It is said that anybody with a good record collection will always be in love. Vinyl records are starting to make a comeback. Many people today believe that listening to an album on vinyl gives them a better feel for how the artist intended it to sound. “The sound quality of a record is much clearer, and it sounds more authentic,” Sarah Kelly, senior, said. Others find that vinyl records are a cool, new, yet old way to listen to their tunes. Kelly listens to records on her Crosley authentic record player; she said that “it’s old and wooden,” but still works very well. Over the past ten years, LP’s, also known as long plays or records, had become a thing of the past, but according to The New York Times, record albums are gaining popularity once again.

“Records are definitely making a comeback, sales last year were higher than they have been in a long time,” Taylor Weber, junior, said. The Times also says that records are more popular among college-aged kids because of their introduction to records by parents or grandparents in their childhood.

The popularity of records is growing because of the increase in indie-rock bands that find records are a new way to relive the past. The band Glass Animals released their new album “Gooey” as only an audio CD, but soon decided to put out an LP because of the increasing popularity of authentic sound quality.

“I connect with the music in a weird way by flipping the record and dropping the needle on it,” Weber said. This connection brings listeners closer to the artist.

Record plants, such as Rainbo Records, lost most of their business by early 2006 due to the rise in digital downloading. In the past year, record sales have increased by 38 percent, with an accompanying 8.3 million records sold, according to Digital Music News.  For a few years, it became difficult to find places to purchase records. According to Weber, records can be purchased in many places around Kansas City. A common place to purchase them is located in Westport, called Mills Record Company. Other common spots for people to buy records are Hot Topic and Half Price Books.

Records are being used for more than just music.

“I like to play my records on my record player, but I also like to hang them on my walls,” Kelly said. Not only can records be a way to listen to music, but they can also be a piece of art.

In 2014, new artists, including Vampire Weekend and The National put their new albums out on CD’s as well as LP’s, according to The Times. These artists sold more vinyl than actual CD’s. Vampire Weekend alone sold $2,000 dollars in vinyl in less than 10 minutes at their pre-release. The band that started the vinyl revival was Daft Punk, who in 2013 sold more than 19,000 vinyl records of their new album, Random Access Memories.

“New bands are putting out their albums on LP’s too. Issues, [the band] has multiple albums on record,” Kelly said.

Vinyl may be a thing of the past, but with the rise of a new era, it may be making a comeback.