On my 17th birthday, I received a Fiona Apple ‘Extraordinary Machine’ record from my grandparents. I remember opening it and seeing its beautiful blue and green marble pressing for the first time. In my hands was an actual vinyl record.
It was the perfect gift. Fiona Apple is my favorite artist, and ‘Extraordinary Machine’ is one of my favorite albums of hers. I had listened to it digitally more times than I can count, but I had never heard it on vinyl. The record is an exclusive VMP pressing and very few people have it. I didn’t know if I should play it or look at it.
When it comes to collecting records (vintage or new), there is a recent trend in younger people collecting them. According to Discogs, vinyl sales are up by 6.2% in 2024.
I think this recent trend might be due to people having more of a desire to listen to a whole body of work.
Since it was first introduced in 1999, streaming music encourages people to listen to individual songs, playlists, or whatever grouping the digital service suggests.
Listening to an album on vinyl is different. Dropping the needle onto the beginning of a record encourages listeners to play the entire side at once, including the songs they don’t like as much. But when played together, all the songs played in sequence are important to the body of work.
Young people collecting records can also connect family. It can be a way to pass down older family members’ favorite albums to the younger generation.
“My dad encouraged me to listen to music on vinyl and showed me some of his favorite artists,” Hayley Rohats (‘25) said.
Sharing vinyl records is also like sharing stories and memories. Like a treasure or a keepsake or a piece of jewelry, a record given to you from a family member or friend can be extra special.
“I’ve gotten a lot of my vinyls from my grandparents who collected many of the original copies when they were first released decades ago,” Kate Saussele (‘25) said. “I love hearing the stories about where they got some of the records before they hand them off to me to add to my collection.”
Vinyl records also serve as souvenirs. My dad and I have a hobby of going to indie record stores in new cities we visit. We like buying records while visiting.
My favorite record store I’ve ever visited is Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California. Amoeba Music has 3 California locations. The store I visited is huge and has vinyls, CDs and DVDs. The walls are covered in various music posters from different artists. The store feels like a dream for any music lover. I bought Phoebe Bridgers ‘Stranger in the Alps’ vinyl and a Phoebe Bridgers poster.
Amoeba Music is not only a record store, it is also home to live music performances, as well. Big artists such as Billie Eilish and Paul McCartney have played at Amoeba. Indie artists such as mxmtoon and Katie Gavin have, too. Playing live at locations where artists sell vinyl records is a proven formula.
If you don’t think buying even one record can make a difference, the data proves differently. An indie artist can receive a lot of support from just one record sale.
Buying vinyl records also supports an artist directly. In 2014, Taylor Swift removed her music from Spotify because she had a problem with how little Spotify was paying their artists. She argued that ‘free songs’ were at odds with what music really means and they took away from a body of work’s value.
Case in point? Artists earn less than $0.005 per play when Spotify streams their song.
As for Taylor Swift, her boycott lasted 3 years until she returned to Spotify in 2017. Though her boycott made a point, Spotify did not change how much they pay their artists.
Collecting vinyl records is like collecting art. Vinyls now come in different colors and they are each differently visually beautiful. A new beautiful colorful album pressing can encourage collectors to buy different styles of music. One of my favorites I own is a Hayley Williams ‘Petals for Armor’ vinyl that is a light pink pressing marbled with orange.
Some people go as far collecting different pressings of the same album. Lots of artists release many different limited edition pressings of the same album, encouraging people to buy multiple.
Big artists like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift have had huge success with their new albums and have released several vinyl pressings of their albums as part of the distribution. Billie Eilish’s new album, ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’, has 8 vinyl variants. Taylor Swift’s new album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, is available in 19 different physical variants on CD and vinyl.
There is also a hope that collecting records can lead to future income. Many collectors start with the hope that they could get a lot of money for the vinyl at some point. The most valuable vinyl in history is Wu-Tang Clan ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ that is worth $2 million.
It’s nice to know that despite streaming being so huge, young people are becoming more interested in buying physical music and that it holds value in today’s culture.
The trend is likely here to stay.
After Fiona Apple, I started my own record collection. I had the desire to physically own the music I loved so much. My collection is now up to 40 different albums and, for me, collecting is as much about loving the music as it is the art and memories.
