The bins along the walls of Haffa's Records, 15 W. Union St., are packed with vinyl records of artists from Slayer to Snoop Dogg, each as diverse as the collectors who rifle through them between classes and on weekends.
For Eric Gunn, co-owner of Haffa's, the past is repeating itself with the revival of record collecting.
I always dug going to a record store
coming home with a big pile of stuff and sitting around with friends listening to music Gunn said. I think it's cool that vinyl is being paid attention to again.
From 2006 to 2007, the Recording Industry Association of America reported that record sales increased 36.6 percent, leading to a 46.2 percent increase in vinyl sales revenue. During the same time period, CD sales dropped 17.5 percent, with revenue down 20.5 percent.
Customers buying records are choosing vinyl over digital for many reasons, including album artwork and original sound quality, said Vaughn Stewart, co-founder of Athens record label Moon Jaw Records and a record collector.
Taking care of a record collection also adds to the enjoyment of it. According to the Record Collectors Guild, an online forum for collectors, records should be stored at room temperature in a place with minimal dust and humidity, and handled by the edge or the labeled surface. Vinyl should also be cleaned with water and a soft cloth before and after playing.
I think with vinyl it's like you have to be just
a little more careful with it and so it's like you're a little more connected to ... the investment in it
Stewart said.
Haffa's remains the only store that sells vinyl - both new and used - in the Athens area. Out of the 1.88 million vinyl albums purchased in 2008, two out of three were sold in independent record stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan, a rating system for music sales. Collectors, however, can also find records at swap meets. The Aquabear Legion, a group of Ohio musicians,
hosts such swaps locally.
The cool thing about the swaps
record sales
or hanging out at Haffa's is that everyone else there shares your passion for music
Brian Koscho, co-director and founder of the Aquabear Legion, wrote in
an e-mail.
Today, Gunn said he has heard many customers complain of losing all their music to a failed computer. Records, however, have more
staying power.
The cool thing about vinyl is if you take care of it
it's gonna last forever
Gunn said. All the other formats might not. ... A hard drive's not gonna crash with your records.
Koscho also sees the comeback of vinyl as a new understanding of the value of music.
Music is not a hit single and 10 bad songs
it is a whole album
Koscho wrote. Hopefully we are moving back toward all of these things being held to a higher esteem.
al106606@ohiou.edu
