Ordre Des Arts et Des Letters in France, honoring Record Store Day's contribution to the cultural and artistic life of the French people. That same year, the organizers of Record Store Day accepted the Independent Spirit Award from NARM (now the Music Biz Association). In 2015, Record Store Day was named the Marketplace Ally of the Year by A2IM, an organization of independent music labels.
While there�s only one Record Store Day a year, the organization works with both independent and major labels throughout the year to create contests, special releases and promotions in order to spotlight the benefits of supporting these independent, locally owned stores with music purchases throughout the year. � In 2010, Record Store Day coordinated its first RSD Black Friday event, which gives record stores exclusive releases as part of the attempt to redirect the focus of the biggest shopping day of the year to the desirable, special things to be found at these local, independently-owned small businesses.
In 2016, Record Store Day created RSD Summer Camp, a conference devoted to the unique business that is the independent record store. The conference provides a place for record store owners and staff to meet and interact with labels, distribution, vendors and anyone whose work places them in the orbit of a record store. RSD Summer Camp 2023 will be held in New Orleans August 8 through the 11. Contact summercamp@recordstoreday.com for more information.
In 2017, Record Store Day was a founding partner in the Making Vinyl conference, which brings together the companies and individuals responsible for the ongoing vinyl resurgence.
In 2020, due to the global pandemic which affected record stores worldwide, Record Store Day morphed into three RSD Drops dates-- August 29, September 26 and October 24-- and split the official List of releases between them. The focus wasn't on parties, and shows but on celebrating the comfort, joy and fun that they bring their customers through what they sell. Even during a pandemic, record stores proved essential to their community.
In 2021, Record Store Day partnered with Think Indie Distribution and Cured Vinyl for a series of releases called RSD Essentials, bringing classic, �essential� catalog releases of all genres and decades to record store bins year-round. A partnership in 2022 with Atlantic Records created the RSD New Artist Series, introducing younger artists and fans to the beauty of physical formats and the glory of the record store with a tour of in-store appearances, signings and performances across the country.
Record Store Day 2025 will be held on April 12, 2025.
Record Store Day is currently managed by Michael Kurtz and Carrie Colliton, in coordination with Andrea Paschal and Eric Levin. Folks wanting to contact Record Store Day are encouraged to email us at�information@recordstoreday.com
ABOUT OUR STORES AND THIS SITE
A Record Store Day participating store is defined as a brick and mortar retailer whose main primary business focuses on full time, stand alone physical store locations, with a major commitment to music retail, and whose company is independently owned, and not publicly traded. (In other words, we�re dealing with real, live, physical, indie record stores�not online retailers or corporate behemoths).
This website does include information on participating International stores, but this is primarily a US site, and the releases and promotions featured on this site are for US stores.
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DISCLAIMER
RECORD STORE DAY DISCLAIMER:
There are a lot of stores that participate in Record Store Day and are listed on this site. Those stores are all INDEPENDENT, which means not only are they not owned by a corporation, they aren�t run or influenced or told what to do by us here at Record Store Day either. They have complete control over their stock, store policies and which promotions they participate in. Any piece (commercial or promotional) that we tell you about on this site is available at some stores, but other stores have probably chosen not to carry them. Which is totally their prerogative. That�s why we tell you to be sure to CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL STORE. Being mentioned on this site should not be taken as a guarantee that something will be available at all stores listed on this site.
PRIVACY POLICY
Record Store Day does not sell or rent their email list. Occasionally an offer or promotion may be passed along to members on the list, but these emails will come from Record Store Day. If you enter a contest on www.recordstoreday.com and do not check the box to sign up for our email list, we will not keep your information after a winner has been determined and verified, and it will not be given to anyone.
CONTESTS ON RECORDSTOREDAY.COM
Unless otherwise noted, only those who are over 18, with a valid United States physical address are eligible to win the contests on RecordStoreDay.com or on social media pages operated by Record Store Day US. All winners will be drawn at random from the final list of entries, and notified via email for verification of the physical address. If a winner does not respond within three days, a new winner will be notified. All entries are destroyed after a prize has shipped, so rest assured that your information is not being loaned, used or sold.
Record Store Day does our best to ensure their safety, but can not replace prizes damaged in shipping due to circumstances beyond our control.
This is the US website for Record Store Day. Due to customs rules and shipping restrictions, contests on www.recordstoreday.com and Record Store Day US social media pages are open to entrants with a valid physical shipping address within the United States.
CONTACT
FOR ALL PRESS INQUIRIES AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS, EMAIL PRESS@RECORDSTOREDAY.COM
For any other information or questions please email information@recordstoreday.com