Dallas music lovers with a soft spot for physical media have a special day coming up. Saturday, April 18, is Record Store Day (RSD). Independent record stores around town and the rest of the country have signed a pledge to sell special releases at a fair price "in the spirit of Record Store Day."

There are many special releases each year; in 2026, about 350 will be featured. Because these are not regular album drops, many of them are live records, B sides, radio sessions, deluxe anniversary editions, and other compilations.

There are three types of RSD releases: exclusives for physical sales in indie stores only; RSD "first" for prioritizing indie stores before potentially opening up to other retailers, and small run or regional titles, made for very limited release.

What you can buy will depend on what each record store has decided to stock. Even though this could be a fun excuse to visit new and less familiar record stores, shoppers who want something specific should prioritize stores they know align with their taste.

According to the Record Store Day website, participating Dallas-area stores include:

• Josey Records & Music (Dallas)
• Spinster Records (Dallas)
• Good Records (Dallas)
• The Spin Coffee and Vinyl (Dallas)
• Black Cat Records N' Comics (Dallas)
• CD WAREHOUSE RECORDS & TAPES (Arlington)
• Growl Records (Arlington)
• ZT Records - Parks Mall in Arlington (Arlington)
• Dead Wax Records (Carrollton)
• Record Hound / Books & More (Denton)
• Recycled Books (Denton)
• ZT Records - Stonebriar Mall (Frisco)
• Dead Wax Records (Garland)
• Josey Records (Garland)
• Forever Young Records (Grand Prairie)
• Red Zeppelin Records (McKinney)
• Josey Records (Plano)

For more inspiration going into Record Store Day, check out the Record Store Day Podcast, merch, and charts showing what's selling best at indie record stores each week.