While technology may be hurting the music industry in some ways, it appears an old school trend may in fact be helping it. Vinyl records are growing at an impressive rate and industry professionals are taking note. According to Nielsen SoundScan, vinyl sales were up 15.4% in 2007 (from the year before) and qualitatively many independent music retailers are reporting that vinyl has become a big hit with their niche consumers. Speaking to this trend, this past fall Amazon.com introduced a vinyl-only store and now offers a lineup of 150,000 records.

Consumers are drawn to vinyl records because they expressly offer everything that MP3s do not. The sound of vinyl is richer and more multi-dimensional than both CDs and digital downloads because compressing audio files gives them a tinny low-resolution quality. And while smaller formats offer the benefit of portability, they lack tangibility. Young music collectors are drawn to the large album format’s cover graphics, sleeve photos, and liner notes as well as the design of the vinyl itself which can be pressed into different shapes (hearts, triangles) and colors (sparkles) to provide a fun and tangible memento of their fandom. The vinyl experience has been touted as the only way to go for audio purists, but for young consumers it also serves as an impetus for social listening gatherings while also making them feel connected to the music artist.

Taking advantage of vinyl’s popularity, labels are increasingly releasing contemporary artists’ albums, such as The Killers, in record format. To make vinyl even more appealing to consumers, labels sometimes offer bonus tracks on records while also including vouchers for audio downloads so that consumers have the high quality music listening experience and the ability to take their music on the go.

And by the way: Joining the ranks of 100-calorie pack food offerings, this year the Girl Scouts will introduce Cinna-Spins, thin yet sweet and buttery cookies which come in a small bag of about 15 and amount to just 100 calories.