A man adjusts his speaker system, prepares a cool glass of water and sets it next to a leather listening chair.
Instead of syncing his phone to the speakers, he grabs a well-cared-for record of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors.”
As he sets it carefully on the player, it spins, the needle is adjusted and dropped, and the guitar riffs bellow through the speakers.
“When it hits, when you get the perfect pressing sounding the right way. It really is transcendent,” said Brad Wilson, adjunct professor of music business at Belmont University.
Record collecting has been on the rise in recent decades after falling off because of the rise of formats like CD’s and digital streaming. In 2021, vinyl sales reached $1 billion dollars for the first time since 1985, according to Camoin Associates. The success has continued growing into 2024 and has helped aid the success of some local record stores in Nashville.
Grimey’s New and Preloved Music has recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and its continued success selling records and CDs in the age of digital streaming.
“Being in a space where we do celebrate so many different kinds of music allows all those folks to come together and be together and meet each other,” said Anna Lundy, assistant manager of Grimey’s New and Preloved Music.
For some, the appeal is found in physically owning the music they love and the experience of record collecting.
“A lot of its importance is having an object you can touch, going into a store you can walk into and buying it from somebody you can talk to,” said Jack Dungan a local record collector. “If there is a chance for interaction and soul in something, then I think you're going to have a lot better chance finding it in a record store.”
–
This video and article was made by Braden Simmons
Comments