There are many ways to listen to music, including CDs, digital downloads, and online playlists. Recent developments of technology have made listening to music much simpler. Apps such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube are easy platforms where one can access music of all types to stream and download. 

     Vinyl records require more time, space, and money compared to other methods of listening to music, yet playing records has become more popular in recent years. 

    The year of 1877 brought the invention of the phonograph, which was the beginning of the record player. Thomas Edison created a way to listen to music through a cylindrical contraption until Emile Berliner changed the design so that music could be played through the grooves of a flat disc.

     Many people find listening to vinyls nostalgic. Previously, the record player was one of the only ways to listen to music, so adults gain a reminder of their childhoods while enjoying the sounds of their favorite songs. 

     Freshman Teagan Glass states, “[Records] give a different sound to the music than just listening on your phone, it makes you really get into it and just feel what the music is saying.”

     Those who collect vinyls also find it enjoyable, the same way others would feel about a hobby or a sport. 

     Jay Reason, owner of Static Era Records in Milford, CT, says, “I just started listening to so much music and then I noticed that there’d be different colors or different pressings of records I liked and that just started the path of it.”

     According to businessinsider.com, for the first time since the 1980s, Americans spent more money on vinyl records than CDs. 

     In the past year the selling of vinyl records has made an extreme uprise in the music industry.

     Data from Nielsen Music and MRC Data show that the best-selling vinyl albums from the first half of 2020 included releases from Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and Queen’s “Greatest Hits.”

     Despite the increased popularity of vinyl records, 85% of all recorded music revenue was made up of streaming services such as Spotify and Youtube. Only 7% was made up from physical music, such as records and CDs. 

     Now, as artists produce albums, they also come out with vinyls to appeal to a larger audience. As music fans become more appreciative of the art form, only time will tell whether this trend continues in the future.