record store day
Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart is taking a look at one of music’s most iconic names for his latest record, Dave Does Dylan.
Arriving as part of the global Record Store Day celebrations on April 12, Stewart’s 14-song homage to Bob Dylan sees the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer performing live, one-take covers of Dylan’s catalog – armed only with guitar and vocals. Featuring cover artwork evocative of Dylan’s Nashville Skyline, the record largely features tributes to Dylan’s songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s, though latter-period tracks also make the cut.
In a statement, Stewart explained that he had been a fan of Dylan since childhood, going so far as to perform two Dylan covers as part of his earliest gigs as a teenager in the mid ‘60s.
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“I was insistent on getting into folk clubs, but I looked about 12 years old, so they kept me out for a while,” he recalled. “Then one chap, Mick Elliot, took pity and allowed me to play at The George & Dragon which became the center of the folk music scene in my hometown, Sunderland N.E. England, in the 1960’s. It was like stepping into a sacred room where visionaries and rebels converged — actually, it was simply a room upstairs in a pub full of older folk singers, beer, whisky and cigarette smoke everywhere. I was allowed to sing two songs, so I would play Bob Dylan songs from his albums that my brother had left behind when he went to college.
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“The audience was always a bit shocked that this kid, who looked so young, was singing these lyrics — especially in that kind of folk club,” Stewart continued. “It was mostly old folk music that was being played from the local area about the coal mines and about the shipyards, which I loved too…and Dylan would have loved also. I started to sing and play these Dylan songs anywhere I could; in other folk clubs, even on the street all over the north east of England. From then on, I got every Bob Dylan album — and still do to this day — on vinyl and in every possible variation.”
“Captain Dave is a dreamer and a fearless innovator, a visionary of high order, very delicately tractable on the surface but beneath that, he’s a slamming, thumping, battering ram, very mystical but rational and sensitive when it comes to the hot irons of art forms,” Dylan himself said in a statement.
“An explosive musician, deft guitar player, innately recognizes the genius in other people and puts it into play without being manipulative. With him, there’s mercifully no reality to yesterday. He is incredibly gracious and soulful, can command the ship and steer the course, dragger, trawler or man of war, Captain Dave.”
Ahead of the release of Dave Does Dylan, Stewart is also set to tape an episode of the Recorded Live at Analog series on March 22 at Analog inside Nashville’s Hutton Hotel. The appearance will see him performing tracks from his upcoming record with the addition of strings, pedal steel guitar, and keys. The episode will air on PBS on an as-yet-unspecified date in July, with tickets available for audience members to attend the taping.
“I’ve played on stage with Bob in London, L.A. and Tokyo, and I find conversations with him — whether on the phone or when we’re together — really relaxed and easy,” Stewart added. “As you can imagine, he is full of great observations and wisdom, all wrapped up in a poetic language.
“I’m so, so grateful for getting to know him personally and to now record this album of songs after years of singing them to friends and to myself. It’s been a long road and these lyrics and melodies have kept me company through the best and the worst of times. I hope my album can do the same for Dylan fans out there—who understand the mastery and the mystery Bob has bestowed on us, and still does to this day.”
Record Store Day on April 12 will feature more than 300 titles being released, including collectible music from Elton John, Post Malone, Prince, Gracie Abrams, Queen, Taylor Swift, John & Yoko, Charlie XCX, the Killers & Bruce Springsteen, and many more.
As usual, the vast majority of the releases are vinyl LPs, many with a color or picture-disc slant; and also as usual, most releases will be in limited supply.
This will mark the 18th year of RSD, launched back in 2008 after the idea emerged at a gathering of indie record store owners and label executives. Since then, the event has single-handedly revived vinyl into a viable music format that sells over $1 billion annually in the U.S. alone. What’s more, RSD has also evolved into an international event.
Each year, stores wait in anticipation to see which titles will emerge as must-haves on the big day — the kinds of drops that bring long lines of fans waiting outside participating stores. With a limited supply for most titles, it can mean fans shuffle from store-to-store seeking their sought-after title. But while searching for those titles, it can also mean finding an unexpected treasure.
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“The whole energy in a record store is just super inspiring,” 2025’s Record Store Day Ambassador Post Malone said in a statement provided by the RSD organization in announcing the event. “I feel at home. It’s really an unexplainable feeling to hit up a shop and dig through crates, just see what grabs your eye.”
Malone will issue his Post Malone Tribute to Nirvana, a 2020 livestream performance of Nirvana covers accompanied by blink-182’s Travis Barker on drums, guitarist Nick Mack and bassist Brian Lee. Moreover, 100% of net proceeds from the release will be donated to MusiCares’ Addiction Recovery/Mental Health division.
