For the Record

By Patrick Flood -- Oneonta, NY

Going to the store and buying music is becoming a rare thing in today's world. Gone are the days where people would line up to purchase the newest CD or cassette of their favorite band. However, as our internet-heavy world continues to evolve, some people have found that sometimes low-tech is the way to go.

Sign in front of record store.

The Vinyl Music Vault in the heart of Oneonta, is a local business that's become a part of the town's unique culture. Through online eBay sales and business associated through the two colleges in town, The Vinyl Music Vault has been able to succeed where others have failed.

Vinny, one of the store's co-owners, believes that vinyl is becoming popular again because of the many things you can get from buying a record. "If I buy a record, I get the album artwork, the lyrics, the music, and maybe a poster. Nowadays, all you get is a song and lesser quality of sound" said Vinny.

The sound quality is also a big reason why across the globe, many people are starting to collect vinyl records. One customer, who declined to give his name stated, "I started collecting records because you can hear so much more from a vinyl record compared to a digitally downloaded song." So not only do people love the sound quality and the album artwork, but they also enjoy the experience.

"There's something about going to the store and scouring through the various albums and stumbling upon a record you never thought you'd buy. I think that's something the music business has lost." said Vinny. He's right too. Think about the last time you really picked a song or an album based off of looking at the artwork; It doesn't really happen anymore.

Has the times change, people tend to either look forward or backwards, but in the case of The Vinyl Music Vault they're doing both. 

Vinny believes it's kind of a catch twenty-two. "It's funny, the internet and online downloading services are killing small vinyl stores like this one. Yet, we are able to stay in business by selling records online and promoting our store through various websites."

Window of the record store.

Vinyl's comeback is not only among the older generations who grew up listening to music on their record players, it's also a growing hobby for younger music fans too. One customer, a local Oneonta State college student, believes that going to a record store is the best part of the record-collecting experience. "Most of the time I don't even buy anything, I just like going into a record store like this one because I get to see so many different types of albums I wouldn't have seen otherwise," the college student said.

The market for records, both new and old seem to be growing. When going to big name stores like Barnes and Noble, you can find new artists putting out albums on vinyl, as well as, reissues of some older artists.

In a time when everyone wants the newest and fastest piece of technology, sometimes it's good to bring it back to basics.