What to Know
- Record Store Day is April 20, 2024
- Giveaways, deals, and new releases are hallmarks of the occasion, which honors local music stores every spring
- White Rabbit Records in Fullerton, Third Eye Records in Long Beach, and Amoeba Music in Hollywood are all participating in 2024
Organizing your vinyl or compact discs is a time-honored art form; do you go by genre, era, personal favorites, or the color of the cover?
However you approach your soul-elevating, dearly treasured heap of aural splenditude, you'll want to make some room on the shelf/stack ASAP: Record Store Day will soon be spinning at local shops across Southern California and beyond.
It's a day for celebrating all music, musicians, craftspeople, fans, and the dedicated purveyors who helm the sound-centered shops we've depended upon for decades. These are the places that have shown us, or rather our ears, hearts, and minds, a realm of song-filled goodness, putting us in touch with the tunes that would change our lives before we even knew those tunes existed.
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You might even call an indie record store a "magic shop" of sorts; true, it doesn't sell wands, top hats, or packs of playing cards, but finding magic in music is something every fan has done, again and again.
Record Store Day, the annual holiday that pops up every April, pays tribute to the magic of these music-centered spots. Pop-up mini concerts, surprise giveaways, listening parties, and chances to connect with store owners and other fans are hallmarks of the occasion, which returns on April 20, 2024.
Pearl Jam's "Dark Matter" will be in the spotlight, or rather the soundlight, at several stores; ask your neighborhood shop if they'll be holding a listening party.
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Indie exclusive releases are also festooning the 2024 line-up in a big way, as is a "mini" Beatles release focused on The Fab Four's appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" six decades ago.
Your best bet?
Check the lengthy list of participants — there are dozens of shops around the Los Angeles area and beyond — and peruse their sites to see what they have planned and what they'll be offering.
Some shops will feature artist drop-ins, intimate talks and discussions, and releases that feel downright celebratory, but if you're looking for something specific, you may want to ask ahead. Or simply go and be surprised: That's part of the magic of music, after all.
So make some space on your vinyl shelf: Record Store Day 2024 is Saturday, April 20.
