Record stores have been around for decades. From the vinyl craze of the 1970s and the CD frenzy of the 1990s, to the new age of digital streaming, one might believe that the days of records are over. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Records are now coming back in full force, with younger generations being the main demographic fueling their resurgence. People are drawn to records for many reasons, whether they’re flipping through crates in search of their favorite album or enjoying the feeling they get from hearing that signature crackle that their phone can’t replicate.
Record Swap, a record store located in the Lincoln Square Mall, has been supplying the Champaign-Urbana area with a wide variety of physical media since 1979.
Bob Diener, the owner of Record Swap, has always been a “vinyl addict.” When everyone threw away their records during the rise of CDs in the late 1980s, he held onto his. Diener had a gut feeling that they would never go out of style.
“When CDs came out and then when they had subscription services, it was like, ‘Okay, record stores are going to disappear,’” Diener said. “But people like record stores. They hear the music that we’re playing, they talk to people with similar tastes, they can meet their friends here. That was something I always enjoyed.”
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Santos Medina Walker, junior in FAA, started collecting records his sophomore year of high school. He was initially drawn by the feeling of owning his own physical piece of media, where he could browse all of the credits and fully engage with the music.
“Post-pandemic, I think a lot of us are really hating our phones, and I think a lot of people are looking for an alternative,” Medina Walker said. “A lot of people are looking for a slower way to consume media.”
However, newer vinyl collectors may not be using the correct equipment. Vinyl experts fear that younger generations prefer using Crosley record players when they first start because of their trendy appearance and compact size. These record players can warp or scratch records, causing irreversible damage.
According to Diener, doing your research and investing in a quality record player will elicit a better listening experience. When you play records on higher-quality speaker equipment, imperfections caused by using Crosley record players are more likely to surface.
“In 10 or 20 years, there’s going to be a lot of used vinyl that’s been played on the Crosley, which scares the heck out of me, because you can’t really tell until you put it on,” Diener said.
As younger listeners become more informed about the quality of their record collections, many are also becoming more intentional about what they’re collecting and why.
In recent years, fans have been more inclined to collect the work of popular mainstream artists. These include Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo, who are pressing multiple versions of their albums on vinyl.
“I think owning media is very important, but at the same time I realized that by owning media, you’re also owning plastic, essentially,” Medina Walker said. “I don’t think buying so many more things is the best thing.”
Beyond the focus on being mindful of what you purchase, listening to a record the way the artist intended — all the way through, from front to back — also carries artistic value.
Kiki Keen, senior in LAS, started her record collection a few years ago when someone gifted her a turntable for Christmas. She believes there is value in listening to an album as a complete creation, rather than just hitting “shuffle” on a playlist.
“There is this huge thing for artists when creating an album,” Keen said. “All of the songs are kind of intertwined in some way. It’s a very different listening experience.”
Diener has also noticed that younger generations spend much of their time listening to music through their headphones, leaving behind the background music mentality that records seemed to invent.
“At some point, if you really want to enjoy music, you just have to sit down and listen to it,” Diener said. “See who produced it and who are the backup singers and read the lyrics. If you do that, then the music is better.”
Music formats will continue to evolve. However, vinyl remains a steady force in the lives of listeners who recognize the value in keeping records alive and playing.
