A Guide for Record Store Day Black Friday

If you like collecting records/vinyl, chances are you already know about Record Store Day and its Black Friday event as well. But if your new to vinyl- or just want to see what this day is all about, then todays blog post is perfect for you!

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>> What is Record Store Day: Black Friday? <<

Record Store Day (usually called RSD), is an annual event that takes place in the spring where special records are released in limited quantities to indie record stores on one specific day. Many different artists and bands participate in this event, with the main goal basically being to support indie record stores. It's a genius way to get people to visit their local record stores, because you have to go to the store in order for a good chance of getting these records at face value. The list of records that are being made for RSD change every year, which means theres probably at least one record worth going to RSD for each year. As for RSD Black Friday (or RSD BF), it is essentially the same as the regular RSD event, except it obviously takes place on Black Friday instead of a day in the spring. The reason they decided to also do an event on Black Friday is because of the overwhelming demand for RSD in the spring, so they decided to just do it because its all about supporting local business anyway. RSD BF has a seperate list of available records than the standard RSD event. In the past, RSD BF tends to be a smaller list than the other, but they try to do releases from well-known artists in order to keep people interested.

>> What Records are Available This Year? >>

There are a couple of interesting releases that are coming out this years event. Before I show you some of this years releases, there's some things you have to know. There is only an exact number of each release, but that doesn't mean that more won't be produced later, as there are different levels of exclusivity to these records. Records labeled as 'RSD Exclusive' are exclusive to THIS event, and it will never be produced again after this event. Titles labeled as 'RSD First' are a little less exclusive, as these titles may be rereleased at a later date. If they are rereleased, some RSD First records have gotten repressed on a different color/pattern of vinyl, or may have a different cover, etc. The downside of this is that there is no way to tell if these when or if these will ever be rereleased, and even if they are, the new version may not be that same as the RSD edition. So it's best to try and get the RSD version if you find something you really like, as the company might take a long time to rerelease the record after RSD, or it could be different than the RSD version. There's only one more type of release; 'Small Run/Regional Titles'. These are titles that are either released in quantities of 1000 or less, which may may it hard to find the record at your local store. Or, the title might only be available in a certain region/store. This type of release is rarely used but it's still worth mentioning. With that out of the way, lets finally go through a couple of the most popular ones;

1. Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft (Isolated Vocals)

This release has the original albums cover but the colors are inverted, which is exclusive to this version. The color of the vinyl is currently unknown. The only thing you can hear on this version are Billie's amazing vocals! Maybe this is impractical for regular listening, but a cool collecters item nonetheless. This will be limited to 25,000 copies and is listed as an RSD First.

2. Olivia Rodrigo - Guts (spilled) RSD

This RSD special release of Guts spilled has two red and purple marbled discs, and also comes in a special purple plastic sleeve. This is the third release of the deluxe version of the album, so it is possible to find elsewhere. The discs look really cool though, and the purple sleeve is a nice bonus. This will be limited to 30,000 copies and is listed as an RSD First (only because other versions exist. This is likely the only time this variant will be released.)

3. Noah Kahan - Town Hall (Stick Season Collaborations)

Finally, Noah Kahan is releasing the collaboration versions of songs from Stick Seasons on vinyl. It looks to be on a marbled brown vinyl and new cover. This will be limited to 15,000 and is listed as an RSD First.

4. Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Into The Well

The deluxed edition of Deeper Well is finally on vinyl with this RSD pressing. It comes with a printed clear slipcase with the title of the deluxe on it, and is on green vinyl. In addition to the deluxe tracks, this has a bonus 20-minute ‘woodland sound experience’. This will be limited to 5000 and is listed as an RSD First.

These are only a few of the releases coming to this years RSD BF event. There are even more releases to the point that it would take hours to talk about all of them. To view the whole list and more details about the releases I talked about above, you can find it on the RSD website.

>> How Can I Participate? <<

Believe it or not, there are a lot of people looking for some of these releases and sometimes there is a lot of competition to get what your looking for, and its common for people to line up in front of stores before they even open. The first step is to call your local record store and see what they are getting- they might not be able to tell you how much of each record they will get, but some record stores might not be able to get every single release. Its always a good idea to contact your store before you start making plans, as some record stores limit the amount of records you can buy at once in order to make things fair, some sell on a first come first serve basis, and some have even come up with their own elaborate systems. One thing to note is that record stores are not able to sell RSD titles online on the day of the event. After finding out the amount they will be getting, and what their process is like for buying the RSD vinyl, then you can start planning what time to arrive. If theres only a few copies of something you really want, it might be worth it to get their super early, maybe even hours before they open. In the past, I had to wait from 4am-8am outside of the store in order to try and get what I wanted (and I was still like 10th in line!) It’s kind of unpredictible what things are gonna be like, so it might be worth it to get there incredibly early just to secure what you want. Even though im making it sound like its super hard to get these records, sometimes the record store will have so many that they will be available for a long time, maybe even after RSD BF ends. So you really have to weigh your options.

>> What If I Can’t Attend or I Can’t Get Everything I Want? <<

If you cant attend RSD BF on the day of, or you weren’t able to find something you were after, don’t worry! Theres still some hope left for you! Record stores are allowed to list any leftover RSD copies they have on their online webstores. You can usually find some stores on social media who post what they still have available, or you can call your store near the end of the day on RSD and ask what they will be putting online the next day. You can also find other records stores online that have it available. Note that any major retailer will not have any RSD exclusives, as only indie record stores receive anything. Another option is to buy off of second hand websites, but just know that the price will probably be marked up. Yes, some people actually wait outside for hours just so they can scalp these records online. Isn’t that lovely?

>> Wrapping Up <<

I hope I was able to convince some of you to mark your calendars and go to RSD BF this year. I always find it super fun, having to plan everything out and then camp outside with people with similar interests. It is a bit weird but it’s always worth it as someone who loves to collect records! If you are planning to go, good luck! If not, maybe consider going, even if it’s just to support a local business!

Thank you for reading! See you next week!

~ Joey

:)