About Glitter Records
Glitter Records is an independent record store in Fortitude Valley. We also run an off‑site archive that cares for more than 70,000 vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, and shellac recordings. Most of these items are recycled.
We share music in all its diversity because it encourages freedom, self‑expression, and the open exchange of ideas. Great recordings help people grow, discover new interests, and connect across generations.
Our work is practical and ongoing. Every day we:
- preserve cultural memory through careful archival work
- revive and reuse physical media
- support diverse creative communities
- strengthen local cultural infrastructure in Brisbane
- keep past, present, and future connected through accessible music.
As our community grows, so does the work we support. This includes new releases by local artists, unearthing rare archival finds, exploring local art and clothing, and projects like the Glitter Records Song Fund. Whatever the form, we back the ideas and stories that help shape culture for the better.
We do this work for the long run, so great music stays easy to find and easy to share. Thank you for being part of it.
— Riley Fitzgerald
Founder, Glitter Records
📍 Glitter Records Shopfront Location
G4 / 22 McLachlan Street (California Lane) Fortitude Valley, Brisbane QLD 4006
🕒 Store Trading Hours
Friday: 11am – 6pm
Saturday: 11am – 2pm
Glitter Records Reviews
“Glitter Records in Brisbane is f***in SICK. Just got a ton of records I can’t get in the US, lots of Japanese and Hong Kong stuff from the Sixties up to the Eighties. Go say hi to Riley! Dude’s running his own shop and is super friendly and knowledgeable. Highly recommended!” — Marcus Parks, Last Podcast on the Left / No Dogs in Space
“Order arrived wonderfully packaged. It’s great to find people who genuinely care about the small details. The smiley face sticker on the outside of the box was a nice touch. Communication was great.” — Rowie235, Discogs buyer
“From curious collector to conscientious curator, Riley has built Glitter Records into a living archive of music and pop-culture history.” — Scenestr Magazine
“Awesome shop. Very cozy, vintage feel in the best way. Definitely the most bang for your buck in terms of their range of any record store I’ve visited around Brisy. Staff are so lovely as well—very happy to help out with purchase or exchange requests. Will definitely be going back more than once.” — Callum Scorer, Google Review
"A place to find like-minded music lovers." - The Music Magazine
“CDs arrived in good time, beautifully packed and (I think) in better condition than originally graded! When you’re in Brisbane next, head over to the physical store in Fortitude Valley and pick up some treasures!” — Alphonse-417, Discogs buyer
Learn more about Glitter Records founder Riley Fitzgerald
Riley Fitzgerald (born 1988) is a Brisbane‑based cultural archivist, writer, editor, researcher, publisher, and founder of Glitter Records — one of Australia’s largest independently curated music archives. His work sits at the intersection of memory, music, and cultural preservation.
Between 2012 and 2021, Fitzgerald worked as a freelance music journalist during a period of major transition in Australian music media. He contributed to cult publications such as Music Feeds, Happy Magazine, Stoney Roads, Howl & Echoes, and Collapse Board, writing about underground scenes, mental health in the industry, and long‑form artist interviews. During this time, he also documented the early‑2010s resurgence of vinyl and physical media from the perspective of independent retailers and musicians — a thread that would later become central to his archival practice.
Fitzgerald studied at The University of Queensland and The University of Melbourne, developing a deep understanding of the theoretical, historical, and scholarly contexts of both classical and popular music. A brief period working in entertainment law in 2012 added practical experience with copyright, contracts, and the legal frameworks governing music production and distribution — knowledge that would later inform his editorial and curatorial work.
In 2020, he founded Cosmic, a psychedelic music and art fanzine grounded in research and long‑form cultural writing. This evolved into The Glitter & Gold in 2021, a digital pop‑culture publication where he continues to serve as Managing Editor and Creative Director. Both projects reflect his ongoing interest in how music shapes identity, memory, and cultural meaning.
In 2022, Fitzgerald founded Glitter Records, an independent music shop and archival retail operation located in California Lane, Fortitude Valley. Conceived as an alternative to trend‑driven record retail, Glitter Records is distinguished by its contrarian curation and focus on rare, overlooked, and historically significant recordings. The business now maintains a catalogue of more than 70,000 physical recordings across vinyl, CD, cassette, and shellac, making it one of the largest independently curated collections of its kind in Australia.
Glitter Records functions as a shop, a large‑scale archive, and a place where hard‑to‑find music continues to circulate. Under Fitzgerald’s direction, it has taken in and catalogued several major collections, including a 150,000‑item private CD archive and a collection acquired from the Record Exchange when its city store closed in 2024. His focus is on preserving rare recordings and keeping culturally vulnerable music available instead of letting it disappear — a form of stewardship that treats independent retail as public access to cultural memory.
Beyond retail, Fitzgerald’s work intersects with Brisbane’s broader cultural infrastructure. He has collaborated with the Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Stash World, 4000 Records, and The Lanes Precinct, and maintains ongoing engagement with 4ZZZ, Brisbane’s long‑running community radio station. He also writes Diary of a Record Store Owner, a reflective series exploring the philosophical, historical, and community dimensions of his work.
Fitzgerald also leads Glitter Records’ involvement with a range of cultural, conservation, and archival organisations. As of 2026, this includes support for Koala Action Inc., the State Library of Queensland’s President’s Council, the Australasian branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM‑ANZ), and the Australasian Sound Recordings Association (ASRA).
His public profile extends into broadcast and print media. He has appeared on 612 ABC Brisbane Mornings with Steve Austin to discuss the resurgence of vinyl, record‑collecting culture, and rare Brisbane punk recordings, and has been profiled in Scenestr and The Music magazine.
In 2026, Fitzgerald expanded Glitter Records’ scope through the creation of the Glitter Records Song Fund, a 2,147‑song music rights portfolio managed as part of the record store’s core operations. The fund acquires and administers royalty‑bearing song catalogues, treating them as both fragments of social history and income‑producing intellectual property. These rights are integrated into Glitter Records’ broader archival mission, deepening the company’s understanding of contemporary music economics and helping preserve the long‑term value of recorded music in the streaming era.
Across journalism, publishing, and archival work, Fitzgerald’s practice reflects a deliberate shift from documenting music culture to actively sustaining it. Through Glitter Records and his editorial projects, he works to preserve, circulate, and contextualize recorded music, treating independent retail as a form of cultural stewardship. His focus is on long‑term care: keeping rare, at‑risk, and historically significant recordings available, and ensuring that a broad range of cultural expression remains discoverable for future generations.