Record Store Day returns on April 18 with more than 280 UK independent shops participating and a charity partnership that puts War Child at the centre of the event [1]. For every copy of the exclusive releases sold, £1 goes to the children's charity -- the first time War Child has served as RSD UK's official beneficiary [2].

The release list reads like a cross-section of the past forty years. The Cure are issuing special editions of Greatest Hits and Acoustic Hits on limited coloured vinyl [3]. Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green-era 1971 compilation appears as a limited release [4]. Primal Scream, Bring Me the Horizon, Sigrid and Divorce round out the headliners [1].

Blur's Budokan concert appears on vinyl for the first time [5]. Over 280 titles are expected in the full catalogue, spanning reissues, live recordings, and colour variants unavailable outside the day itself [2].

Record Store Day began in 2007 as a response to the digitisation of music retail. The event has grown into an annual calendar fixture, but the 2026 edition carries particular weight: independent shops have faced a brutal cost environment, and the War Child tie-in gives the day a purpose beyond commerce [1].

The full list is available at recordstoreday.co.uk. Shops open at their normal Saturday hours.

-- CHARLES ASHFORD, London