Two New Vinyl Pressing Plants to Open in USA

Back in April, music lovers around the world once again celebrated Record Store Day, and once again the distraught cries of label owners grew louder, as their release schedules were disrupted by overbooked pressing plants struggling to keep up with demand.

Hoping to cash in on vinyl’s second wind, two new pressing plants are now set to open in the United States, where less than 20 pressing plants are currently active. Oregon-based, Cascade Record Pressing, and Burlington Record Plant in Vermont, have reportedly recovered old equipment from Canada and Germany respectively. ““They don’t make them anymore,” said Justin Crowther of the Burlington plant (pictured top-left), in an interview with Vermont Public Radio. “They haven’t made a press since, I think, the early 1970s. You get what you can get and rebuild them.”

Despite the high demand for records, setting up a pressing plant is an highly expensive and risky business. With vinyl still only making up a small percentage of global music sales, and streaming services becoming evermore popular, it begs the question, will the vinyl hype remain long enough for us to even feel the benefit of new plants?