**The Isle of Wight County Press is partnering with Christ the King College in Newport to give young reporters the chance to find out what journalism is all about. We hope you enjoy their stories.

With UK sales of vinyl records at their highest since 1990, record shops on the Isle of Wight say they are having a bumper year.

Newport’s Sounds Great, located in the High Street, sells vintage music, including a selection of popular records from the past.

The nostalgic sentiment of the shop includes a selection of vintage guitars.

Paul Smith opened the record store nine months ago after being inspired by his girlfriend’s suggestion that as he enjoys visiting record shops himself, he should open one of his own.

Many of the records sold by Paul feature music from past decades, such as the 60s, 70s and 80s.

However, nationally, the Official Top 40 best-selling vinyl albums of last year show young people appear to be purchasing contemporary music on this old format.

In fact, the Isle of Wight’s very own Wet Leg, who won two Grammys earlier this week, came sixth in the chart.

Read more: 

Who are Wet Leg: from Isle of Wight to Grammy Awards

Isle of Wight band Wet Leg win TWO Grammy Awards

Paul says: "I don’t have a favourite era, I listen to music from pretty much up to the 80s, not much after that, but I like a bit of everything."

My questions mainly revolved around musical preferences, influences and inspirations, in order to see if any of this has impacted the type of music sold at Sounds Great (in terms of musical genres and specific eras).

When I asked Paul which artists influenced him, he referenced several bands and musicians, such as Pink Floyd and Elvis Presley; also stating that he’s a big fan of Elvis, and that in his opinion, when it comes to singers, no one is better. 

Research by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the UK association of independent and major record labels, suggests that almost half of those buying vinyl records in the UK are under the age of 35.

This suggests the future of the many independent record shops on the Isle of Wight looks bright.