Are Vinyl Records Still Available?

In an era of internet and digital music downloads, one wonders: are vinyl records still available? Do people even buy them anymore?

According to 2014 sales data, sales of vinyl albums hit a record high in 2014, with sales numbers reaching 9.2 million for the year. This is the most vinyl albums sold since sales monitoring began in 1991.

At just 6 percent, vinyl record sales are still a very small percentage of all album sales. What's surprising is that instead of vinyl sales falling, they have been on the rise. Vinyl record sales have risen more than 50% from 2013 to 2014. Meanwhile, consumers seem to be paying less for digital albums and songs and more for song streams as of 2014.

More about music mediums:

• Vinyl records began to be produced in 1943. Before then, shellac discs were used which were too fragile and broke easily.
• The cassette tape entered the music industry and became mainstream in 1964, costing less than vinyl records.
• The first music CD was released in Japan in 1982. One million CD players were sold within three years of the CD's release in the music market.