April 22nd is National Record Store Day! What a great day for vinyl lovers around the world. 

Vinyl record fans cherish this day by celebrating at their favorite record stores! Some stores hold amazing sales and fun listening events. Some local stores in the Orange County area include: White Rabbit Records, Mr. C’s Rare Records, Left on the Dial Records, Analog Record Shop, Radiation Records, Rusta-Cowboy Records, Black Hole Records, Port of Sound Record Shoppe. 

But how did this wonderful holiday start? How is it still so popular today?

“Record Store Day was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently-owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally” (RECORDSTOREDAY). This national holiday was “founded officially by Michael Kurtz, Eric Leven, Amy Dorfman, Carrie Colliton, Brian Poehner, and Don Van Cleave” (FLUANCE). 

With all of the hundreds of ways to listen to music today, why stick to vinyl records? 

Vinyl records have a certain authenticity to them. The physical element of the vinyl itself is so special to many. The ritual of placing the vinyl record onto a turntable, placing the needle onto the ridges, and letting the music take you away is an experience like no other. Seeing the tracks spin and spin, and hearing the high quality music float through the air evokes a sense of comfort and peace from within. Listening to music on a vinyl LP is a different experience than listening to music digitally. Digitally listening to music can, in some cases, compress the tracks and distort vocal tracks because of the streaming. Many people prefer this “old fashioned”way of listening to music.

One student, Eloise Franklyn (12), says “I have vinyl records! I enjoy listening to them and think they are a fun way to listen to music!” Vinyl is the way to go!