Senior Victor Valdez’s preferred music medium is more contemporary than the oft-pictured vinyl but largely less popular, not having reached the levels of revitalization that vinyls have: CDs. Valdez began buying CDs of his own in 10th grade after spending several years taking his parents’ if they had an album he was a fan of.

“I love listening to physical music, but I think streaming is amazing for its convenience. Physical music gives me an experience you often can’t get with streaming because I can’t skip a song as easily, which makes me more immersed in what I’m listening to,” Valdez said.

One of the reasons that Valdez prefers CDs over vinyl is a largely pragmatic one: the cost. The average cost of a vinyl record is approximately twenty dollars, whereas CDs typically run between twelve and fifteen dollars. Valdez attributes students’ preference to streaming to the cost associated with owning physical media as well. The price of a vinyl record in the U.S. rose 25.5% from 2017 to 2023 as interest has surged. Double albums or albums that feature special edition designs can sell for as much as fifty dollars.

“I usually choose to buy CDs because they’re much more convenient for me and also significantly cheaper [than records]. I only buy albums I’ve already listened to and that I know I enjoy,” Valdez said. “I think for students especially it’s hard to afford physical media, especially when streaming is much cheaper. As physical media is becoming more and more phased out in favor of streaming, I’m not sure if artists will continue to print CDs, but they might also have a resurgence like vinyl did.”

Junior Eli Henretta’s interest in collecting vinyl started early – in 2017, when he was in third grade. “I was really young, but my dad has a big collection of albums, so I kind of took after that and started buying my favorite albums…my dad, he plays in a band, he plays a lot of instruments and makes guitar pedals. So music’s always been a big part of my life.”

Henretta’s collection is extensive, a mix of old and new, and contains somewhere between fifty and seventy records.

“Usually, for my birthday and Christmas, I’ll ask for a record or two. And I’d say my collection is mostly newer music, but I also have a lot of my dad’s that are older, and I’ll go get used bargain ones for super cheap and stuff like that. But I don’t really count that as part of [the collection].”

While Henretta frequently streams music, there’s something infinitely more resonant about listening to music being played from a tangible object. “It’s just – the act of putting it on, playing it, having to flip the sides. It makes it feel a lot more engaging to me.”

In the past five years, interest in vinyl has increased drastically. Revenue from vinyl jumped 10 percent to $1.4 billion in 2023, and outsold CDs for the second time since 1987, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. In the first half of 2021, 17 million vinyl records were sold in the United States, generating $467 million in retail revenue, nearly double the amount from the same period in 2020.

Though far from the most popular revenue generator in the music industry, owning records today can be an indicator of fan loyalty. The resurgence of interest in vinyl – and the corresponding result in increased production – has Henretta excited. Gone are the days of a mere cover sleeve and black LP. To maintain interest, companies are making records unique. That uniqueness keeps up Henretta’s hopes for the future of records.

“I like where [vinyl production] is going. I like how a lot of newer ones will have alternate covers or different colors of the actual vinyl itself. And I think that that kind of stuff is making it so it’s not really going to go out of fashion.”

Novelty has power. “I mean,” he said, “Why wouldn’t you want to have one?”