Prior to streaming and downloading, prerecorded music was presented in physical forms such as compact discs, cassette tapes, and vinyl records.
What’s a vinyl record? A vinyl record is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. Polyvinyl chloride became the common ingredient in making records in the 1940’s, hence the name “vinyl”.
Created by Gary Freiberg, National Vinyl Record Day (August 12) is a way to honor the art behind the music, collecting, and recording.
When I first began DJing events and parties, the only option was vinyl records. We would spend hours pillaging record stores like Warehouse Music, Tower Records, and Amoeba Music looking for copies of the hottest new songs from the radio and doing our best to predict and break the next big hit. Here I am DJing a house party in my hometown of Temecula, CA in the early 1990’s. We frequently turned the Arriaga’s garage into a weekend hotspot affectionately called “Club A“.
Keep in mind, vinyl records were not necessarily cheap. A single song (12″) would typically cost around $5. Specialty vinyl of remixes and bootlegs even higher at $12-$15 each. Not the .99 cents per song on iTunes that many newer DJs became accustomed to. Over the years, turntables were phased out for CDJ’s which played, you guessed it… CDs and then ultimately digital controllers that play digital copies of music which allowed just about anyone (*see Paris Hilton) to become a DJ.
So as someone who has seen the rise and fall of vinyl, I couldn’t be happier to see so many people embrace its comeback. According to Felix Richter, vinyl album sales in the United States have grown for the 16th consecutive year. And not only that, LP sales jumped by more than 50 percent in 2021, surpassing both digital and CD album sales. Last year, vinyl albums made up 38% of total album sales in the United States.
Whether you are an experienced collector or a newbie hobbyist, here are some local Las Vegas record stores definitely worth checking out.
