The resurgence of the LP can't be attributed solely to sound quality, but that's a big part of it. Album cover art is what initially attracted Barstow to LPs, but the real spell was cast when he got his hands on a phonograph and played a record.

"There's a lot of great digital formats you can get music in that I think are just as good as vinyl," Barstow said. "But there's a sound to vinyl that's all its own, and we love the fact that vinyl makes you sit down and listen to the record from beginning to end in the way it was put together.

"There's a visceral and almost spiritual component to it that people pick up on. There's this compelling ritual that started many years ago where you put the record on the turntable, put the needle down, listen, lift the needle up, flip the record over and so on.

"The LP offers music you can touch. I think there's something about vinyl that speaks to our own humanity and experience in a way that no other format for music does."

Barstow said VMP is basically for vinyl enthusiasts and people who love music but don't have time to keep up with it. He and a handful of others spend many hours a day listening to music, old and new, and staying up on the latest sounds being generated in all genres.