Record Store Day UK have scheduled their 19th edition of the event for Saturday April 18. The initiative, first kick-started in the US in 2007, has been running in the UK since the first official event on April 19 2008, with the aim of celebrating and promoting physical media formats, primarily vinyl, and the vendors that sell them.
The UK version of Record Store Day (RSD) will endorse over 280 independent record stores across the length and breadth of the country, hoping to drive up customer footfall and assert vinyls, cassettes and CDs as viable media formats. In order to dissuade shoppers from using online platforms like Amazon, they partner with artists to develop limited-run releases and reprints, only made available to their collaborating high street stores.
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While this year’s participating artists have yet to be revealed, RSD’s UK website lists their exclusive members and their products from 2025. Their official ambassador for last year’s event was English singer Sam Fender, who released a special EP titled ‘Me And The Dog’, featuring two new singles. He followed in the footsteps of legendary artists like Dave Grohl, of Foo Fighters and Nirvana fame, Oasis’s Noel Gallagher, and Sir Elton John, as well as more recent stars like Taylor Swift and The 1975.
Last year’s haul of special editions included an extremely wide range of music. Many of the artists listed are no longer with us, with the likes of David Bowie, Marc Bolan’s group T. Rex, and Prince, whose posthumous reissues have the potential to become valuable collectibles. Elsewhere, the event drew the input of many current trendsetters, with Charli XCX bringing LP ‘Number One Angel’ and single ‘Guess’ featuring Billie Eillish, Taylor Swift adding a 7-inch version of her single ‘Fortnight, and Gorillaz donating ‘Demon Days Live From The Apollo Theater’, which celebrated 20 years since the original album debuted.
RSD also seeks to partner with brands who align with their mission statement, and this year’s main sponsor is BBC Radio 6 Music, the BBC’s station with the strongest focus on celebrating and promoting music. As well as this, they use the occasion to support various charities and non-profit organisations, with RSD 2026 joining with War Child, an international charity which endeavours to aid and protect children who have been victims of conflict.
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War Child’s Head of Music, Rich Clarke, who oversees their fundraising projects with musicians, said “We’re honoured to the be the official charity partner and to use that platform to give vital support by children affected by conflict around the world.”
Market statistics seem to show significant positive trends in regards to physical media sales in the UK. Indeed, the British Phonographic Industry found that vinyl sales had increased by 1.4 per cent between 2024 and 2025, racking up 7.4 million units sold. With Record Store Day set to bring another year of new incentive for in-person sales, this could be a very big year for our artists and wholesalers.
