Record Store Day in Shanghai, China
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 Shanghai, China
Independent record shops open in Shanghai, China 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.
- BOOCUP 浣熊唱片店 (Raccoon Records)
Coffee-and-vinyl shop on Yueyang Road in the former French Concession, part of the Raccoon Records chain (est. 2018). Stocks imported rock and film-soundtrack vinyl, including pre-2000 original pressings, plus a charity merch line by children with intellectual disabilities.
2 sources
- fRUITYSHOP SH
Shanghai branch of the Beijing-founded fRUITYSHOP chain (est. 2013), opened Nov 2023 on Changle Road. Sells new and used vinyl, apparel and Technics turntables in a minimalist concrete-and-steel space that doubles as a vinyl pickup point and hosts 'Open Deck' listening nights.
2 sources
- Root Down
Listening bar on Nanchang Road from DJ Gary Wang (ex-The Shelter), spinning funk, soul, jazz and rare groove on vintage speakers alongside a small vinyl retail selection including Mr. Bongo and Now Again label pressings, with cocktails from a Japanese mixologist.
3 sources
- 公共音园 sound_in the PARK
Curated record corner inside the PARK MALL complex on Yanping Road, run by music critic and podcast host Jian Cui. Stocks funk, soul, jazz, electronic and world music from independent labels, with a 'Free Exchange' program giving free records to verified students.
2 sources
See the full record store listing for Shanghai, China.