WASHINGTON — It’ll be a big day for music fans on April 12, 2025. The 18th annual Record Store Day is bringing more than 370 special vinyl LP releases to store shelves, featuring hits from Taylor Swift, Gorillaz, Charli XCX and other prominent artists from the past century of music.
The annual event usually features the release of special LPs and live performances at record stores around the country. It’s usually held on the third Saturday in April, but because April 19 is a bank holiday in several participating countries, the 2025 event was moved up a week to April 12.
In suburban strip malls and big city downtowns, indie record stores are often the first to recognize and promote emerging artists. And a wave of interest in physical records, especially LPs, has helped keep the independent stores going in recent years.
The Recording Industry Association of American said in its 2023 year end report that revenues from vinyl records grew 10% to $1.4 billion last year. That was the 17th consecutive year of growth and accounted for 71% of physical format revenues.
One chart-topping artist has had an outsized impact in those increasing sales.
LPs have gotten a huge boost from Taylor Swift, who has been dubbed the “Vinyl Queen” for releases of her work in limited physical record offerings with specialized content and striking covers.
Swift’s latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” launched in 2024 a day before Record Store Day, with the vinyl including a 24-page book containing some of her handwritten notes.
Each year, in anticipation of the April event, Record Store Day organizers put out #TheList, a catalog of what new records are going to be available during the event. This year, that list contains 371 records from hundreds of artists.
Swift will be releasing an exclusive 7″ white vinyl of her single “Fortnight” for 2025. Charli XCX will be launching a 7″ of the Billie Eilish version of her single “Guess.” A special picture edition of The Cure’s album “The Head On The Door” will also be launching.
The full list of albums can be found here.