A record is a recorded sound medium. It's a vinyl disc (usually 7 or 12 inches) with tiny grooves on it that can be played with a turntable. As the needle of the turntable passes through the grooves on the record, the needle vibrates and those vibrations are amplified to recreate the sound pressed on the record. Records were popular from their introduction up through the mid-80's when CDs came out, but have recently come back into fashion with the popularity of DJs.