Record Store Day in Montana (statewide)
Two dates to know: Record Store Day Black Friday is Friday, November 29, 2026, and the next main Record Store Day is Saturday, April 17, 2027.
What is Record Store Day?
Record Store Day is an annual event built around independent record stores. The main event traditionally lands on the third Saturday of April each year; Record Store Day Black Friday is traditionally held the day after US Thanksgiving. Both days bring exclusive, limited-run vinyl and CD releases sold only at participating independent shops — not big-box retailers, and not mail order until the in-store exclusives sell through. Because pressings are limited, popular titles can sell out within the first hour, which is why a line-early culture has grown up around the day even at shops that are otherwise quiet on a weekday morning.
Tips for the day
- Arrive early. At busy shops, lines for popular titles can start well before opening.
- Bring cash. A cash line often moves faster than card on a shop's highest-volume day of the year.
- Check each shop's own site or Instagram in the week before the date — participating shops post their own opening time, line policy, and which exclusive titles they've ordered in.
- Release lists are first-come, first-served and vary store to store. A title in stock at one shop may not show up at another, even across town.
- Expect one-per-customer or per-household limits on the most in-demand titles.
- Not every independent record store participates every year, and allocations vary shop to shop — confirm directly with the shop rather than assuming based on a past year.
Shops to check in Montana (statewide)
Independent record shops open in Montana (statewide) right now. We don't yet track which specific shops participate in Record Store Day or what they've ordered in for a given year — check each shop's own site or Instagram close to the date for their exclusive-release list, opening time, and line policy.
- Cactus Records & Gifts
Locally/independently owned since 1970 -- new/used vinyl, CDs, cassettes.
3 sources
- Cameron Records
Vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables and accessories.
4 sources
- Ear Candy Music
Independent Missoula record store on South Higgins Ave, open since 1997. Stocks new and used LPs and CDs plus vintage and new turntables and stereo gear.
3 sources
- Ernie November (Billings)
Billings branch (#5) of the Ernie November buy-sell-trade chain, on Grand Ave. New and used vinyl, CDs, DVDs, turntables, and band merch; can special-order titles.
3 sources
- Montana Book Company
LGBTQ+/veteran-owned independent bookstore selling books, vinyl, gifts and stationery.
3 sources
- Rockin Rudy's Record Heaven
Montana's largest new/used vinyl collection, open since 1982, along the Bitterroot Trail. Also sells vinyl accessories and vintage audio formats.
4 sources
- Slant Street Records
Newer, carefully curated shop with roughly 3,000 records.
5 sources
- Slow Burn Records
Independent record store founded 2021, with vinyl, CDs, memorabilia, rare Japanese releases and in-store listening stations.
4 sources
- Smiling Dog Records
Vinyl shop in Billings, subject of a Billings Gazette feature ("Smiling Dog Records embraces warmth of vinyl's sound").
5 sources
- Spanky's and Gus
Combination record-and-instrument shop run by Spanky Guzman -- new/used vinyl, memorabilia, and musical instruments/supplies.
4 sources
- The Wax Museum
Record shop buying used vinyl/CDs/cassettes with no appointment necessary; a local radio feature called it possibly the best record shop in Montana.
4 sources
- Vinyl on Vine
Record shop operating inside Roots Garden Center, with hundreds of brand-new albums plus used stock -- an unusual garden-center-plus-records pairing.
1 source
- VinylFarm
Mom-and-pop record shop on West Broadway in uptown Butte, stocking new and used LPs and 45s across rock, jazz, blues, hip-hop, funk, soul, and country.
3 sources
See the full record store listing for Montana (statewide).