Downloading CD files online and purchasing single songs on iTunes has made it so that one can create an entire music library without even leaving the computer. Even going to the store to buy CDs has practically become a thing of the past. Gone are the days when one had to go to the record store, with cash in hand and buy an actual album to listen to one’s music. Gone are the days when obtaining music was an important, deeply personal matter of careful decision and real thought.

Or are they?According to the Recording Industry Association of America, vinyl sales have doubled since 2000 to become a $110 million industry.

“Vinyl sales have gone up by about half of what they were just a few years ago,” said Mike Eattaglia, Electronica Section Buyer for SF’s Amoeba Music. “At the same time, CD sales have been going down, often at the rate that vinyl has been rising. Even though CDs are more modern, they are dying, not vinyl.”

For those who don’t know, vinyl is the name by which some of us call records, those older, 12-inch grooved discs that were popularized in the time of — and before — our parents. Vinyl became outdated around 1982, when CDs first went on sale and digital recording became the listening medium of choice. Since then vinyl has fallen out of favor with music buyers.

That is, until now. Vinyl has been going through what can only be called a revival. A whole new, thriving vinyl culture has been arising and many more people have been jumping on the bandwagon.

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“Vinyl is just an overall better listening experience for me,” sophomore Avi Jhingan said. “The sound quality is much better. It feels like it’s enveloping you, as opposed to just pumping out from some tinny boombox in the corner. Buying vinyl is also much more exciting for me, because I really have to work to find the exact album I want. After I’ve gone to all that trouble to get a record, I just feel that much closer to the music.”

Ever since vinyl began losing its relevance it has been hard to find stores that carry it. Most chains, such as Borders, Best Buy, Circuit City and Virgin do not carry vinyl, opting instead for more customer-friendly CDs. Some local stores that carry vinyl are Amoeba Music, Aquarius Records, Green Apple Books and Streetlight Records, although none of these are vinyl-only stores. Yet some stores are still able to deal exclusively, or at least mostly, in vinyl. These establishments include Big Al’s Record Barn, Groove Merchant Records, Grooves, Recycled Records, Rooky Ricardo’s Records, Soundworks and Tweekin’ Records.

Due to the absence of vinyl at most stores, the price is higher than that of CDs. A new 12-inch record can cost between $15 and $30, with special editions or rare copies selling at an even higher price. This is a particularly noticeable expense, considering how a new CD at one of these same stores is typically between $10 and $15.

Due to factors such as unavailability and price, vinyl is often thought of as the music medium of more serious listeners, and not just the run-of-the-mill consumer. Listening to vinyl even requires a different sound system than CDs, with good sets of turntables costing upwards of $150.

Upkeep of a vinyl collection also requires constant work because the discs (long-players, better known as LPs) are delicate and easily damaged. If one mishap befalls an LP, the sound quality of that disc will never be the same again.

Because of this, some have turned their back on vinyl and openly embraced digital music. “Vinyl may begin with superior sound, but after you’ve had a disc for a while, it gets destroyed,” senior Alex Lobascio said. “I just got fed up with all the work for nothing. CDs can tolerate way more abuse and hold up longer than vinyl. Plus, when new CDs are just about $10 and I can find what I want within minutes of walking into a store, it’s pointless to buy any other form of music.”

However, vinyl enthusiasts still consider all of the upkeep to still be worth the trouble. “I love my records,” freshman Jennifer Monroe said. “Even though some of the quality may deteriorate over time, the sound is so much better and more organic anyway, that I don’t think it matters. The only problem I have with vinyl is that I can’t put it on my iPod, but I’m dedicated enough to also buy the CDs.”

Vinyl has also played an important role in DJing over the years. Ever since the birth of hip hop, as early as the late ‘70s, DJs have used vinyl to create beats. Groove Merchant Records, on Haight Street, has been a significant Bay Area vendor for the needs of DJs and turntablists ever since it opened in 1989. Beastie Boys immortalized the store on their 1989 album Paul’s Boutique, saying, “This one goes out to my man the Groove Merchant / Coming through with beats for which I been searchin’.”

“Probably as much as 30 percent of my customers are DJs,” said Chris Veltri, the owner of Groove Merchant. Although Veltri says that he has not noticed any increased patronage of his store, he is glad that more people are buying vinyl.

Record companies have been trying to draw more attention to special editions, reissues and exclusives released only on vinyl. For example, Southern Lord Records has been known to go the vinyl-only route, often releasing splits and EPs that way. Even when an album is released both on vinyl and CD, the vinyl issue usually has bonus tracks, different artwork or other exclusives. A recent collaboration between doom metal superpowers Boris and SunnO))), Altar, although put out on both CD and vinyl, was released as a triple LP, with the third disc containing a 28-minute track not available on the CD version. The vinyl also includes a special 14-page color booklet not included with the CD. It is exclusivity like this that has helped keep vinyl profitable.

Labels such as Matador, Thrill Jockey, Hydra Head, Tzadik, Ipecac, Anticon, Definitive Jux and Sub Pop are among the ever-growing list of vinyl-supporters and the music they release has been finding its way into an increasing number of people’s hands.

“I definitely don’t see this as a fad,” said Eattaglia. “The vinyl crowd has just been getting younger and younger. It’s not just the older folks buying it now. And when the generation which was supposed to be raised by technology is instead the one rediscovering older culture, I think that’s very telling.”