PORTLAND, maine — Think Katy Perry and vinyl, and a hip-hugging dress might come to mind.
The 27-year-old pop artist is among musicians going old school — releasing music on pressed vinyl records to help celebrate Record Store Day.
Perry, who’s too young to have thumbed through 45-rpm singles when she was a girl, joins an eclectic mix that includes David Bowie, Paul McCartney, the Misfits, White Stripes, the late James Brown and the Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends with special vinyl releases to celebrate the hometown record store today.
All of that vinyl — more than 300 offerings — represents a bright spot for the roughly 2,000 indie music retailers facing stiff competition from online music sales and streaming music services.
“There would be fewer stores, if it wasn’t for the resurgence of vinyl,” said Chris Brown from Bull Moose, a chain of 10 stores in Maine and New Hampshire, who hatched the idea for Record Store Day.
Last year, vinyl album sales grew 39 percent, with about 3.9 million albums being sold, and sales are up about 10 percent so far this year, according to Nielsen Soundscan. The Associated Press
