I collect vinyl records, like many Gen Z music lovers. Why? It started during the pandemic.

While helping my dad clean out a closet, I found milk crates stuffed with old records, along with a record player. My dad began reminiscing about collecting records as he showed me the intricate art and lyric sheets his collection came with. I was intrigued and asked him to set up his record player, but he was hesitant. I decided to force his hand by going online and buying my first record, “Mm..Food,” by MF DOOM. This kicked off my record-collecting hobby and got my dad back into it.

I’m not alone in my love for record collecting. Vinyl collecting is a rising trend. Last year’s U.S. sales broke a 40-year record, totaling over $1.4 billion. This figure represents only newly pressed vinyl and not purchases of secondhand vinyl.

One benefit to buying vinyl is that vinyl has a different sound than digital music. While there is much debate over which sounds better, there is undoubtedly a difference between the two. Vinyl has a much warmer sound compared to digital music. This gives the music a unique sound and added character that you can only get from an analog format. This combined with the excitement of buying a new record and putting it on the turntable for the first time is something tactile that you can’t get from streaming music.

You also don’t have to worry about ads or any of the other irritations that streaming services force on you unless you pay for their premium service.

Another reason to buy vinyl is because covers can also function as artwork. This applies to the front and back covers of a record, as well as the inside of the cover on certain albums. The records themselves have also become pieces of art. Along with the traditional black vinyl, you can get vinyl in other colors, translucent vinyl and vinyl with designs printed on them. This has led to people using records not just for music, but also for decorative purposes.

The final reason you should consider buying vinyl is because it can help support artists and local record stores. Artists make fractions of a cent from steaming services, with Spotify giving them $0.00318 per stream, which their label gets a cut of. Vinyl royalties are complicated, but artists can make from nothing to $3 per record or CD sold, and this number can be even higher depending on the deal they have with their label.  If they are independent and handle their own record sales, that gives them an even larger cut. This also helps local record stores keep around 35% of the cost of the records for themselves, which helps support a local business.

But most of all, vinyl offers a unique sensory experience in an age in which everything seems locked behind a screen. Records give us a break from our screens, they give us great music and they help support the artists we love. It’s no surprise to see why records have become so popular among my generation, and they should only become more popular as time goes on.

Thomas Bakula, of New Britain, is a junior majoring in communication at Central Connecticut State University.