Record Store Day 2026 is descending on indie record stores across Melbourne and Australia on Saturday, 18 April.
Packed with live instores, artist appearances and special events spanning city and regional communities, including Melbourne, Record Store Day Australia’s 2026 calendar is shaping up to be huuuuuge.
From the Blue Mountains to Bondi, Geelong to Queensland, there’s barely a corner of the country that won’t feel the ripple of vinyl-flipping, community-building energy this year, hell yeah.
Victoria is absolutely stacked. Country diva Queenie performs at Desert Highways, while Rocksteady Records brings sounds from Nat Pavlovic, Merpire and more.
Soundmerch continues their tradition of day-long live music with sets from Public Figures, Owelu Dreamhouse, The Antics, The Gnomes and more.
Sensible J and Immy Owusu will perform live at Bar Open from 3pm, and Northside Records pulls out the big guns with live performances from Kee’ahn, Mokomokai (NZ) and Steppers, plus an exclusive signing from Baker Boy.
Over in Geelong, Popcultcha Records gets lively with sets from The Vasco Era, Saint Ergo and Winksy.
Record Store Day 2026 – Victoria/Melbourne
- Saturday, 18 April 2026
- Bar Open Records, Melbourne — Immy Owusu and Sensible J live, 3pm
- Desert Highways — Queenie, 2pm, free and all ages
- Licorice Pie, Melbourne — Instore performances from midday–6pm: Anti-Fade Records (Billy Gardner), Efficient Space Records (Michael Kucyk), Rack Off Records (Iso & Grace), College of Knowledge Records (Stuckey & Jethro), Cheersquad Records & Tapes (Wally Meanie)
- Northside Records, Melbourne — Live instores from Kee’ahn, Mokomokai (NZ) and Steppers; exclusive signing from Baker Boy, free and all ages
- Popcultcha Records — Live instore with The Vasco Era, Winksy and Saint Ergo
- Rathdowne Records, Melbourne — DJs Mizhap, Akane & DJ Jazzy Joel, 3pm
- Rocksteady Records, Melbourne — Instores with DC Cross, Merpire, Nat Pavlovic, Big League + DJs, 9:30am–6pm
- Soundmerch, Melbourne — Instores with Public Figures, Owelu Dreamhouse, The Gnomes and The Antics, 1pm, free and all ages
- Table Records — Marley Del Prete, Claire Dickson, Bridget Small & Mel Musu live, 3pm–11pm
- Wah Wah Records, Melbourne — Live instore from Twisted Fix, 2pm
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
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In NSW, Hermitude are embarking on an ambitious mission: eight record stores in 24 hours, to celebrate their new LP EIGHT. Some stops will feature live performances, while others will offer limited edition lathe cut vinyl raffles. Egoism joins Hermitude at Bondi Records in support of their RSD release Trust Me, and will also appear at TITLE store for a set. Egg-punks Media Puzzle, meanwhile, take over Badlands Vinyl off the back of their RSD release New Racehorse.
Beyond Victoria and NSW, Tasmania’s Suffragette Records hosts an intimate performance from Naomi Keyte, who will play songs from her album Milk, Paper, Gold. Adelaide’s My Dead Grandpa will have live DJs spinning all day, and Echo and Bounce in Queensland welcomes Das Druid and Bradley Zero.
It all lands at a particularly interesting cultural moment. According to a recent ARIA report, Australia’s recorded music market kept climbing in 2025, with physical formats up 11%, driven by a near 30% increase in CD sales and the continued uptake of vinyl. In a landscape long dominated by streaming, listeners are actively returning to formats they can hold, collect and connect with.
Record Store Day Australia’s Director Sarah Guppy has been steering the global celebration since 2024, and for her, the day is far more than a shopping event.
It’s about championing the local music ecosystem, supporting independent stores, labels and artists, and creating space for music communities to reconnect with physical retail. That mission has also expanded into the APAC region, with Record Store Day building connections with countries including Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, a signal of how music communities can transcend borders and keep building interconnected, thriving ecosystems.
This year’s RSD releases feature Empire of the Sun, Holy Holy, Bluey, Egoism, Kee’ahn, Spacey Jane, Saint Ergo, Ruel and plenty more, adding to a growing canon that includes past participants like Ninajirachi, You Am I, Pond, Ocean Alley, Confidence Man, Peking Duk x Darren Hayes and The Wiggles.
Nearly 20 years since its inception in 2008, Record Store Day has grown into a genuine centrepiece of the independent music world, and its Australian edition shows no signs of slowing down.
Online sales commence Monday, 20 April from 9am AEST via stores only.
Contact your local Melbourne record store directly to find out what they have planned, or visit recordstoreday.com.au for the full national program.
For more information, head here.