Malone will also be participating in another RSD release, which is also expected to be a hot item as its a collaboration with 2022’s Record Store Day Ambassador, who also happens to be the biggest music artist in the world, Taylor Swift. They will release their collaboration track “Fortnight,” on a double sided 7-inch vinyl single.
While RSD brings out plenty of long-time collectors, i.e. older demographics, it was Swift who helped spread the day’s popularity to younger fans in 2023 when she caused traffic jams at stores filled with fans seeking her special release of folklore, the long pond studio sessions — a double LP that year. Last year, keeping the young flowing to record stores included releases from Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter.
This year’s titles for younger music fans include: Gracie Abrams: Live from Radio City Music Hall; Beabadoobee’s Live and Acoustic in London; Megan Thee Stallion’s Traumazine on double black vinyl; and two releases from Charli XCX, the first a collaboration title, Guess featuring Billie Eilish, on 7-inch vinyl; and an edited version of prior release: Number 1 Angel, on apple-colored vinyl with a new RSD exclusive cover. That title’s tracks were previously part of a double-LP release Pop 2.
Moreover, RSD continues to diversify its genres offerings as rap and hip-hop fans will be able to seek titles from Cypress Hill, Anderson .Paak, Snoop Dog and a new release from the Wu-Tang Clan in a collaboration with Mathematics as they release Black Samson, The Bastard Swordsman: Wu-Tang, The Saga Continues Collection on 180-gram LP vinyl. What’s more Wu-Tang Clan are expected to make an appearance at the RSD press event today.
Jazz releases include music from Pharaoh Sanders, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, and the Vince Guaraldi Trio; while Harry Potter fans will be treated to five different soundtrack albums from that movie series, all on double-LP, clear vinyl.
Finally, in a move to revive another marketing tool previously used to promote RSD, this year’s event will feature a “Record Store Day Song of the Year,” with the tag being applied to the double-a-sided 12-inch single of “Be Here Now,” done by the song’s author George Harrison on one side, with Beck’s cover tribute on the other side.
Other new RSD titles expected to be popular this year include a 12-inch EP collaboration between the Killers and Bruce Springsteen; a David Bowie live-stream from 2003 will now be available as a vinyl and CD release; and a 12-inch, 180-gram yellow vinyl release of John & Yoko with the Plastic Ono Band of their live 1972 One-To-One concert.
Some of the biggest streaming services in music are banding together to fight against a major piece of Canadian arts legislation – in court and in the court of public opinion.
Spotify, Apple, Amazon and others are taking action against the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)’s 2024 decision that major foreign-owned streamers with Canadian revenues over $25 million will have to pay 5% of those revenues into Canadian content funds – what the streamers have termed a “Streaming Tax.”
Those funds will go towards established organizations like the non-profits FACTOR Canada and Musicaction, which financially support thousands of musicians and music companies across the country, and which have seen their own resources dramatically drop due to reduced contributions from private broadcasters. It will also go to funds supporting radio and local news.
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The CRTC decision was one of the biggest Canadian music stories of last year, and legal challenges from those services, as well as the Motion Picture Association – Canada (which includes Netflix, Disney, Prime Video and the major U.S. producers and distributors of movies and TV), have pushed it into 2025. The courts have paused the payments until the appeal is heard by the Federal Court of Appeal in June of this year.
That pause has already put at least one fund under immediate duress. The Indigenous Music Office had been directed by the CRTC to launch an Indigenous Music Fund with resources from the streamers’ base contributions, but the delay impedes the IMO’s ability to start the new fund.
The conflict over the regulation is turning into a major struggle, one that illustrates the massive changes and challenges that Canadian music is facing in an increasingly digital landscape. It’s a modern wrinkle to a debate that has spanned decades in Canadian music and media.
“At the base of it, the streamers are questioning the validity of CanCon policies,” says Leela Gilday, musician and board chair of the Indigenous Music Office.
The battle isn’t only happening in court, but in online petitions, political speeches and in Instagram posts from one of Canada’s most successful musicians.
“The Canadian government’s new music streaming tax is going to cost you more to listen to the music you love,” says Bryan Adams in a video shared on Instagram.
The “Summer of ‘69” singer, also a noted critic of Canadian Content regulations, has joined a lobby group called DIMA (the Digital Media Association) in publicly arguing against the regulation. DIMA, which represents Amazon, Apple, Spotify and YouTube, launched a campaign last fall titled “Scrap the Streaming Tax.” The campaign warns consumers that the mandated payments “could lead to higher prices for Canadians and fewer content choices” as a result of increased subscription fees.
