Vinyl Records – the Music Format that Would not Die

A vinyl record is more than merely a recording of music. It’s a cultural artifact. Listening to records on vinyl is more than a stream of ones and zeros; the vinyl disc has a physicality that other music formats lack. For me, listening to a vinyl record on a turntable is not just a way to pass the time. When I buy a new vinyl record and place it on the turntable for the first time, hearing the warm analog sound from the speakers makes discovering new music almost an event. And the cover art brings you further into the groove while you’re listening to the music. Can anyone imagine Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band having the same generation-defining impact if it had been just audio files you downloaded from a streaming service?

Looking through the vast bins of used records at the Record Exchange in Princeton and other stores which specialized in vinyl records - as well as the vinyl record collection at my local public library - was one of my favorite pastimes as a teenager. When CDs came along in the mid-1980s and it seemed vinyl was going to be consigned to the dustbin of recorded music history, I got rid of most of my records. But I couldn’t stay away from vinyl forever, and as an adult I started collecting records again. And then a funny thing happened – more and more people started doing the same, and vinyl came back from the (almost) dead. According to Statista, vinyl record sales have now been increasing for 18 straight years, and in 2024 well over 40 million records were sold.

Now, some public libraries such as the Brooklyn Public Library are even bringing back vinyl record circulating collections. While we don’t currently have a vinyl record collection at the Mercer County Library System, we do have a lot of resources that will help you in collecting and curating your own vinyl collection, as well as in learning to appreciate the history of the vinyl music format.

Some of your old vinyl records may be hot collector’s items. If you have a vinyl collection or inherited one, you can tell how much your records are worth by consulting the Goldmine Record Album Price Guide.

If you ever wondered how vinyl records are made and how they came to be so popular, you might want to check out Vinyl: The Art of Making Records. This beautifully illustrated book will help you appreciate the history of the vinyl record, how records are made, and some of the best LP (long-playing) records that came out in the age of vinyl.

If you want tips on how to build up your collection, take a look at Vinyl Record Collecting for Dummies. And Vinyl – How to Get the Best from Your Vinyl Records and Kit will tell you what turntables, speakers and amps you need to get the most out of your vinyl collection.

Strangely, one recent study showed that 50 percent of vinyl buyers don’t actually own a turntable. So why do they buy records? Maybe it’s for the cover art. If collecting records for the covers are your thing, you might want to check out 1000 Record Covers and Vinyl, Album, Cover, Art: The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue. Both books feature a wide assortment of classic vinyl LP covers.

Many people who love listening to great music still treasure the vinyl LP. These vinyl aficionados are the reason this format has survived and thrived during the transition to digital music, and hopefully will be with us for a long time to come.

By Michael Kerr, West Windsor Branch