‘I Didn’t Want to Own It’: How Record Store Day’s Co-founder Rejected the Business Model: RSD co-founder Michael Kurtz reveals how meditation, Metallica, and saying no to profit helped indie stores capture 40% of vinyl sales. Since Record Store Day’s debut in April 2008, its annual celebration of vinyl and the culture of independently owned record stores has only grown wilder: from its start in the U.S. to becoming an international event; from being held one day in April to the inclusion of a second event on Black Friday; from hosting 25 artists at its start to 350+ artists in 2026—all of which signal a juggernaut of sales and influence that reawakened the long-sleeping vinyl market. …When the hotly-anticipated (at least, for vinyl nerds and crate diggers) list dropped on Wednesday for 2026’s April 18 date, SPIN’s A.D. Amorosi spoke to Kurtz about the business of being RSD.
Louisville, KY | Longtime Record Store Owner Hosts Popular Radio Show: Depending on where you began your journey along Bardstown Road and how far you went, you almost certainly followed a path of shops that included The Great Escape and Electric Ladyland. But a trek wasn’t complete without perusing the latest albums and CDs at ear-X-tacy.Customers looking at merchandise at ear X – Tacy John Timmons, who founded the store, didn’t intend to create an iconic place that anchors thousands of people’s good memories. He would probably be the first to tell you he didn’t have a plan at all. Although he was born in Evansville, Indiana, his family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where John spent much of his childhood. During those years, he listened to a lot of music—either 45 rpm records or a transistor radio that was in his hands wherever he went.
Las Vegas, NV | The unexpected comeback of vinyl in the digital age: Walk into any record store in Las Vegas right now and you’ll see something wild. Teenagers who’ve never owned a CD player are flipping through crates of used vinyl. Gen Z kids with AirPods dangling from their ears are debating the merits of first pressings versus reissues. In a world where we can summon any song ever recorded with a voice command, people are choosing to buy big, heavy discs that require an entirely separate piece of furniture to play. Let’s be real, this shouldn’t make sense. Yet here we are, living through vinyl’s most profitable era since the 1980s. …Las Vegas retailers have noticed the shift big time. Zia Records on Eastern Avenue reports that vinyl now accounts for nearly half their total sales.
Denver, CO | After James Acaster Hyped Visit on Late Night, Denver Record Store Acted Fast to Welcome ‘Hundreds.’ James Acaster’s decision to “hijack” his chat with Seth Meyers to promote a record store appearance paid off. Acaster’s recent visit to Late Night saw him repeatedly refer to a February 8 Q&A event at Wax Trax Records in Denver, where he would discuss his musical project Temps with one of his collaborators, Kalyn Heffernan of Wheelchair Sports Camp. As a result, Wax Trax was swarmed by “hundreds” of visitors to see the English comedian on Sunday. On Late Night with Seth Meyers, Acaster dilligently delivered a slew of pitches for the event, all as Meyers tried to talk about a trip he’d taken to London. (Acaster hails from Kettering, Northamptonshire, England.) “Wax Trax. Denver, Colorado. Eighth of February,” Acaster interrupted. “Half one. 1:30… Wax Tax record store. I’m doing a Q&A.”
What Gen Z really want from in-store music experiences: Younger customers are demanding dynamic soundscapes in the spaces they visit, here’s what background music providers and retailers should know. …Gen Z responds emotionally to how a store feels, not just what it sells. Music is now a significant part of that impression. Across the clients I have worked with, the brands getting this right focus on creating intentional soundscapes rather than generic ambience. We see this daily with BGM providers who curate playlists by industry, activity and time of day, and with brands that take curation seriously because they understand its influence on identity and dwell time. In many BGM rollouts I have been involved in, this becomes the turning point. Once a brand recognises that sound is part of the customer journey, the conversation changes from background to experience design.
Gina Lollobrigida’s Living Room Embodied Retro Elegance with Clever Record Storage, Floral Curtains, and a Gallery Wall—65 Years Later, It’s Still Inspiring. Photos of the actress’s home from 1960 offer insight into her timeless style and how to create cozy, lived-in interiors through layering. Long before Francesca Lollobrigida was winning Olympic Gold Medals, her great aunt, film star Gina Lollobrigida, was shining on a different stage. …An archival photo of Gina’s house in Rome from 1960 shows a space alive with texture and pattern. The actress’s living room idea acts as a gallery wall for her abstract paintings and a storage area for her impressive record collection.
Author Bill Kopp’s new HoZac book gives the reader 30 concept albums to ponder: What’s the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums book includes Jethro Tull, Al Stewart, The Turtles, and 27 more artists. When HoZac Books published The White Label Promo Preservation Society: 100 Flop Albums You Ought to Know by Sal Maida, Mitchell Cohen, & Friends in 2021, I interviewed Maida early the following year for Goldmine about the book of lesser known gems and at the end of the session I said, “If there will be a second volume in this series, I would love to participate.” Maida immediately and graciously replied, “You’re invited!” I sent him over a dozen choices, and he selected Jay & the Americans’ Capture the Moment, a solid collection of mainly original songs from 1970 with no hit singles. I became a HoZac Books author with one chapter in volume two of that series. Now, my fellow Goldmine Contributing Editor Bill Kopp has 30 chapters on 30 albums by 30 different artists in the new HoZac Books offering What’s the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums.
Madonna’s ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’ original continuous mix lands on vinyl: For the first time ever, Madonna releases the original continuous mix of Confessions on a Dance Floor on vinyl. Arriving on March 27 as Confessions on a Dance Floor (The Silver Collection), the release preserves the album’s uninterrupted club flow exactly as Madonna conceived it, delivering a long-awaited moment for collectors and dance music fans alike. The release spans two silver vinyl LPs and retains the album’s seamless structure, a defining feature that helped reshape mainstream dance music in the mid-2000s. Moreover, The Silver Collection forms part of a broader limited-edition vinyl series celebrating Madonna’s 40-year career, while an exclusive Madonna.com and Rhino.com edition will also include a poster.
8 Small Home Changes You Can Make Today for a More Analog Life in 2026: …Place a record player in a central location. Instead of leaning on your phone for background noise, turning to a record player will make listening to music feel much more intentional. It encourages you to experience an album all the way through, instead of skipping from song to song, and naturally creates pauses, from flipping the record to choosing the next one. Plus, the setup itself is undeniably dreamy, and there’s something so satisfying about collecting and physically holding your favorite records. Place your record player in the living room, kitchen, or some other central location to make listening to records part of your daily rhythm (pun intended).
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