But many within the industry have welcomed the regulation, including the membership at CIMA, the Canadian Independent Music Association.
“The question for tech companies who are making money in Canada is: is it appropriate for them to contribute to the Canadian music ecosystem?” asks Andrew Cash, president of CIMA.
Head here for much more on this story.
—Rosie Long Decter
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Canadian Music Industry Leaders Lay Out the Issues That Will Define 2025
As the music industry ramps up in the post-holiday break, the agenda is being set. A number of issues have revealed themselves as the big conversations of 2025: AI, arts funding, government policies amidst uncertainty in Ottawa, support of independent promoters and venues, mental health, the divestment of DEI budgets, and many more.
Billboard Canada gathered 10 music industry authorities from music grant FACTOR, the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA), Music Publishers Canada and many more to talk about the biggest challenges and opportunities facing Canadian music this year.
Here are just a few highlights:
“For the Canadian-owned sector, the ability to compete in a functioning market is paramount,” says Andrew Cash, president and CEO of CIMA. “However, market concentration among the large foreign-owned multi-nationals labels and tech platforms is now at over-reach. That is why CIMA lodged an official complaint with Canada’s competition bureau after TikTok walked away from its negotiations with Merlin. And it is why independent trade associations in Europe and Australia are raising serious concerns after Universal’s recent purchase of Downtown Music.”
“One of the biggest challenges facing the industry this year will be the divestment of DEI budgets, which have been a big part of the reason we have seen such great diverse talent enter the industry over the last five years,” says Keziah Myers, executive director of ADVANCE – Canada’s Black Music Business Collective. “Managing the shift away from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and reminding the industry that Equity-focused processes should be where their efforts are will be a challenge.”
“The fundamental principles of copyright continue to be challenged by artificial intelligence and the platforms that exploit it,” says Jennifer Brown, CEO of SOCAN. “Canadian music creators stand to lose more than 20% of their annual revenue to generative AI platforms by 2028 if safeguards aren’t put in place to protect their copyrights.”
Read the whole roundtable conversation here.
—Kerry Doole and Richard Trapunski
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Big Wreck Named Record Store Day Canada Ambassadors for 2025
Big Wreck have been named 2025 Record Store Day Canada ambassadors. The Canadian rock band will also be releasing their 2012 album Albatross on vinyl for the first time in deluxe 2xLP limited-edition featuring live and unreleased music as a Record Store Day exclusive. The album was certified Gold and was their biggest hit since In Loving Memory Of… in 1997 and its big shiny rock radio staple “That Song.” The title track of Albatross has also gone Platinum.
“It’s a great honour for Big Wreck to be Record Store Day Ambassadors,” says Big Wreck leader Ian Thornley. “We grew up going to record stores and building our vinyl collections and it means a lot to us to continue the tradition. It’s especially exciting to be putting Albatross out into the world for the first time on vinyl. That record holds a special place.”
Big Wreck succeeds another popular Canadian rock band of the era, The Tragically Hip, who were last year’s ambassadors. This week, Post Malone was named 2025 Record Store Day Ambassador for the U.S.
Head here for a list of participating Record Store Day Canada stores.
—Richard Trapunski
Last Week: A Closer Look at Canada’s Export Power
Post Malone is the latest artist to hold the title of Record Store Day Ambassador, the annual event has announced.
Set to take place on April 12, Record Store Day returns for its 18th year in 2025, celebrating close to two decades of supporting physical media, independent artists, and brick-and-mortar record stores. Now, Malone has been announced as the artist who is being honored with the title of 2025’s Record Store Day’s Ambassador.
“What an honor, I can’t believe I was chosen to be Record Store Day’s Ambassador for 2025,” Malone said in a statement. “Record Store Day is so important and I really hope to do my part to keep it alive. We love hitting local shops when we’re on the road, seeing all the crazy artwork, the whole energy in a record store is just super inspiring. I feel at home.
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“It’s really an unexplainable feeling to hit up a shop and dig through crates, just see what grabs your eye. You can be looking for something super specific and end up finding something totally different. It’s the best. Keep supporting y’all and let’s keep records and these local shops going strong. Happy Record Store Day everybody!”
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Malone joins a list of musical luminaries to hold the title, which has been bestowed annually since 2009. Previous years have seen the likes of Jack White, Run the Jewels, Ozzy Osbourne, Brandi Carlile, Metallica, and St. Vincent assume the role. In 2024, Paramore were the U.S. Ambassadors while Kate Bush took on duties for Record Store Day’s U.K. edition.
