"A lot of younger kids are discovering it, and it just blows away the sound of MP3, especially if it's really compressed," said Tom Smith, general manager at the Exclusive Co., 423 Dousman St., Green Bay. Last year, manufacturers shipped 1.3 million vinyl LPs and EPs, a 36 percent increase from 2006, when fewer than 1 million were shipped, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The dollar value of LPs shipped last year was just shy of $23 million, according to that organization. Nearly 450 million CDs were sold last year, versus just less than 1 million LPs, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Based on the first three months of this year, Nielsen says vinyl album sales could reach 1.6 million for 2008. [...] About 5.5 percent of their music sales are vinyl. Smith said he would like to see that number increase to around 8 percent by this time next year.