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Article: Why It's STILL So Hard To Get Records Pressed

MattHooper

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This is an informative article detailing all the current challenges of ramping up vinyl pressing to meet the still growing demand:

 
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MattHooper

MattHooper

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Chrispy

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The sarcastic phrase that's become a blight on the internet.

You aren't forced to read these threads. :)
;)
Nor do you need to pose your particular subjective views? Somewhat goes both ways....and it's only on this forum I've seen it used and for a generally common reason. YMMV.
 
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MattHooper

MattHooper

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Nor do you need to pose your particular subjective views?

I'm not sure what you mean.

Generally I post in threads when I'm interested in the topic or conversing with folks on the topic.

This being the vinyl section of the forum, I'd bet that article will be of interest to some here. If the vinyl manufacturing article is of no interest to you, why not skip it rather than just swoop in for some snark?

It's unfortunate that threads about vinyl here so often go sideways. Entering a thread just to drop sarcastic comments doesn't help things.


Somewhat goes both ways....and it's only on this forum I've seen it used and for a generally common reason. YMMV.

It didn't originate here. And yes that phrase is used here dismissively and typically tinged with insult. It's a passive-aggressive comment that just poisons the well.
The forum is better without that crap.
 

Pe8er

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We need a dislike button!

Also, very interesting article, thank you for sharing.
 
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MattHooper

MattHooper

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We need a dislike button!

Also, very interesting article, thank you for sharing.

Yes it answers the question I've often had and I'm sure many others: Vinyl articles constantly talk about how the demand has been outstripping supply badly for years now. Without knowing all the tech and associated business it leaves one thinking "It seems like such an obvious business opportunity right there. Why the heck aren't some deep pocketed people swooping in to take advantage of this market by opening up new pressing plants?"

I feel much more informed about the answer to that question from that article. The supply chain situation is pretty crazy. (And not just for vinyl manufacturing, obviously).
 

pma

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Contemporary automated press of vinyl record. GZ media, Czech Republic.

59A1D6C5-CD63-4625-BCFD-8CDA6130447D.jpeg
 

Leporello

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Scarcity is actually good for the industry. When production catches up vinyl will become commonplace and its popularity will crash.
 

sq225917

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Scarcity also pushes for better product, as the deluxe sets with more margin get the production time.
 

pma

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Production of vinyl records in GZ Media, Czech Republic (former Gramofonove zavody), 1951 - 2020. In 2020, the number of produced vinyl records was highest ever, in the past 70 years. 39 million pcs.

GZ Media vinyl production.jpg
 
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MattHooper

MattHooper

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Revival of vinyl records helps Universal Music increase revenues to €26.3m​



The directors state that the revenue increase from €22.56m to €26.31m was primarily “due to the significant resurgent growth in the popularity of vinyl records” and to the continued positive growth in subscribers to legal streaming music services.

It seems the vinyl revival has become a source of revenue that some companies can't ignore....
 

Leporello

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It seems the vinyl revival has become a source of revenue that some companies can't ignore....
Since some companies have been releasing vinyl for decades, you just might be stating the obvious. Vast majority of the music buying public has chosen digital, however. Once the vinyl fad is over, things will not look pretty.
 

fpitas

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ASR is always on top of the pressing issues :)
 
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MattHooper

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Since some companies have been releasing vinyl for decades, you just might be stating the obvious. Vast majority of the music buying public has chosen digital, however. Once the vinyl fad is over, things will not look pretty.

LOL, 15 years later on a steep trajectory still only going upward, people are still trying to use the term "fad" for the vinyl resurgence? ;)



Infographic: The Vinyl Comeback Continues | Statista



And sales have soared another 22 % in the first half of 2022, with more records being broken. Taylor Swift alone just sold over 600,000
vinyl albums
on her first release day!

One can perhaps call it a "niche" relative to streaming, but It's far past any reasonable use of the term "fad." And all indicators are the demand is only going up. And...it's not like we are waiting for some new music format to "replace" vinyl, like "soon vinyl will be obsolete!." Those formats have already happened. People have tried the superior, more convenient music technologies, have grown up with them, and yet a significant number are finding vinyl to be a compelling alternative, or compliment to their other ways of consuming music.

Many vinyl nay-sayers truly underestimate the level of enthusiasm among vinyl consumers.

It's like saying "Home baking will disappear soon enough, once people realize you can buy bread at the store!"
 

Robin L

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Since some companies have been releasing vinyl for decades, you just might be stating the obvious. Vast majority of the music buying public has chosen digital, however. Once the vinyl fad is over, things will not look pretty.
I am currently a vinyl agnostic. However, I don't think the resurrection of LPs is a fluke or a fad. CDs sound fantastic (when done right, of course) but the attractions of LPs are not entirely or even mostly sonic. It's the packaging, the physicality of the product and the sense that one "owns" the music.* Even if there's a revival of CDs [less likely] the packing will still suck. Right now, thrift stores and used record stores have an unsaleable glut of $1 to $3 used CDs. And, thanks to streaming sources like YouTube, free digital is everywhere. So, even though I have a long lecture for vinyl buffs about the technical limitations of LPs in general, those arguments would fall on deaf ears.

*The corporations own the music. The LPs and CDs are "borrowed", not owned, by the end user. Ya'll old enough to remember "Home taping is killing the record industry"?
 

Robin L

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It's like saying "Home baking will disappear soon enough, once people realize you can buy bread at the store!"
I love the smell of melting PVC in the morning.
 

MaxBuck

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I don't personally understand why people enjoy vinyl LPs, any more than I understand why they like Marmite, kombucha or mah jongg. But I'd not predict that any of these will inevitably become unpopular among their devotees.
 

mike70

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I think the "problem" in ASR with vinyl is the questioning about rationality. If you're working in a nuclear plant and you don't use rationality in every step you're a fool.

But, music is something for our soul, not our brain (in fact our brain many times cheated us with sound :)).

So, why is so hard to understand that vinyl gives another way to enjoy music? And that some people like it? How many times people bought the best SINAD amplifier only to see that also have great problems with reliability or that the acoustics sucks and doesn't sound better than your 80s nad / Yamaha?

I like digital and analog. I don't restrict my enjoyment with theoretical rules ... science goes further ... acoustics + speakers and modern recordings caveats vanish theoretical rules. Talking about sound quality, a decent LP in a decent system is more than enough.

Talking about the experience listening to music ... well, for me a good seat looking the tonearm running for the groove ... is really special.
 
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