The vinyl word: records are coming back

The evolution of music has grown throughout the years changing from tapes, to CD’s, to digital music files. But a new craze has been flourishing in the past five years and has brought vinyl back.

Whats vinyl? Remember back when your parents listened to those records on their record players? That is vinyl, but now with an urban twist.

One can hear thousands of contemporary artists on vinyl,  including  favorite artists like Lana Del Rey, One Direction, Arctic Monkeys and more. The classics still haven’t gone out of style, with hundreds of copies selling from older artists like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and The Grateful Dead.

Not only are vinyl records advancing, so are the turntables. From neon to metallic and everything in between, companies like Crosley and U-Turn Audio are producing new and improved ways to listen to your vinyls.

GHS English teacher Michael Telles has an extensive vinyl collection he has been building for years. “They sound warmer. The artwork is so great to look at,” said Telles. “The most important thing for me is that there so much old music that wouldn’t be available if it were not on records.”

Though vinyl is becoming a new trend in music, lots of people just aren’t that into it. Music on your phone is quick, easy and can be taken anywhere any time.

iTunes holds millions of songs in all genres that you can download with the touch of a button, unlike vinyl, where you have to go to a record store, and search for your desired album. Also you can’t get the wide variety of music on vinyl that you can get on iTunes.

What you buy is what you get with a record. If you like one song on an album, and you want it on vinyl, you have to buy the whole album for the total cost along with all the songs you don’t want.

Many who like vinyl records, feel that owning them are worth it. “I think they sound better,” says sophomore Olivia Piscitello. “They sound more authentic.”

Sophomore Corryn Ulrich thinks vinyl is overrated.  “Listening to vinyl is like saying, ‘oh I’m so hipster, look at me and my vinyl records,’” said Ulrich. “They don’t want to accept the technology that has been created.”

This raises the question: do these records have a stereotypical target market? Some share Ulrich’s belief that only ‘wanna be hipsters’ listen to records, but others think vinyl offers a listening experience one can’t get with digital music.

And some people, like English teacher Rory Gentile, don’t care at all.  “If I can hear music, I don’t care where its coming from.”