Is The Vinyl Resurgence At A Crossroads?

I love vinyl.

Some of my fondest memories include losing myself in the multi-panel artwork of some gatefold sleeve that propelled me into another world where the most amazing sounds rang down from yonder mountains and rock icons walked like giants among microbes.

But do we really need to do another vinyl run of the Doors' Morrison Hotel or Led Zep's Houses of The Holy?

I ask only because I see acres and acres of retail space dominated by used copies of these same titles that can be had for less money than one of those fancy coffee drinks, yet I see NEW vinyl copies of these same titles and have to wonder what's the real motivation behind being asked to pay $23 for a fresh pressing of a 50-year-old album?

On a side note: I was always the student in college who opted not for the new textbooks or reading materials, but those that had a few semesters under their belts. Why crack the spine on a fresh copy of "Catcher In The Rye" when there were plenty of previously-owned copies, each with their own story to tell.

And some even had the answers in 'em.

But, back to the vinyl resurgence: How many times a year do we hear about how every pressing plant is running at full capacity and, as a result, you as an artist or label wind up waiting 4-6 months for your vinyl to arrive after placing the order.

Just another day on the floor at Detroit's Third Man Pressing.

That's a long time to tie up presumably limited funds with zero return on that investment for 16-24 weeks. Some would call it prohibitive, even.

How much of that time at each pressing plant is spent pressing up some old Doors or Led Zep album?

Sub-question: As a pressing plant, which client do you most wish to cater to?

a) The large label that wants 7500 of each 40-year old album they bring to your plant, or

b) The indie label that wants to press 1,500 copies of an Icelandic punk band's first album

The correct answer is "Both", of course, but which do you think they're going to give preferential treatment to when time becomes money?

Anybody looking for a method by which the major labels could almost completely stifle any new music ever making it to vinyl at all, there you have it. By overwhelming every pressing plant with orders they cannot refuse, the bigger labels suck up all the air in the room.

What pressing plant is going to turn down the opportunity to work with a steady client like Interscope or Capitol?

Record Store Day customers lining up outside Piccadilly Records in Manchester UK

Wait, don't all major labels have their own vinyl pressing plants?

No, they do not.

In fact, the majors have been dragging their feet for years regarding the subject of reinvesting in modern vinyl pressing equipment and reopening their long-dormant plants. As a result, they farm their vinyl projects out to one of the 27 current pressing plants in the United States.

For major labels to invest in their own pressing plants again would require actively going out and selling music again, which the industry doesn't seem to be interested in doing at the moment.

It is for this reason that I would suggest that the existing vinyl pressing plants avoid major label clientele at all costs.

What is to be gained for the independent pressing plant beyond a moderate short-term financial windfall and the perceived cache of being able to tout "The Doors" or "Led Zep" as a client.

If one was truly able to see the big picture, they'd realize that it is intrinsic to vinyl's survival that new relationships be cultivated at the indie level because the next big thing isn't going to come from InterSONYScope Records, it's going to come from absolute nowhere and, when you realize that your pressing plant chose a major label rush job over this title and lost the job, the bad PR might just put you out of business.