By J1 Reporter Lauren Hicks

In an age of Spotify, Apple Music, Disney+, Netflix and YouTube, there doesn’t seem to be a big need for physical media. Despite this, record collecting has seen a major growth in the United States since 2020.

“I’m glad people are getting back into physical,” Mike Lite, cashier at Homer’s Music, said. Homer’s is a record store located in the Old Market. Lite has been working there for three and a half years, having started in September 2021.

Over the past couple of years, he has noticed a couple of trends. “There has been an increase in vinyl sales. They have overtaken CD sales,” Lite said. He also said that he sees all kinds of people partaking in the rise of vinyl buying. “I see anywhere from teenagers to 60, 70, 80 year olds. It’s like a cross section of all.”

Sophomore Addison Anderson is one of these people taking part in the growing vinyl trends.  “I got interested in vinyl collecting because my friend did it and I enjoyed listening to music, “ she said, “so I thought it would be cool to have vinyls of my favorite artists.” Anderson’s most recent vinyl purchase was The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift and her most used one is SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo. 

Lite and Anderson both had a very different answer when it came to their dream vinyl. Lite said that his dream vinyl is Yesterday and Today by the Beatles that has a special recalled cover. Anderson, on the other hand, would like to acquire the Secret of Us (Deluxe) by Gracie Abrams.

Lite also talked about what you can gain from vinyls that you can’t get out of Spotify or even CDs. He said, “It makes you engaged. You have to get up to flip it over, you can read vinyl, and you can casually open it up. It displays people’s artwork and you won’t get that in many other places.”

Have you bought into the recent vinyl trends? Let us know in the comments!