Traditionally, the Record Store Day Ambassador also partakes in the event by issuing a limited edition release on the day, though the list of exclusive releases for 2025 has not yet been announced. However, considering the success of his F-1 Trillion album in 2024 – which marked his transition to country music and topped the Billboard 200 – it could be speculated any prospective release will be related to his latest record.
“I’m very excited about Ambassador ‘Posty’”, added Record Store Day co-founder Carrie Colliton in a statement. “Musically, he’s all over the place — just like record stores and their customers, especially some of the newest, youngest people to embrace their local brick-and-mortar spaces.”
Vinyl releases from Noah Kahan, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, MF Doom and The Beatles were among the top-sellers from Record Store Day (RSD) Black Friday 2024 in the U.S., according to data tracking firm Luminate.
The indie record store celebration, which took place on the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 29) is a partner holiday to the main Record Store Day blowout that traditionally happens annually in April. Both occasions spur the release of many unique and limited-edition music releases, largely vinyl pressings, that are only available at participating independent record stores. More than 150 titles were slated to be released for RSD Black Friday 2024 festivities.
Kahan has the top-selling RSD Black Friday 2024 title, with his tiger eye brown-colored vinyl of Town Hall (Stick Season Collaborations). (See the full list of the top 25-selling RSD Black Friday 2024 albums, below.) The rest of the top five is filled out by Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft (Isolated Vocals), Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS (spilled) (on red and purple-colored double vinyl), MF Doom’s Operation: Doomsday 25 th Anniversary (on metallic silver with purple, and metallic silver with green-colored double-vinyl) and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie – Music From the Movie and More… (on clear with yellow and pink splatter-colored vinyl).
The top-selling RSD Black Friday 2024 single was The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand” / “I Saw Her Standing There” (on 7-inch vinyl). (Scroll down for the top 10-selling singles.) Other big-selling singles included titles from Pearl Jam and Stevie Nicks.
Top-Selling Record Store Day Black Friday 2024 Exclusive Albums at Independent Record Stores in the U.S.
Rank, Artist, Title1. Noah Kahan, Town Hall (Stick Season Collaborations) (tiger eye brown-colored vinyl)2. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (Isolated Vocals) (vinyl)3. Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS (spilled) (red and purple-colored double vinyl)4. MF Doom, Operation: Doomsday 25th Anniversary (metallic silver with purple, and metallic silver with green-colored double-vinyl)5. Soundtrack, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie – Music From the Movie and More… (clear with yellow and pink splatter-colored vinyl)6. U2, How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb (black and red-colored vinyl)7. Kacey Musgraves, Deeper Into the Well (green-colored vinyl)8. Van Halen, Live In Dallas 1981 (red-colored double vinyl)9. Ramones, Greatest Hits (red-colored vinyl)10. Grateful Dead, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT 5/5/77 (four vinyl LP set)11. The Doors, Live In Detroit (four vinyl LP set)12. The Allman Brothers Band, Manley Field House, Syracuse NY April 7, 1972 (orange, blue and splattered-colored triple vinyl)13 (TIE). Rage Against the Machine, Democratic National Convention 2000 (window pane clear-colored 180-gram vinyl)13 (TIE). Various Artists, Jazz Dispensary: The Golden Hour (golden wave swirl-colored vinyl)15. The Rolling Stones, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out (candy cane swirl-colored vinyl)16. Jimi Hendrix, Songs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts (blue and violet swirl-colored vinyl)17. Jerry Garcia, Electric On the Eel: August 29th, 1987 (orange sunshine-colored vinyl)18. Modest Mouse, Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again (vinyl)19. Joni Mitchell, Hejira Demos (180-gram black vinyl)20. Helmet, Betty (baby blue-colored double vinyl)21. Teddy Swims, I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1.5) (baby blue-colored vinyl)22 (TIE). Yes, Fragile Outtakes (vinyl)22 (TIE). The Byrds / Buffalo Springfield, Live at the Monterey International Pop Festival (opaque orchid and opaque sky blue-colored double vinyl)22 (TIE). Morphine, B-Sides and Otherwise (lemonade yellow and black marble-colored vinyl)22 (TIE). Stone Temple Pilots, Purple Rarities (purple-colored vinyl)22 (TIE). Tegan and Sara, So Jealous (milky-clear translucent-colored double vinyl)22 (TIE). Thievery Corporation, The Richest Man in Babylon (red and white-colored double vinyl)Source: Luminate, for the week ending Dec. 5, 2024
Top-Selling Record Store Day Black Friday 2024 Exclusive Singles at Independent Record Stores in U.S.Rank, Artist, Title1. The Beatles, I Want To Hold Your Hand / I Saw Her Standing There (7-inch vinyl)2. Pearl Jam, Waiting for Stevie (Live) / Wreckage (Live) (12-inch 45-RPM vinyl)3. Stevie Nicks, The Lighthouse (white-colored 7-inch vinyl)4. Bluey, Rug Island / Bluey Theme Tune (picture-disc 7-inch vinyl)5. The Beatles, All My Loving (3-inch vinyl)6. Echo & The Bunnymen, The Killing Moon (12-inch vinyl)7. Jane’s Addiction, Imminent Redemption (12-inch vinyl)8. Steve Martin, King Tut (picture-disc 12-inch vinyl)9. Sam Cooke, A Change Is Gonna Come / Shake (white iridescent-colored 7-inch vinyl)10. Jungle, Back On 74 (12-inch vinyl)Source: Luminate, for the week ending Dec. 5, 2024
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Fight the food coma and go on the hunt for treasures from Rage Against the Machine, Olivia Rodrigo and more!
