Gold Rush: Inside The Newest Vinyl Pressing Plant In Texas

In the heart of Texas, the old industry is booming again. There is only one word to explain it. It is a gold rush. This is not a reference to physical precious metals, but the name of the latest vinyl press factory in Austin.

Gold Rush was founded by former Google executives and band managers Caren Kelleher and was designed to take advantage of the global capability of creating the newest album of the highest level since Nelson began tracking in the early 1990s It is. Kelleher's clothes currently produce 8 million LPs annually, but this can be expanded to 6 million copies.

"The normal turnaround time is an average of 4 to 6 months," she said. "Our factory will be completed in four to six weeks."

Earlier this year, Kelleher took us to visit her facility. Please check the above video for full experience

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According to Billboard 's article, the latest news about records is that Third Man Records record production facility will open in Detroit on February 25. It is natural for a third party and other organizations to set up a tight factory. Strict production capacity has hindered vinyl sales and distribution for a long time. Retailers have a title that delays are delayed. Delay - "My title was hit by several super stars related to vinyl" - created unnecessary uncertainty. Consumers can not get the title they want. Opportunities I missed

This moment should remind the music industry that not all records are the same, but the opportunity to make a better market segment. The factory has already handled reprints, first prints, independent prints, special editions and mass market products. In these categories, as is pursued by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, there is space in homemade vinyl, not quantitative production, rather than quality rather than quality. There are space for fans who want to enjoy music for the first time, people who are sensitive to trends, collectors for beginners and children.

Process It is really difficult to suppress a wonderful vinyl record. In addition, we are losing proficiency in the art of the opponent. Many "old timers" who operated large crushers in the 1950's / 60's / 70's disappeared and retired. We have to relearn vinyl art again. Furthermore, since there was no new equipment since the 1980's, we have used the equipment decades ago until recently. In addition, most records are learned from digital files. When you press a new vinyl it is most likely to hear that equivalent to CD is transferred to vinyl. Crafts of the 1970s. If you want to hear a wonderful vinyl press sound, I encourage you to buy and listen to some raw pressure from 1973 to 1983. In the meantime, almost all of the recorded sounds were wonderful. That is the top of vinyl as a medium. I do not know whether we will go back to that quality level beyond the pressures of boutiques and fans.