I'm not a vinyl guy and those of you that are may be already be familiar with this , but you may want to check out Julie Mullins Re-Tales in this month's Stereophile. In it she details vinyl pressing capacity expansions and/or start-ups in the U.S. in Memphis, Nashville, Denver, & Minneapolis. I'll leave it at that and allow you to read the article if it is of interest to you.
"A Pressing Matter"
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Expansion in the vinyl market isn't surprising to me. The pressing factories are going on 110% capacity and it's still not enough. As for what I have heard, many artists are often forced to search for a spot all across Europe. I expect the situation is the same across the pond.
What’s interesting is I wonder if we are about to see a pop of the pressing bubble.
There is likely to be a lot more excess capacity now that there aren’t entire plants turning out copies of the latest Taylor Swift or Adele album, especially now that Targets seem to have the same forty or so copies of each lying around.
There is likely to be a lot more excess capacity now that there aren’t entire plants turning out copies of the latest Taylor Swift or Adele album, especially now that Targets seem to have the same forty or so copies of each lying around.
I don't think vinyl market growth will stop or even slow down. When people took an interest in LPs a few years ago, they started their collections. I believe that vinyl will stay with us for a long time. Hard to say that about CDs, though, as this market s getting smaller year by year.
Not sure why the new capacity as stated above would be coming on line if that is the case
Lag time.
New facilities were funded and construction began when vinyl sales were growing by double digit amounts each year.
By the time the facilities are ready to open, there's excess capacity because multiple plants aren't busy churning out a million copies of Taylor Swift or Adele's new release.
I know Target stores around me have had multiple TS titles on sale for half off and still have 10+ copies of each on the shelf.
I'd hope that these folks have a better grip on their business and the market place than you are effectively giving them credit for; and according to these extracts from the link below capacity is well below demand. Guess we'll see what happens.
"The global capacity for manufactured vinyl albums currently sits at 160 million, yet the demand is estimated at more than double that at 320 to as much as 400 million."
"Back in the good old days of vinyl pressing, the wait time for manufacturing was 2 to 3 months. Now it can be anywhere form 10 to 12 months."
"The global capacity for manufactured vinyl albums currently sits at 160 million, yet the demand is estimated at more than double that at 320 to as much as 400 million."
"Back in the good old days of vinyl pressing, the wait time for manufacturing was 2 to 3 months. Now it can be anywhere form 10 to 12 months."
Vinyl demand is skyrocketing, and production can't keep up - Hypebot
The resurgence in vinyl’s popularity among music industry enthusiasts is old news by this point, however new data shows that the demand has become so great, that manufacturing will likely. Continue reading
www.hypebot.com
This is the exact info I'm hearing from my colleagues in the vinyl industry. Long queue times and production capacity at maximum.I'd hope that these folks have a better grip on their business and the market place than you are effectively giving them credit for; and according to these extracts from the link below capacity is well below demand. Guess we'll see what happens.
"The global capacity for manufactured vinyl albums currently sits at 160 million, yet the demand is estimated at more than double that at 320 to as much as 400 million."
"Back in the good old days of vinyl pressing, the wait time for manufacturing was 2 to 3 months. Now it can be anywhere form 10 to 12 months."
Vinyl demand is skyrocketing, and production can't keep up - Hypebot
The resurgence in vinyl’s popularity among music industry enthusiasts is old news by this point, however new data shows that the demand has become so great, that manufacturing will likely. Continue readingwww.hypebot.com
Yes, unless sales gains plateau.
Target has been regularly blowing out LPs at half off.
Barnes & Noble’s vinyl section is drastically smaller than it was a year ago as is Urban Outfitters’.
Walmart has a larger section but they always seem to have the same titles indicating they aren’t seeing inventory turnover.
I don’t think vinyl sales are shrinking per se, but rather even the analysts are saying sales of catalog titles have plateaued and it’s only new releases that are selling in number.
We’ll see what happens; no one in any bubble believes there is one until it pops.
I do hope the capacity increases reduce the backlog, I just hope there is continuing demand to keep the presses busy; you can only buy Purple Rain so many times.