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The Doors will turn 60 next year — something drummer John Densmore says the kids who formed the legendary rock group in Los Angeles could never have imagined.
“When I was a kid, 60 years old seemed like, ‘Well, you’ll be dead any minute,’” Densmore tells Billboard with a laugh. “And here we are.”
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The group’s 60th anniversary celebration is upon us, too — starting next month with some key archival releases. Arriving Nov. 22 via Rhino’s High Fidelity audiophile vinyl series is The Doors 1967-1971, a limited edition (3,000 copies) six-LP set that houses the six studio albums the band released during late frontman Jim Morrison’s lifetime. A week later, for Record Store Black Friday, Rhino will release a four-disc remastered vinyl edition of Live in Detroit, taken from a May 8, 1970, concert at the city’s famed Cobo Arena. The 25-song set is the longest concert the Doors ever performed, according to band manager Jeff Jampol of JAM Inc.
Following those, in early 2025, will be Night Divides the Day, a 344-page book from Britain’s Genesis Publications that includes new interviews with Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger, archival material from Morrison and the late keyboardist Ray Manzarek, commentary from other colleagues, friends and admirers, a treasure trove of photos, a foreword by Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and an afterward by conductor and composer Gustavo Dudamel (a recent Billboard cover subject). The 2,000 numbered box sets will be signed by Krieger and Densmore and come with rare demo recordings of “Hello, I Love You” and “Moonlight Drive” on a 7-inch vinyl disc. It’s available for pre-order here.
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These are just the beginning of the Doors’ 60th festivities, according to Jampol. “Here we are 60 years later talking about them, and they’re just as relevant and the music is more relevant than ever, and the message,” Jampol, who also represents the Morrison estate, tells Billboard. “I want to preserve it because I think it’s relevant for new generations. We’re trying to do two things here. We want to do interesting things and fun things for Doors fans, who are great ’cause they’ve always been here with us and they’ll support whatever it is we’re doing, and they’re excellent passers-on of the baton. Then we also want to expose the Doors to people who are not as familiar…this group of potential new fans, which is thousands of times larger. So we’re trying to serve those two distinct fan bases.”
Jampol is confident that either constituency will be impressed by the remastered sound quality of the upcoming vinyl releases, while the book, he adds, is “a thing of beauty” that came in the wake of The Collected Works of Jim Morrison, another Genesis project that came out during 2021. “We started working on this three years ago,” Jampol says, promising that, “there’s some stuff in that book no one’s talked about, photos I’ve never seen.”
Densmore, meanwhile, was particularly flattered by Dudamel’s glowing assessment of the Doors’ creativity in his afterward.
“He talks about my rhythms and said, ‘Oh, a few hundred years down the road the Doors will be remembered like Beethoven and Mozart,’” Densmore says. “I’m like, ‘Holy sh-t! I feel a whole lot of helium rising up in my skull now.’”
Densmore himself has written a couple of books about the Doors — a memoir and another focused on his legal issues with Krieger and Manzarek after they began playing together again during the early 2000s — while Krieger has also published an autobiography. Both are clear about why interest remains so high in the Doors 52 years after its last album of original material.
“When you get right down to it, it’s the songs. We had great songs,” Krieger told Billboard a couple of years ago. “A lot of kids come up to me, like 10-year-old kids, ‘Yeah, I love the doors. You guys are amazing.’ I don’t think they even know about the Jim Morrison myths and all that as much as they love the music. And I think that’s what is gonna carry it for the next 50 years, or more.”
