According to the Recording Industry Association of America, vinyl album sales grossed roughly $416 million last year. This is the largest figure the industry has seen since 1988.
Ralph’s Records isn’t new to the record business, Owner Doug Stapp told everythinglubbock.com they’ve been in town for 36 years.
“I’ve been a die hard record junkie since I was about six years old,” Stapp said, “I grew up in Albequerqe and there was a record store right down the street from my house. I got loads of records from my sister, and have been a heavy metal junkie ever since.”
Take a step into Ralph’s, and you’ll feel like you’ve turned back the clock. Record enthusiasts like Ike Onuma said they visit the store as often as possible in hopes of finding a rare soundtrack.
“I visit sometimes seven days a week, but for the most part, I would say I usually get here about four times a week,” Onuma said.
Oldies, country, hip-hop and rock and roll — Ralph’s always has well over 100,000 records in stock.
“We carry new and used here, used it whatever walks in the door and we use the biggest distributor in the U.S. to order new records,” Stapp said, “We order thousands of dollars in records every single week.”
According to statistics, the younger generation is responsible for the uptick in vinyl sales.
“Thirteen to twenty-eight year olds are predominantly the age group we see in our store buying records, and it’s great…seeing the younger generation with what I grew up with makes me feel good,” Stapp said.
Stapp also said the experience of playing records on the turntable makes them appealing.
“The physical experience of actually putting on the music and being able to put the needle on the album and listen to it.”
Time will only tell if the vinyl trend will stick around, but whatever the case, the music industry seems to have reaped the benefits.
“I think it’s a good thing, I actually joke that I bet the music industry never thought they’d be saved by something they got rid of when CDs came around,” Onuma said.
