Vinyl lovers have been flocking to independent record shops across the UK today (April 23) for Record Store Day 2022.

As part of RSD’s 15th anniversary, hundreds of exclusive physical releases – including vinyl, CD and cassette – were made available at over 260 participating indie retailers nationwide.

Fans can get their hands on special records from the likes of Blur, Taylor Swift, Elvis, U2, Bring Me The Horizon, Sam Fender and Blondie.

Many celebrated managing to bag ‘The Lakes’ 7″ by Swift, who is the global ambassador of Record Store Day 2022.

“Still can’t believe this happened but I’m so glad to have another addition to my Taylor Swift collection, especially one of my favourite tracks for my first RSD!” one customer wrote on Twitter.

Another Swift fan shared a picture of their clear vinyl of ‘The Lakes’, captioning it: “Three hours later and she’s finally mine.”

Elsewhere, a third Twitter used said: “SO SO HAPPY !!!!!! I GOT IT!! after waking up at 4am for record store day I now own ‘The Lakes’ on vinyl and it is so beautiful.” You can see those tweets below.

Three hours later and she’s finally mine ? @taylorswift13 #recordstoreday #RSD22 @taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/5tQcoiyxzi

— Jemma ? (@jemmapage) April 23, 2022

still can’t believe this happened but I’m so glad to have another addition to my Taylor Swift collection, especially one of my favourite tracks for my first RSD!

Thank you @vinyltaprecords for the great service!@taylorswift13 @taylornation13 #RSD2022 #RecordStoreDay pic.twitter.com/zPK1oQbXsE

— z (@uItshixun) April 23, 2022

:)) https://t.co/5jk7ShhSNI

— jess ? (@winsinthemovies) April 23, 2022

Vinyl enthusiasts also snapped up Sam Fender’s 7″ record ‘Alright/The Kitchen (Live)’. “Absolute Stunner white pressing,” one fan said of their purchase.

Other hauls included Holly Humberstone‘s ‘The Walls Are Way Too Thin’ picture disc, Glass Animals‘ ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)’ 12″, David Bowie‘s ‘Toy’ and ‘Brilliant Adventure’ EPs, and a special pressing of The Cure‘s ‘Pornography’.

You can see more reactions and images from Record Store Day UK in the posts below.

Record Store Day 7” Vinyl by Sam Fender • Absolute Stunner White Pressing • Thanks @samfendermusic @RSDUK @polydorrecords pic.twitter.com/X2IPVcPmkZ

— Tarik (@little_tariko) April 23, 2022

Record store day today !!!! #RSD22 #recordstoreday2022 #samfender #vinyl pic.twitter.com/flNkdAq5uh

— Je M'Appelle Nicole (@Nicolam1980) April 23, 2022

Picked up Blur and Alice in Chains records for Record Store Day ??

— r?? (@_Domnomnom) April 23, 2022

in my record store day haul, i also managed to secure the ONLY ‘the walls are way too thin’ picture disc at my store by arriving half an hour before the other person who wanted it ?? i loooove this EP @HolHumberstone pic.twitter.com/VEBVnro7Jg

— em HAS A LAKES RSD! ?? (@taylorstoebeans) April 23, 2022

Record Store Day success ? @HolHumberstone @samfendermusic @SeaGirls @GlassAnimals pic.twitter.com/yDDFI6m5ih

— Lewis Capaldi UK (@LewisCapaldiUK) April 23, 2022

Wife said one of my record store day purchases was “inappropriate”.. not sure what she’s got against The Cure?? #RSD pic.twitter.com/7kbc9gNI2D

— Beamer ?? (@thisisastory_) April 23, 2022

Up at 6.30am with Jude to drive into Sheffield and queue at @RecordJunkee for Record Store day. Another successful haul between us including a couple I missed on the 2021 drop! #childishgambino #djangodjango #pattismith #suede #glassanimals @RecordStoreDay2022 @BBC6Music pic.twitter.com/e6u6weFjnT

— Neil Brownhill (@N_A_Brownhill) April 23, 2022

pls manifest that I can make it from sheffield in time to get this signed @GlassAnimals pic.twitter.com/BAdgbnG7hv

— wallace algernon? (@marvelscales) April 23, 2022

Meanwhile, The Rock Box Record Store in Camberley, Surrey said that they saw the “biggest line we’ve ever had” as RSD ’22 customers queued up outside the shop this morning.

Crash Records in Leeds shared a video of “early risers” lining up from the early hours while Banquet Records in Kingston, London posted footage of vinyl fans camping outside from 11:30pm last night (April 22).

Brighton’s Resident reported “great vibes” as they sold “tons of excellent records [to] lovely music lovers” this lunchtime. You can see those posts below.

Thanks to our queuers this morning, biggest line we’ve ever had! #rsd #rsd22 #recordstoreday @RSDUK pic.twitter.com/aLZDvJfzNj

— The Rock Box Record Store (@RockBoxRecords) April 23, 2022

The early risers for @RSDUK pic.twitter.com/hHfsgyiiLH

— Crash Records (@Crash_Records) April 23, 2022

the @BanquetRSDfeed queue at 11:30. Sweet dreams! pic.twitter.com/Kzb4GFmbVI

— Banquet Records (@BanquetRecords) April 22, 2022

#RSD22 (Resident‘s Version) is in full swing! ?

Tons of excellent records, lovely music lovers, dogs, great vibes, all the good stuff! ?

We‘ve powered through the queue and waiting time is no more than an hour now, so come by & grab your @RSDUK exclusives! ✌? pic.twitter.com/QEiyvhU5VI

— resident (@residentmusic) April 23, 2022

Upon being appointed the first-ever RSD global ambassador back in January, Taylor Swift said she was “very proud” to take on the role.

“The places where we go to browse and explore and discover music new and old have always been sacred to me,” she explained.

“Record stores are so important because they help to perpetuate and foster music-loving as a passion. They create settings for live events. They employ people who adore music thoroughly and purely.”

Swift went on to acknowledge the “rough few years” that independent record shops have faced as a result of the COVID pandemic, adding: ‘We need to support these small businesses more now than ever to make sure they can stay alive, stay eccentric, and stay individual.”