Several artists ranging from Billie Eilish, 19, to Jimi Hendrix, who died in 1970, are releasing material on vinyl this Friday to mark "Record Store Day." Other artists include Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne and U2.
At Record Town in Fort Worth, Owner Gerard Daily says records have been making a comeback. Last year, they outsold CDs.
"Everything's coming back. People can't find enough old equipment to buy," he says. "All the repair people are backed up. It's made a huge comeback."
Dagger Records released Hendrix's concert in Paris in 1967 on vinyl for the first time. Daily says people are returning to vinyl because it has a more "authentic" sound.
"You can tell there's a difference there," he says. "Especially if you have a stereo that has tubes in it, if you crank it, you can hear the difference. That's for sure."
"I think the sound is better because it's more holistic," says Record Town customer Ron Dempesmeier. "There are no gaps that you get with digital sampling."
Dempesmeier says he's glad to see more college students coming to the store.
"It's really amazing when you see young kids who like music older than me," he says. "It's great, though. There's good modern music, but I prefer the stuff from the '60s and '70s. That's my wheelhouse."
Daily says the increase in record sales has also led to an increase in demand for record players. He says many popular department stores have started selling record players again.
Record Town is the oldest record store in North Texas, opening in 1957. The store was originally near the TCU campus before moving to Fort Worth's Near Southside.
"There would be kids coming over to look at the school. They would come in the store and go, 'Wow, it's a record store.' Their mom and dad would be like, 'Wow, it's an antique store.' No, if you pay attention, you can see record players are being sold again. They've certainly made a big comeback," Daily says.
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