Across the United States and the southeast, people just like Noah Silver ‘26 have fallen for the retro-vinyl craze. Whether it be young teens itching for nostalgia, or die-hard phonogram fans, original, reprinted, and brand new vinyl records are flying off the shelves.
Silver, a young entrepreneur out of Middle Georgia, has recently opened a physical storefront for his TikTok-famous Depop shop, Vertigo Vinyl, but he has big dreams to open into the live music scene of Macon and Mercer University, as well as expand his already booming internet business.
“Gosh, it’s such a mess in here, everything’s kind of frantic,” Silver said. “All this mess, I hate it honestly, I just need more space.”
Noah Silver '26 poses for a portrait in his new record store on Linden Avenue.
Silver’s current storefront is between the GPB Macon office and the old Indigo Spa, which he wants to convert into part shipping center and part live music venue.
Noah opened his physical storefront on June 10, 2022, but he has been collecting, flipping and selling vinyl since he was a high schooler, visiting record stores in Atlanta. While with his friends, Silver recognized the potential for a successful enterprise.
“The inner businessman in me just started to look at these and be like 'wow that’s kinda rare, I could sell that,' and then I started selling them on Depop and I started getting really good at it,” Silver said. “One of these Depop sellers told me, ‘you should advertise on TikTok and make a website, 'cause it’s doing really well,' and I did that and now it really took off.”
Silver’s TikTok advertisements took off, especially with his popular “pack an order with me” videos. His most popular in this genre is a video in which he packs an order for a customer named Gia, which has over 1.5 million views.
TikTok is on the rise, according to Edison Research’s Infinite Dial. Among U.S. residents 12 years and older, 36% used TikTok in 2022 — up from 23% the year prior.
“I sold 550 Frank Ocean albums in 30 minutes when I restocked it,” Silver said, explaining the success from TikTok and his website. “I have more followers on TikTok than any other record shop in the world, and I appeal to all sorts of audiences.”
The small store on 1305 Linden Ave. in Mercer Village has a variety of genres, including classic and modern artists across rock, pop and hip-hop.
Henry Keating '24 is a Journalism and History student at Mercer. He has worked at The Cluster as SGA correspondent, State and Local News Editor, Managing Editor and now as the Editor-in-Chief. Henry has held internships at the Macon Newsroom, Macon Telegraph, and Greenville Post and Courier. He enjoys backpacking, rom-coms, pottery and photography.
