Jose Rodriguez EDINBURG – According to the Vinyl Alliance, 76% of Gen-Z Students buy vinyl records once a month and 29% said they are passionate collectors.
Local Pharr record store Pharr Out Records has sold vinyl and VHS tapes for three years and have been doing pop-ups for 10 years.
Isaac and Jade Herrera, co-owners of Pharr Out Records, said they have noticed an increase in visits within the younger demographic.
Jade Herrera said the spike in interest was because modern artists started releasing their music on vinyl.
“You know, right now, [with] everything you need an app, or you need to download something [or] pay for something, but it’s temporary,” Jade Herrera said. “So, something physical, something that they can show in their bedroom [or] on their social media page and it’s theirs. So, I think that’s definitely one of the biggest factors.”
Isaac Herrera spoke about ownership when it came to purchasing vinyl and other physical media such as CD’s and DVD’s.
Isaac Herrera expressed his concerns with online platforms removing content from their sites.
“It’s kind of like a double-edged sword,” Isaac Herrera said. “People love just the idea of coming into a record store, looking for music, exploring new music, but also finding that album that means a lot to you. And then, once you buy it, it’s yours forever.”
Ricardo Rios, a mass communications junior, shared the same sentiment about ownership of media with his vinyl and CD collection.
Rios collects vinyl and CD’s of his favorite artists and has shopped at pop-ups and record stores such as Pharr Out Records and likes to support local businesses and his favorite artists.
“Like there’s nobody, like holding you back on that,” Rios said. “So, it feels good to have the media on you. And you also have, like, history, just in case it gets, like, thrown” said Rios, “off the Earth or something, I don’t know, you have that piece on you and it holds the value.”
Isaac and Jade Herrera said the return of physical media isn’t a trend because consumers want to support artists and have something that can hold in their hands.
