Vinyl thrives at United Record Pressing as the nation's oldest record maker plays a familiar tune

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- During nan six decades since United Record Pressing stamped retired the Beatles’ first U.S. single, nan country’s oldest vinyl grounds shaper has survived 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, Napster, iPods and streaming services. Now, nan Nashville-based institution has rebounded truthful dramatically that immoderate of its instrumentality and exertion has been retrofitted to support gait pinch an ever-growing request for old-school vinyl.

The 75-year-old institution has adjusted its business from filling jukeboxes to helping DJs rotation and stocking shelves contempt a pandemic. On shelves successful its storage are maestro versions by Johnny Cash, Kanye West and The Black Crowes.

When Mark Michaels bought nan institution successful 2007, vinyl was fading — its 38 labor mostly made singles for rap artists, often promos for clubs. Michaels wanted a hands-on chance to build a business and thought he could support this 1 steady, but not turn it substantially. It besides came pinch a rich | history arsenic nan first grounds pressing works successful nan South, including an flat atop nan mill that housed Black artists and euphony executives during segregation.

“You walked into this building and you conscionable felt 50, 60 years of history and conscionable nan value of what it stood for," said Michaels, nan company's CEO and chair. “And yeah, you you get choked up, you get gooseflesh conscionable experiencing that.”

Today, United Record Pressing runs a newer mill six times bigger than what Michaels bought, pinch astir 125 labor who dress up to 80,000 records a day.

A assortment of factors person boosted vinyl successful caller years, from independent artists insisting connected vinyl albums to large container retailers getting connected committee again.

In 2023, U.S. revenues from vinyl records grew 10% to $1.4 billion, nan 17th-straight twelvemonth of growth, according to nan Recording Industry Association of America. Records accounted for 71% of revenues from non-digital euphony formats, and for nan 2nd clip since 1987, vinyl outpaced CDs successful full sold.

United Record Pressing underwent its ain evolution. The first pressing works was formed successful 1949 by Nashville explanation Bullet Records. In nan 1950s, it changed to Southern Plastics Inc. and focused connected 7-inch singles preferred by jukebox makers.

In nan early 1960s, nan institution was pressing much than 1 cardinal records per month. It signed a woody to nutrient singles for Motown Records and moved to a bigger installation that included nan flat that hosted The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and others — and which became known arsenic nan “Motown Suite.” In 1963, it pressed nan Beatles' first U.S. single, “Please Please Me.” Then successful nan 1970s, a restructuring turned nan institution into United Record Pressing.

During nan 1980s, records dwindled to a niche market. DJs still needed records for their turntables. Rap and hip-hop artists utilized them for “scratching.” But CDs had overtaken them.

By nan precocious 2000s, indie artists were insisting connected releasing vinyl records. By 2015, records were broadly embraced again, but location were fewer manufacturers, and they were relying connected presses from nan 1960s and 1970s and a constricted number of specialists who could run them, Michaels said. Demand accrued again during nan coronavirus pandemic.

“It's art,” Michaels said of vinyl records. “Artists and fans, they want thing tactile to clasp connected to and prosecute with. It’s easy to watercourse music, and streaming euphony is simply a awesome measurement to observe caller music. But you know, astatine nan extremity of nan day, it’s benignant of sonic wallpaper.”

Today, nan mill mixes aged and new.

There's plentifulness of wood paneling connected nan throwback audio instrumentality utilized to trial maestro versions of records earlier they are utilized to property copies. And nan mill level has its stock of retrofitted pressing instrumentality that looks and sounds for illustration it's been astir since nan past clip vinyl ruled nan market.

Technology is improving nan process, too. Beyond nan older presses are sleek, recently made machines that plop retired records much softly and efficiently. And location are immense sacks of colorful pebbles from discarded worldly that tin beryllium pressed again into caller records.

The machines that stamp maestro copies usage exertion that had been successful spot to nutrient CDs and DVDs, now retooled for vinyl.

In a room farther backmost successful nan factory, nan whizzing of machinery gives measurement to music.

That's wherever Tyler Bryant mightiness perceive to 10 records successful a displacement arsenic nan company's value power lead. Talking complete nan rhythms of harmonica from a Cash album, Bryant said he discovers galore artists and records that wouldn't beryllium connected his list, ranging from Harry Styles to Beyoncé's “Cowboy Carter” to indie artists.

“A batch of variety, that's what I appreciate,” Bryant said. “I don't for illustration being stuck to conscionable 1 genre, you know?”

A fewer miles away, architects and a building unit are astatine activity to sphere nan aged 1962 works and pave nan measurement for its future. As for what that will look like, Michaels says enactment tuned.

“My imagination is not wholly crystallized yet, but nan instruction is, it’s immoderate of nan astir important abstraction successful each of music,” Michaels said. “It needs to beryllium celebrated. It needs to beryllium thing that group tin prosecute with.”