Target has been regularly blowing out LPs at half off.
Barnes & Noble’s vinyl section is drastically smaller than it was a year ago as is Urban Outfitters’.
Walmart has a larger section but they always seem to have the same titles indicating they aren’t seeing inventory turnover.
I don’t think vinyl sales are shrinking per se, but rather even the analysts are saying sales of catalog titles have plateaued and it’s only new releases that are selling in number.
We’ll see what happens; no one in any bubble believes there is one until it pops.
I do hope the capacity increases reduce the backlog, I just hope there is continuing demand to keep the presses busy; you can only buy Purple Rain so many times.
I wouldn't take notice of vinyl being sold at outlets like Barnes and Noble, or Walmart as it is definitely NOT AAA. If a law was passed which mandated listing SPARS code on every pressing, and the above venues started selling modern singers SPARS AAA, then I would be very interested. I understand that record companies like Sony (who made $billion's with digital and CDs) might not want to do that as it costs much more to master quality analogue records, but I believe LP sales would rise reflectively.
My experience with vinyl sales says otherwise. Most customers aren't audiophiles. They have simple turntables, and they wouldn't even tell the difference. This is what the majority of vinyl buyers look like... We are in the minority, so why would record companies do something expensive to appeal to the minority?
It is because the vast majority of the young groovers buying vinyl these days have never heard a quality AAA pressing playing on a well-set up system. If they did, consumer demand hopefully make the record industry reconsider.
How to introduce the masses of groovers to such is another question. I tried to talk a national wine distributor to opening a tasting room in Norwich (my local city) using automatic dispensers and a sub-contractor to clean and provide munchies. I offered to set up my system in the wine bar, come in and play two sides of two records in the afternoon, and perhaps three again in the evening, asking nothing in return, and turning it into a listening bar, but they weren't interested (albeit just after lockdown during Covid epidemic).
Fortunately, there are a few specialist outlets still pressing high quality D2D or AAA records for die-hards like me, but it does sadden me that the golden days of (pure analogue) records is pretty much over.
Excellent point about young people. They didn't hear that, but also they would rather spend money on travelling, education and cars. It's the older, more accomplished people who usually start playing with Hi-Fi.
Hopefully, that wine bar is still open. Maybe they would reconsider now?
The vinyl revival is not a sound quality affair, it is mainly a social and ritualistic movement. Fortunately, otherwise it would end very soon ...
When masses want high quality sound they would go digital. Just see the example of Taiko Audio - more than one hundred expensive servers sold to WBF members.
It does sadden me more that the recording industry does not sell a few of the great recordings of the past is DSD128 dubs ...
The great recordings of the past are something of the past - it is known that current labor laws and recording costs would not allow for the repetition of such events. But IMHO top digital recording of the past, although surely different, are at the same level. But yes, I love real steam trains!
The vinyl revival is not a sound quality affair, it is mainly a social and ritualistic movement. Fortunately, otherwise it would end very soon ...
Honestly, I couldn't disagree more.
I don't play vinyl for the ritual or the expense, I play it when nothing sounds better.
Digital is getting better, to be sure, but there is still something about truly good vinyl playback that digital hasn't quite exceeded as of yet.
That may just be me, but it's why I go through the hassle (there, I said it) of playing LPs.
You are not part of the majority I was addressing. In fact I do not expect anyone reading WBF to be part of it. Most of the people involved in the vinyl revival are not experienced audiophiles, just music lovers with a cheap turntable.
Can you tell me a few tittles of what you consider truly good current vinyl recordings?
Well, it makes at less two of us!
But I only buy vinyl now very exceptionally - my last vinyl aquisitions boxes were Deutsche Grammophon limited LP edition boxes, such as direct cuts - I could not resist. But I accept it is mostly for the ritual, not just for the sound.
My confident level is not to the point "truly good". But I could name a few out of my head. 1) Seong-Jin Cho, Mozart Piano Concerto #20, Deutsche Grammophon. 2) John Williams in Vienna, DG. 3) Christian McBride Trio, Live at the Village Vanguard. 4) John Williams with Sophie Mutter other album that is not 2) I dont recall the exact name.
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