Encore: Record Sales Continue to Climb in US, Illinois

According to Nielsen Soundscan, a company that tracks the sale of music in the US, vinyl sales are up by more than 30% over this time last year; more than two million vinyl albums have sold in 2013. Nielsen says their data shows that vinyl sales started climbing in 2007 and have kept on going ever since. Interesting considering music hasn’t been released solely on vinyl albums for decades... This hour on Focus, we’ll talk about the resurgence of records and record stores and will talk about what makes old-fashioned records so appealing in an era largely defined by digital culture.

Greg Kot, music critic for the Chicago Tribune and co-host of the podcast “Sound Opinions,” Jenn Pelly of Pitchfork and Jeff Brandt, the owner of Exile on Main Street in Champaign join us. Maybe you didn’t grow up in the vinyl era but still enjoy listening to albums. What is the appeal?