As CD sales continue to decline, a resurgence of vinyl record sales have proven to be a small ray of hope to the music industry.

According to the 2008 Nielsen Soundscan, 1.88 million vinyl records were sold in 2008, compared to 990,000 in 2007, an increase of 89 percent. During that same time, combined sales of CDs, LPs and digital files fell by 14 percent. Vinyl long play and extended play records were the only non-digital music sales that went up in 2008, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

In early November of this year, vinyl record sales exceeded 2 million for the year. That number is up 37 percent from the same time last year, according to Billboard.biz.

Guestroom Records, a music store with locations in Norman and Oklahoma City, makes about one-half of its sales in vinyl, co-owner Travis Searle said.

One factor driving the resurgence of vinyl is a new tendency of record labels to include a CD or digital download of the album with the vinyl. About nine out of 10 new albums come with this access to a digital copy, Searle said.

The average Guestroom Records buyer is in his or her early 20s to mid-30s, Searle said, but record collectors come in all ages. Searle has seen people as young as eight and as old as 80 buy albums on vinyl.

Sound quality is a major factor for many audiophile record collectors.

“It sounds so much crisper to me than a CD,” said Will Mitas, letters senior. “[It’s] more like I’m at a concert.”

Mitas has been collecting records since his girlfriend bought him a turntable during his sophomore year of high school. Since then, his collection has grown to around 100 record albums.

“There’s a certain mood transferred over vinyl ... The crackle of the needle on the record is a nostalgic aspect of it,” Mitas said.

Searle said listening to a vinyl album is a more engaging experience than listening to a CD or an album on a computer. The album must be removed from its sleeve and flipped halfway through. The listener also has to switch discs on double albums.

“It’s an active listening experience as opposed to a passive one,” he said.

Searle said record collecting can either be a cheap or very expensive hobby.

“You can get a great big stack of vinyls for $500, or you can get a miniscule stack, it all depends on what you want,” Searle said.

There can be a major difference in the cost of albums, even within the same genre and time-period. Classic rock albums from second and third-tier artists can be found used for between $1 and $5. Bigger artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd usually cost more, Searle said.

Guestroom Records offers used vinyls for $3 and less. These albums are either store duplicates, haven’t sold, or have condition issues, Searle said.

While some new vinyl albums are priced comparably to their CD counterparts, most albums are more expensive on vinyl. Some albums are only $1 or $2 more, but some are double the cost of the same CD, something Searle said makes them harder to sell.

“It’s hard to convince people to spend twice as much money,” he said.

On Amazon.com, an MP3 download of the “Twilight: New Moon” soundtrack is $8.99. The same album on vinyl is $27.53.

Searle said there is just something different about owning a vinyl compared to owning an iTunes download.

“It seems like if you spend money on something you should get something out of it,” he said. “With records you actually have something. The difference is whether you want to own it or have a file on your computer.”

Some albums have parts that can’t be heard on their CD releases, Mitas said. For example, the end of The Beatles’ “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” has a number of strange sounds, including a dog whistle. Those sounds can’t be heard on the CD, Mitas said.

“Being able to sit down and actually hear everything you’re supposed to hear — it’s pretty cool,” Searle said.