Record Store Day: what is and how is Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ linked?

Music lovers the world over will be heading down to their local store for Record Store Day, an annual event which caters for the discerning vinyl connoisseur with hundreds of releases including re-releases of deleted or out-of-print records, special editions and previously unreleased material on offer.

Taylor Swift’s exclusive Record Store Day releases

Taylor Swift has regularly been involved in RSD. For last year’s event, Republic Records put out Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions on limited edition grey 2xLP vinyl -  the singer revisiting her 2020 album with new versions recorded at Long Pond, Hudson Valley, NY. According to the official promotional blurb, 115,000 copies were pressed, including 75,000 for the North American market.

It turned out to be by far the best-selling record in RSD 2023 and in just 12 months has turned into a sought-after collectors item with mint, sealed copies changing hands for upwards of $300.

Swift has had numerous exclusive RSD and Black Friday releases - many of them becoming extremely collectable. Her self-titled 2006 album was reissued on clear crystal/turquoise double vinyl LP for Record Store Day 2018 with copies now fetching over $1000.

That isn’t even the most in demand of her back catalog. Another double vinyl release, 1989, also came out for RSD 2018, a limited run of 5,000 - 3750 of which were individually numbered. Mint copies have sold for over $2000.

Red and Speak Now were both reissued for Black Friday, again on limited edition, numbered double vinyl in 2018 and a seven inch single, featuring the original and album versions of The Lake pressed on clear vinyl came out for RSD 2022.

Taylor Swift’s Record Store Day note for fans

So will Taylor Swift be releasing any material in this year’s RSD? The answer is not directly. Maybe in anticipation of RSD, the singer released her new album The Tortured Poets Department, in multiple formats (vinyl, CD, cassette, digital), on 19 April - the day before RSD 2024.

However, there was another curveball with the release of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which hit at 2 a.m. on Friday. The Anthology version features an additional 15 songs, taking the total to 31 - all only available (for now) in digital download format through iTunes or Amazon Music.

And while there are no specific Taylor Swift releases on this year’s Record Store Day, some lucky buyers were pleasantly surprised to find a printed, hand-written note inside their vinyl editions of The Tortured Poets Department. It’s not known how many of the notes were produced but it is believed to be a limited run which means some fans now have a valuable collectors’ item.

The note, signed by the singer with a heart, reads: “Happy Record Store Day!! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for welcoming The Tortured Poets Department into your vinyl collection and your life. It’s my goal to create a memento you’ll want to keep forever, and I hope you’ll feel that with every turn of the page of the lyric book, every secret thought poured into this work. It’s an honor to be able to trust you with my feelings. Love, Taylor”.