A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), often simply record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. At first, the discs were commonly made from shellac; starting in the 1940s polyvinyl chloride became common. In the mid-2000s, gradually, records made of any material began to be called vinyl records, or simply vinyl.
