Who is Keeping Vinyl Alive and Why?

Once thought to be a collector's item of a small number of vinyl fanatics in this time of great technological advancements, those who are keeping vinyl alive are actually more numerous and a more diverse group then originally thought. If you have ever seen the movie 'Ghost World' in which the one middle aged character is portrayed as a socially awkward, nerdy collector of vinyl records, then you can understand how the portrayal of vinyl album users and collectors can be misleading in today's world.

In fact in recent years a surge in new albums and music being released on full size and 45 vinyl has help shatter the stereotype of vinyl collectors and introduced a whole new generation of music lovers to the lure of vinyl recordings. This phenomenon is not being seen in classic records being reissued, rather in popular and youth based music with many modern artists pushing to have their music released not only in CD and MP3 formats, but also in special edition vinyl records. Seem odd? Walk into the music based mall chain Hot Topic and you will see some surprising artists releasing music on vinyl as well as new formats. Modern popular acts such as Fall Out Boy, Nine Inch Nails, Panic! At the Disco, and Marilyn Manson are a small and yet surprising portion of the bands reinvigorating the vinyl scene.

Helping this revitalization are the turntable makers themselves. For a while record players were hard to find and turntable makers turned to making specially designed turntables for DJs and mixing artists even going as far as making turntables that digitally mixed CDs and MP3s. But once again many makers are introducing new versions of classic turntables like those from the days before 8-tracks and CDs.

Of course this is all well and good, but one must ask why? Why are records suddenly coming back, why can fans now purchase new acts on old technology, and why are values of classic original records skyrocketing on sites like Ebay?