“I hoped we would last 10 years and pay the rent: ‘That’d be cool,’” Densmore says with a laugh. “I knew the ingredients were unique. It was a wonderful, blessed few years. And that we’re still talking about it? Come on, man!”
Other 60th anniversary plans for 2025 are still being finalized, including museum exhibitions and art installations and possibly additional archival releases. Densmore — who played with Krieger during February of 2016 in Los Angeles for a Stand Up to Cancer benefit on what would have been Manzarek’s 77th birthday — says he’d also like to see some sort of performance be part of the celebration.
“The Doors 60th at the Hollywood Bowl would be quite wonderful,” Densmore says of the venue where the group recorded and filmed a concert during July 1968 (and returned in 1972, after Morrison’s death in 1971). “Willie Nelson did his 90th birthday at the Bowl, so it’d be wonderful to have something like that — me and Robby would play a little bit here and there, and there’d hopefully be lots of wonderful artists that would show up for that. I’d love to see something like that happen.”
Vinyl releases from Noah Kahan, Olivia Rodrigo, Paramore, Pearl Jam and more were among the top-sellers from Record Store Day (RSD) 2024 in the United States, according to data tracking firm Luminate.
The annual independent record store celebration was held on April 20 this year and boasted a bevy of unique and limited-edition albums and singles (mostly vinyl pressings) created for the festivities. More than 350 titles were released for RSD 2024 at independent record stores across the United States.
Kahan does double-duty with both the top-selling RSD single and album, according to Luminate (see lists, below). The top-selling RSD-exclusive single was a joint effort from Kahan and Rodrigo: a two-song, 7-inch colored-vinyl. The single features Rodrigo’s cover of Kahan’s “Stick Season” and Kahan’s cover of Rodrigo’s “Lacy,” both recorded in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. The top-selling RSD-exclusive album was a blue-colored vinyl pressing of Kahan’s 2021 sophomore album I Was/I Am.
The Nos. 2 to 5-biggest selling RSD-exclusive albums were: Paramore’s This Is Why / Re: This Is Why (double vinyl set, bone and ruby red-colored vinyl), Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter (on yellow and black ghostly-colored vinyl), Paramore’s Re: This Is Why (on ruby red-colored vinyl) and Talking Heads’ Live at WCOZ 77 (double vinyl). (Paramore was also the RSD 2024 Ambassador, following in the footsteps of such recent previous RSD Ambassadors as Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires (2023), Taylor Swift (2022), Fred Armisen (2021), Brandi Carlile (2020) and Pearl Jam (2019).
While most RSD 2024 titles had a fairly limited pressing — under 5,000 each — a few titles this year earned larger production runs (such as I Was/I Am and the Kahan/Rodrigo single, which each had a run of more than 30,000).
Top-Selling Record Store Day 2024 Exclusive Albums at Independent Record Stores in the U.S.Rank, Artist, Title1. Noah Kahan, I Was/I Am (blue-colored vinyl)2. Paramore, This Is Why / Re: This Is Why (Standard + Remix) (bone and ruby red-colored double vinyl)3. Pearl Jam, Dark Matter (yellow and black ghostly-colored vinyl)4. Paramore, Re: This Is Why (ruby red-colored vinyl)5. Talking Heads, Live at WCOZ 77 (double vinyl)6. The 1975, The 1975 Live at Gorilla (white-colored double vinyl)7. The Weeknd, Live at SoFi Stadium (triple vinyl)8. ATEEZ, The World EP.Fin: Will [X. Ver.] (clear or black-colored vinyl + 7-inch vinyl)9. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (picture disc vinyl)10. David Bowie, Waiting in the Sky (Before the Starman Came to Earth) (vinyl)11. Wallows, Nothing Happens (5th Anniversary Edition) (aqua splatter and aqual with white splatter-colored double vinyl)12. Young Thug, Jeffery (vinyl)13. Team Sleep, Team Sleep (gold-colored double vinyl)14. Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Fuckin’ Up (clear-colored double vinyl)15. Ramones, The 1975 Sire Demos (vinyl)16. Gorillaz, Cracker Island (Deluxe Vinyl Version) (pink and magenta-colored double vinyl)17. The Replacements, Not Ready for Prime Time: Live at the Cabaret Metro, Chicago, IL, January 11, 1986 (double vinyl)18. Grateful Dead, Nightfall of Diamonds (180 gram four vinyl LP set)19. Soundtrack, Lost in Translation (Music From the Motion Picture Soundtrack [Deluxe Edition]) (double vinyl)20. The Cure, The Top (picture disc vinyl)21. Bill Evans, Everybody Digs Bill Evans (180 gram vinyl)22. Lil Uzi Vert, Luv Is Rage (vinyl)23. The Doors, Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, September 20, 1968 (triple vinyl)24. Various Artists, South Park: The 25th Anniversary Concert (Towelie-Blue-colored triple vinyl)25. John Lennon, Mind Games EP (140 gram glow-in-the-dark-colored vinyl)Source: Luminate, for the week ending April 25, 2024
