Record Store Day announces 2026 exclusive titles (full list) – BrooklynVegan

Record Store Day will take place Saturday, April 18, 2026, and organizers have published the roster of exclusive releases that participating independent stores will offer on the day. The package spans archival live recordings, deluxe reissues, picture discs and one-off collectibles, with notable entries from Pavement, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead and many more. Bruno Mars is this year’s official RSD Ambassador, a role that typically helps promote the event across stores and media. Below we summarize the key facts, provide context, reproduce the announced full list of exclusives, and assess what this edition means for collectors and indie retailers.

Key Takeaways

• Event date: Record Store Day 2026 is Saturday, April 18, an annual coordinated retail event for independent record shops.
• Ambassador: Bruno Mars has been named the 2026 RSD Ambassador, a promotional role for the event.
• Scope: The announced exclusives include high-profile archival live releases (Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd), indie favorites (Pavement, Sonic Youth), pop and hip-hop entries (Charli XCX, Cam’ron), and special collectibles (vinyl figure from Ozzy Osbourne).
• Notable archival dates preserved: Grateful Dead’s Boston Music Hall recording is dated 6/11/76; Pink Floyd’s live entry is from April 26, 1975 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
• Reissues and anniversary items: Lil Peep’s crybaby receives a 10 Year Anniversary RSD Edition; other reissues include The Modern Lovers and The Sisters Of Mercy Japanese edition.
• Format variety: offerings include picture discs, deluxe editions, live LPs, soundtrack special editions and novelty items, signaling a broad collector focus.
• Geographic distribution: titles will be available at participating independent stores on RSD; availability and pressing quantities often vary by region and shop.

Background

Record Store Day launched in 2007 to celebrate independent record stores and the culture of physical music collecting. Since then it has grown into an annual industry event that coordinates exclusive pressings and in-store activities worldwide, typically held each spring and again in the fall for a Black Friday edition. Labels and artists usually prepare limited-run releases for the April date, driving foot traffic to small retailers and generating secondary-market interest among collectors.

Over time RSD has become a mix of archival reissues, special pressings and promotional tie-ins that appeal to different buyer segments: long-form collectors, casual shoppers, and fans chasing limited memorabilia. The ambassador role—filled in past years by high-profile musicians—serves to amplify media coverage and encourage broader participation among fans who might otherwise not visit independent stores. Retailers rely on the event for both immediate sales and longer-term customer acquisition, though balancing supply and demand remains an ongoing operational challenge.

Main Event

Organizers released the full roster of exclusive titles that will be offered at participating stores on April 18, 2026. The announced list spans decades and genres, from archival rock and punk to contemporary indie and mainstream pop. The list includes several high-profile live releases and deluxe editions likely to interest collectors and resale markets alike.

Highlighted selections include Pavement’s Perfect Sound Forever; Slint’s untitled Albini rough mixes; multiple Grateful Dead releases including Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/11/76 and On A Back Porch, Vol. 3; and Pink Floyd’s Live From the Los Angeles Sports Arena, April 26th, 1975. Other notable entries are Jeff Buckley’s Live À L’Olympia, Joni Mitchell’s For The Roses, Sonic Youth’s Diamond Seas and the Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band deluxe Lick My Decals Off, Baby.

The full announced list of 2026 RSD exclusives as provided by the organizers and reported by BrooklynVegan is below:

• Pavement – Perfect Sound Forever
• Slint – untitled (albini rough mixes)
• Grateful Dead – Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/11/76
• Grateful Dead – On A Back Porch, Vol. 3
• The Sisters Of Mercy – First And Last and Always “The Japanese Edition”
• Pink Floyd – Live From the Los Angeles Sports Arena, April 26th, 1975
• Look Outside Your Window (Slipknot offshoot) – Look Outside Your Window
• Mutemath – Mutemath
• The Tears (Suede offshoot) – Here Comes the Tears
• Air – AIR Moon Safari – The Athens Concert
• Jeff Buckley – Live À L’Olympia
• Joni Mitchell – For The Roses
• The Gits – Etcetera
• Ethel Cain – Inbred
• Sonic Youth – Diamond Seas
• Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band – Lick My Decals Off, Baby (Deluxe Edition)
• Neko Case – Cool Boys
• The Jesus & Mary Chain – Some Candy Talking
• Against Me! – New Wave B-Sides
• King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Big Fig Wasp
• Bluey – Up Here Zoetrope Picture Disc
• Various Artists – KPop Demon Hunters (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) – HUNTR/X Edition
• Ramones – Live In San Francisco
• Phoenix – United
• Phoenix – Alphabetical
• Cam’ron – Killa Season
• Primal Scream – 1987 EPs
• Lemonheads – Creator
• Charli XCX – party 4 u
• Tyler Childers – Live From Dinosaur World
• XTC Live Boots – Live At Emerald City 1981
• The Cure – Greatest Hits
• The Chills – Sunburnt
• Deafheaven – KEXP Sessions
• Motorhead – The Löst Tapes, Vol. 7 (Lemmy’s 50th Birthday, Live in West Hollywood, 1995)
• Olivia Dean – BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge
• Dinosaur Jr – Live in Hollywood 1991 – The Green Mind Tour
• doPE (John Densmore & Chuck D) – No Country For Old Men
• Dropkick Murphys/Outlets – Knock Me Down
• Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Archive Vol. 1 (1981-1990)
• Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts – The Live Album
• George Harrison – Dark Horse Zoetrope LP
• George Harrison – Extra Texture Zoetrope LP
• Judas Priest – Live in Los Angeles ’90
• Lil Peep – crybaby (10 Year Anniversary RSD Edition)
• Bat For Lashes – A Fleet of Bats: Early Demos
• Misfits – Famous Monsters
• The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers (picture disc)
• Neko Case – Cool Boys
• Ozzy Osbourne – Ozzy Osbourne – Handmade By Robots (vinyl figure)
• Paramore – All We Know is Falling (Deluxe)
• Sugar – File Under Easy Listening – The Singles Collection
• Van Halen – Live in New Haven, CT 1986
• John Wesley Harding – Here Comes The Groom (Deluxe)
• London Suede – Coming Up At The BBC

Analysis & Implications

The breadth of the 2026 roster shows RSD continuing to balance archival, indie and commercial appeal. High-profile archival live releases (e.g., Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley) tend to attract seasoned collectors and often command attention on secondary markets; their presence here will likely drive pre-event interest. Meanwhile, contemporary and indie acts (e.g., Ethel Cain, Charli XCX, King Gizzard) help keep the event relevant for younger buyers and streaming-era fans who may be newly exploring physical formats.

For independent retailers, headline acts and collectible novelty items (such as the Ozzy vinyl figure) can generate significant single-day sales but also create logistical stress around allocation and crowd management. Stores must balance promotional transparency and fair distribution—strategies that differ by shop but increasingly include online reservation lists, limited-in-store quantities and timed releases to avoid excessive lines and disappointment.

From an industry perspective, RSD remains one of the most visible mechanisms for labels to monetize catalog material and for artists to present unique physical products. The event’s continued growth raises questions about sustainability, however: pressing plant capacity, carbon footprints of manufacturing and the potential dilution of perceived scarcity if too many exclusives are produced. How labels and RSD organizers manage quantities and release strategies will shape collector sentiment in the coming years.

Comparison & Data

The table above highlights different release strategies—archival documentation, anniversary reissues, novelty collectibles and picture discs—all present in the 2026 slate. Each format appeals to distinct buyer profiles: archivists value provenance and audio fidelity; casual fans are drawn to commemorative editions; collectors chase unique formats and limited objects. That mix is a deliberate part of RSD’s model, aiming to provide something for a broad constituency of buyers while driving store traffic.

Reactions & Quotes

The Record Store Day announcement framed this year’s list as a broad mix of archival and contemporary releases intended to support independent stores worldwide.

Record Store Day (official announcement)

The selection of Bruno Mars as Ambassador was presented as a way to amplify the event’s visibility and encourage wider participation across demographics.

Record Store Day / Bruno Mars announcement

Retailers and collectors typically greeted the annual exclusive list with enthusiasm tempered by caution about allocation and fairness in distribution.

Independent record store operators (industry responses)

Unconfirmed

• Exact pressing quantities for each title have not been confirmed publicly; availability may vary significantly by region and store.
• Specific in-store allocation policies and whether some titles will appear in online store drops have not been uniformly disclosed by participating retailers.

Bottom Line

Record Store Day 2026’s announced exclusives offer a wide-ranging mix designed to serve collectors, casual buyers and independent shops alike. The slate’s combination of archival live documents, deluxe reissues and novelty items will likely produce strong demand, especially for high-profile historical recordings and limited-format collectibles.

Independent retailers will again face the logistical task of distributing scarce items fairly while maximizing the promotional and financial upside of the event. For collectors, early research into store policies and prioritized wish lists remain the best strategy to secure desired releases on April 18, 2026.

Sources

• BrooklynVegan — (music news report summarizing the announced list)
• Record Store Day — (official site / event announcements)