National Vinyl Record Day

National Vinyl Record Day is organized by (you guessed it) the National Vinyl Record Day Company – a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing the preserving vinyl music, its culture, art, and sound. Whilst you could dust off some old vinyl records, you may be surprised to find many modern artists producing music in vinyl format to provide a richer, more immersive experience.

Learn about National Vinyl Record Day

National Vinyl Record Day celebrates the good old way of playing our favorite tracks! In recent years, vinyl has undergone a bit of a renaissance. As CD sales fall, more people are embracing the vintage vinyl, offering a unique playing experience and becoming a statement piece in any home. Whether you have a collection of vinyl or you’ve never heard music played on one before, National Vinyl Record Day gives you the perfect excuse to enjoy music in a classic form. It’s a day that is about listening to all types of music on vinyl records.

If you are lucky enough to have a vinyl record player and a collection of vinyl records, you should make sure you give them a little bit of extra TLC on this day! There are a number of things that you can do to protect your vinyl records and make sure they last as long as possible. This includes cleaning your records before you play them, cleaning the stylus, keeping the vinyl itself clean and storing your records correctly. A little bit of love and care can go a very long way when it comes to protecting valuable vintage classics like vinyl records.

History of National Vinyl Record Day

Before we can delve deeper into the history of National Vinyl Record Day, we first need to understand the history of the vinyl. Vinyl records are also known as gramophone records and phonograph records. This is a method for storing music that involves the use of a flat disc that has a modulated spiral and inscribed groove. The groove tends to begin near the periphery, ending close to the disc’s center. In the beginning, shellac was typically used to make these discs. However, polyvinyl chloride became the most popular choice throughout the ‘40s, and this is how the name vinyl came about. Once we reached the mid-2000s, though, it did not really matter what material was used; records were simply called vinyl or vinyl records.

You may be wondering when this journey started. Well, it was a long time ago! Back in 1857, the phonautograph was patented by Leon Scott. This used a stylus and vibrating diaphragm so that sound waves could be graphically recorded as tracings on sheets of paper. This was not for the intention of playing them back at the time, though. It was purely for visual analysis. In fact, it was not until 2008 that phonautograms of speech and singing that were made by Scott in the 1860s were played back as sound!

The phonograph was then invented by Thomas Edison in 1877. What made this different to the phonautograph was the fact that it could actually record sound and reproduce it. Although the names are very similar, there is no evidence that Edison’s creation was based on Scott’s in any way.

So, now that you know more about vinyl records, what about the day itself? We have Gary Freiberg of Los Osos, California, to thank for National Vinyl Record Day. He chose the date to commemorate the day the phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877. On National Vinyl Record Day, Gary encourages everyone to remember the good things in life and to look back on fond memories, especially vinyl records. When you think of it from this perspective, you see how it is a day that we can all enjoy, no matter whether you are a big music fan or not.

How to celebrate National Vinyl Record Day

The most obvious way to celebrate National Vinyl Record Day is by listening to a vinyl record! If you have a vinyl record player at home, this date gives you the perfect excuse to make the best use of it. If you don’t, fear not; you can head down to your local music store, browse their vinyl selection, and request a few tunes! We are sure that your local music store owner will be more than happy to oblige, especially on National Vinyl Record Day of all days!

If you are lucky enough to own a vinyl player, you could treat yourself to something new to enhance the playing experience on National Vinyl Record Day. For example, you may decide that today is the day to upgrade your turntable. This is one of the best ways to make your records sound better and to protect your vinyl investment. This is especially the case if your current turntable is well past its sell-by-date or you have an entry-level record player. Don’t worry, though; you are not going to need to spend a fortune to upgrade. If you spend some time doing a little bit of doing online, you will see that there are some great bargains available.

If you are thinking about starting your own vinyl collection on National Vinyl Record Day, it is worth doing some digging to find out more about the best vinyl records out there. There are so many incredible vinyl records that you can use to start your collection. This includes Blondie – Parallel Lines, Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger, The Who – Live At Leeds, Radiohead – OK Computer, Amy Winehouse – Back To Black, Pearl Jam – Ten, Pixies – Surfer Rosa, Nirvana – Nevermind, AC/DC – Back In Black, and Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique. Trust us; we could have kept going and going! These records all sound amazing on vinyl, and you can find plenty of reviews online if you want to add some other vinyl records to your collection on this date.

Finally, why not use National Vinyl Record Day as an opportunity to learn more about vinyl records? There are lots of interesting stats and stories out there if you do some digging online. For example, did you know that the biggest vinyl record collection on file had over one million LPs? Or, did you know that a Velvet Underground record fetched in $25,000, making it one of the most expensive ever sold? Spend a little bit of your time learning more about this classic musical medium on this date. You may learn a few surprising things along the way!