Top-Selling Record Store Day 2024 Exclusive Singles at Independent Record Stores in U.S.Rank, Artist, Title1. Olivia Rodrigo & Noah Kahan, Stick Season (Rodrigo) / Lacy (Kahan), Live from the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge (7-inch colored vinyl)2. David Byrne & Paramore, Hard Times / Burning Down the House (12-inch vinyl)3. U2, Atomic City (Live at Sphere, Las Vegas) / Atomic City (Mike WiLL Made-It Remix) (10-inch transparent red-colored vinyl)4. 100 Gecs, Hey Big Man / Torture Me / Runaway (10-inch vinyl)5. Daft Punk, Something About Us / Veridis Quo / Voyager (Dominique Torti’s Wild Style Edit) (12-inch vinyl)6. The Beatles, She Loves You (3-inch vinyl)7. G.B.I., The Regulator (7-inch vinyl)8. Lil Peep, Star Shopping / Star Shopping (Live in London) / Star Shopping (Live in Belgium) (7-inch vinyl)9. Holly Humberstone/MUNA, Into Your Room (with MUNA) (7-inch vinyl)10. Chappell Roan, Pink Pony Club / Naked in Manhattan (7-inch baby pink-colored vinyl)Source: Luminate, for the week ending April 25, 2024
If it’s possible, Record Store Day was even bigger this year than last year, when Taylor Swift caused a traffic jam at record stores across the nation, according to some of the merchants Billboard’s Retail Track columnist visited this past Saturday (April 20).
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Retail Track
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This year, the Olivia Rodrigo “Stick Season”/Noah Kahan “Lacy” seven-inch was cited as the hottest seller by store managers and owners, but overall, a wider breadth of releases drove more traffic into stores, according to Rough Trade store manager George Flanagan.
Other big sellers — or records that the retailers wished they had more copies of — included Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” seven-inch; the Sparks/Noël double LP No. 1 Song in Heaven/Is There More to Life Than Dancing?; Talking Heads‘ Live at WCOZ double LP; Sabrina Carpenter’s “Feather” seven-inch; and a 12-inch featuring David Byrne‘s cover of “Hard Time” and Paramore‘s cover of “Burning Down The House.”
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This year, Swift issued The Tortured Poets Department on Friday, the day before Record Store Day (RSD), and it has so far sold an astounding 1.5 million records in its first three days of availability. But independent record store merchants say that while the album was a solid seller for the weekend, this album didn’t have the impact that Swift’s exclusive for last year’s RSD, Folklore: the Long Pond Studio Sessions. That’s because this year’s album was widely available at mass merchants, Amazon, and on her website, and at sale prices just a little bit above their wholesale cost. Nevertheless, retailers say they will always warmly welcome any new release by Swift.
Retail Track began the day at Darkside Records in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where at 9:15 — 15 minutes after the store opened — there were some 250 people waiting in line for their turn to enter the store. Letting customers in 15 to 20 at a time, the line — which lasted until nearly 6:30 p.m. on Saturday — stretched around the 9,000-square-foot store and deep into the filled-to-capacity parking lot. The first person in line showed up at 8 p.m. Thursday (April 18), according to Darkside co-owner Justin Johnson, who added that when he showed up to open the store on Friday morning (April 19), a full day before Record Store Day kicked off, there were already four people queued up.
“It was absolutely an incredible turnout. Everyone was really cool and we had a great time,” Johnson told Billboard. “It was our best day ever and it blew away last year’s Record Store Day, which up to then had been our best day ever.”
What’s more, one woman drove 11 hours from Michigan to shop at Darkside because of how the store had handled the autographed Taylor Swift CD last year, she told Johnson. “[She] wanted to support us for treating the Swifties so fairly and combating the bots,” Johnson said. And she showed up early enough at the store to be No. 10 in line, he added.
After leaving Darkside, Retail Track drove over the Hudson River to Middletown, N.Y. to visit Rock Fantasy, a record store/pinball machine/video game arcade. Open since 1985, Rock Fantasy leans hard rock/metal, but owner Stephen Keeler said the Rodrigo/Kahan single was the day’s top seller. He added that about 30 customers were in line when he showed up to open the store. Moreover, he says the store celebrated Record Store Day/420 by staging two shows on successive nights at Quinnz Pinz, the local bowling alley where he promotes shows. The weekend kicked off with a Grateful Dead tribute band, Gratefully Yours, on Friday night; while on Saturday night, Kiss tribute band Psycho Circus performed. On the afternoon of Record Store Day, Rock Fantasy held a pinball tournament in the store.
