The Most Coveted Record Store Day Releases of All Time

When Record Store Day rolls around each year, collectors prepare for a drop of limited-edition albums, exclusive vinyl, and impressive box sets. Discogs is the largest online music database in the world, so the community can easily see which releases have the highest price tags, but what about the gems that are so elusive that collectors were unable to score them on Record Store Day? These are the 20 most coveted RSD releases of all time.

The ranking is determined by how many Discogs users have added the RSD release to their Wantlist, a unique Discogs feature that allows fans to keep track of the physical music they’re hunting for. The following list features a wide variety of genres, but they all have at least one thing in common. They can each be found in over 1,000 Wantlists of record collectors worldwide.

The nature of Record Store Day creates exclusivity and a handful of these releases saw very limited distribution. For example, there were only 900 copies of Death Grips’ Government Plates. Others are sought after because the RSD release is the first time the album has been pressed on vinyl since its debut. Jiro Inagaki and Soul Media’s Funky Stuff was originally released in 1975, but wasn’t reissued on vinyl until Record Store Day 2015.

Obviously, these releases have value to certain collectors, but that value also translates to a higher price tag. In fact, some of these records can also be found on the list of the most expensive RSD titles of all time.

In addition to two pressings of 1989, the list includes five more Taylor Swift titles that have cracked the top 20 most wanted RSD releases. With seven releases on the list, Taylor Swift’s massive impact on modern-day record collecting cannot be ignored.

If you’re looking for more information about Record Store Day 2023, we have a wide variety of coverage and all of the information you need on RSD 2023 releases.

Check out Record Store Day for more information about the RSD drop on April 22 this year. Discogs is not affiliated with the RSD organization, but we agree with their mission of bringing more people into record stores.

This article has been updated in March 2023 with the most recent Discogs data.