The arrival of the compact disc nearly killed record albums, with vinyl pressing machines being sold, scrapped and dismantled by major record companies.
Four decades later, with resurrected record album sales producing double-digit annual growth, manufacturers are rapidly rebuilding an industry to keep pace with sales that hit $1 billion last year.
Dozens of record pressing plants have been built in an attempt to keep up with demand in North America – and it’s still not enough.
The industry “has found a new gear and is accelerating at a new pace,” said Mark Michaels, CEO and president of United Record Pressing, the nation’s largest record producer, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Demand for vinyl records has been growing by double digits for more than a decade, and mass merchants like Target were bolstering their selection of albums just as the pandemic sent a surprising jolt. With music tours canceled and people stuck at home, music lovers started buying record albums at an even faster pace.
Revenue from record album sales grew 61% in 2021 — and hit $1 billion for the first time since the 1980s — far outpacing growth rates from paid music subscriptions and streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
Tyler Bryant listens to finished record albums for defects in a quality control room at the United Record Pressing facility in Nashville, Tenn.
Record albums almost fell into oblivion with sales overtaken by cassettes before compact discs pushed them aside. Then came digital downloads and online piracy, Apple iPods and 99 cent downloads. Streaming services are now ubiquitous.
But nostalgic baby boomers who missed flipping through record albums at their local record stores helped fuel a resurgence in vinyl that began about 15 years ago.
It coincided with the launch of Record Store Day to celebrate independent record stores, said Larry Jaffee, author of “Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century.”
These days, however, it’s not just baby boomers.
A younger generation is buying turntables and albums — and cassettes too — and a new generation of artists like Adele, Ariana Grande and Harry Styles have gone to vinyl, Jaffee noted.
In Pittsburgh, taxi driver Jamila Grady is too young, at 34, to remember the golden age of record stores.
But she finds the records irresistible. She’s created wall art from some of the album covers for nearly 50 albums she’s purchased since 2019, starting with Beyoncé’s “Lemonade.” She admits it’s an indulgence since she already listens to music via Soundcloud, Apple Music and Pandora.
“For record players, there’s something so beautiful about taking the record, putting it on the player and dropping the needle,” she said.
Manufacturers had to start almost from scratch.
Major labels closed their factories a long time ago, but new ones are coming online. Record manufacturers launched in the past 10 to 15 years include Precision Record Pressing of Toronto, Memphis Record Pressing, Gotta Groove Records of Cleveland, and Quality Record Pressing of Kansas.
White Stripes’ Jack White opened his own vinyl pressing plant, Third Man Pressing, in 2017 in Detroit, and has been advocating with major record labels to reopen manufacturing facilities.
There are now around 40 factories in the United States – most of them smaller operations – but challenges remain.
Nationally, backlogs are six to eight months as growing demand and supply chain disruptions for raw materials, including vinyl polymers, have caused issues, Michaels said.
Starting a new pressing plant isn’t easy because there are only a handful of companies – none in the United States – that make record pressing machines. These machines are also out of stock.
People can debate sound quality, but it comes down to emotional reaction, not technical specs, said Bob Ludwig, a multi-Grammy winner who started Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine.
A friend who listened to Ludwig’s remastered version of Queen’s “Night at the Opera” called it “superb” and “electric”.
“I love the vinyl experience. All of it. For me, there’s an electrifying sound when I play records that I don’t feel digital,” said Mark Mazzetti, an independent A&R executive who has worked for Sting, Janet Jackson and others. at A&M Records.
No one knows the ceiling for record growth due to limited supply, said Chris Brown, vice president of finance at Bull Moose Records, a New England record chain.
New releases often fail to keep up with demand, and restocks take even longer, leaving little room for lesser-known eclectic albums, he said.
“Part of the fun of collecting records is being surprised,” he said. “But mid-level stuff is not printed, or there is a long wait.”
Photos: demand for vinyl records still strong
Freshly pressed vinyl records are produced in a die at the United Record Pressing plant in Nashville, Tennessee. The arrival of the compact disc nearly killed record albums. Four decades later, with resurrected record album sales producing double-digit growth, manufacturers are rapidly rebuilding an industry to keep pace with sales that topped $1 billion last year. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Ricky Riehl inspects finished vinyl records for physical defects before they are packaged at the United Record Pressing factory in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
A hockey puck-shaped blob, called a “cookie” and made of heated vinyl pellets, is placed in a press to be made into a vinyl record at the United Record Pressing facility in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
A mix of colored vinyl pellets that will be made into records are stored in a bin at the United Record Pressing facility in Nashville, Tennessee. Colored pellets are used alone or in a variety of combinations to create colored discs in addition to traditional black. vinyl. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Thane Adolf throws black vinyl pellets into a machine that will turn the pellets into hockey puck-shaped “cookies” to make vinyl record albums at the United Record Pressing plant in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Workers operate record pressing machines at the United Record Pressing facility in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Workers operate record pressing machines at the United Record Pressing facility in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Excess vinyl falls into a trash can after being shaved off the edge of a freshly pressed record at the United Record Pressing facility in Nashville, Tennessee. Excess vinyl will be regrinded and used to make more albums. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Mechanical engineer John Arrington weighs a cookie made from heated vinyl pellets as he calibrates one of the machines that form the cookies at the United Record Pressing plant in Nashville, Tennessee. The cookies are then pressed onto vinyl records. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Elijah Lindsay loads finished vinyl records into shipping boxes at the United Record Pressing plant in Nashville, Tennessee. Vinyl record makers are rapidly rebuilding an industry to keep pace with sales that topped $1 billion last year. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Ricky Riehl inspects finished vinyl records for physical defects before they are packaged at the United Record Pressing factory in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Sara Aulidge, left, and Abbey Peterson pull pads, made of nickel and used to press vinyl record albums, from high storage rows for upcoming orders at the United Record Pressing facility in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Abbey Peterson, left, and Sara Aulidge pull pads, made of nickel and used for pressing vinyl record albums, from tall rows of storage for incoming orders at the United Record Pressing facility in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Artwork components such as record sleeves, booklets and cardboard sleeves are stored in a warehouse at the United Record Pressing facility in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)