Some of the 250 music fans waiting on line for their turn to shop Darkside Records—a store logo displayed about the tent structures.
Ed Christman
Rock Fantasy’s layout is long and narrow, almost like a railroad apartment with five or six rooms. Besides the records, tchotchkes and other music memorabilia it sells in the front two rooms, the store also houses 53 pinball machines and a few vintage video games. Customers can choose to play on machines featuring Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Kiss, Ted Nugent, AC/DC, the Beatles, Elton John, the Rolling Stones and Guns & Roses, as well as machines licensed from movies like Jaws, Pulp Fiction, Godzilla, OO7 and Jurassic Park.
Heading back to the other side of Hudson, Retail Track tried a little potluck with a store called The Vinyl Room in Beacon, N.Y. While it turned out to be more of a bar and restaurant than a record store, it was nevertheless a fun place to visit. The space had only two racks of vinyl, mainly used records, but the store’s interior design, which used records and other music memorabilia and ornamentation, more than made the trip worth it.
Across the street, at the local VFW Hall, was the Beacon Record & CD Fest, a swap meet with about a dozen vendors where Retail Track lucked out by scoring a copy of the Tommy James & The Shondells single “Gingerbread Man” on Roulette Records.
Staying on the same side of the Hudson, Retail Track next headed to Cold Springs, N.Y. and visited Half Moon Records at The Shoppes, an emporium-style setup with a number of different rooms and stores. Half Moon, which comprised the front two rooms of The Shoppes, was filled with records. One of the co-owners, Peter Hamboussi, said the store had just doubled the space devoted to records about a month ago; while co-owner Nicole Le Blanc said the store hopes to build its country music inventory. Like other merchants, Hamboussi said he wished he had received more copies of the Byrne and Paramore record, as well as the Cranberries. He said he usually does good business on Record Store Day later in the afternoon, as devout music buyers continue on their crawls.
Finally, Retail Track headed back to New York City to visit Rough Trade Records, which had a line of about 100 people when the store opened, including customer George West, who was first in line at about 5 p.m. on the Friday night prior. West is usually first in line every year at the store for the event, reported Rough Trade’s Flanagan, who added that by 8 p.m. on Friday, five people had queued up. The line lasted all day Saturday until about 5:30 p.m., when the store stopped regulating the in-flow. Nevertheless, when Retail Track showed up at around 6 p.m., the store was jam-packed and still doing brisk business.
Rough Trade and Rockefeller Center presented Indie Plaza in conjunction with Record Store Day, where eight bands and DJs entertained music fans, Rough Trade customers, and tourists from 1PM to 9PM. Pictured above is the Rough Trade booth, stocked with records and next to it is the artist merch booth selling wares from the bands. In the background, on the stage, Armand Hammer are working their way through their set.
Ed Christman
Another factor boosting traffic and sales at Rough Trade on Saturday was that it hosted Indie Plaza in Rockefeller Center, in the vast open space above the skating rink. During the day, DJs and bands alternated playing on a stage erected at the end of the plaza abutting 50th Street, keeping the crowd entertained until 9 p.m. Rough Trade set up a booth filled with music, while next to it was another booth with merch from the bands performing that day to sell to the fans enjoying the shows. Dave The Spazz, Sunrisa Disco, and Nancy Whang took turns helming the DJ booth in between sets by Cloud Nothings, Dehd, Armand Hammer, Glitterer, Sunny War, Corridor, Snõõper and Wishy.
“Last year, Record Store Day was our best day ever and it’s worth noting that Taylor Swift was a huge part of our business that day,” Flanagan said. “I was convinced we wouldn’t be able to top that, but we did; we were up by 5% to 10% more. I think one of the reasons why [2024 RSD] became the store’s best day ever is because there was something like 20% more titles out this year.”
For the last store visit of the day, the plan was to head back to home base of Astoria, Queens, to visit the semi-new Pancake Records on Steinway Street. But Retail Track ran out of gas (figuratively) and out of time (literally) — and the local bar with cold Pabst Blue Ribbon cans was beckoning.
Taylor Swift has given Swifties so many ways to interact and ingest her just-released 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. There are multiple vinyl versions, that whole surprise second disc that came out after the LP dropped on Friday, as well as some track-by-track notes on the songs she recorded for Amazon Music. Explore […]