News

Anyone who thinks I am somehow at the heart of the vinyl revival is truly mistaken!

I've never thought I was, so I'm never disappointed, or have my feelings hurt when something like this happens but here's what happened: I got an email from a reader in The Netherlands telling me about a new pressing plant opening in Brooklyn, New York, about which I knew nothing.

Brooklyn Vinyl Works is the brainchild of Will Socolov who recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter with this press release:

"Music industry impresario Will Socolov is building a new record pressing plant in Brooklyn, New York City. Currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, Brooklyn Vinyl Works will restore out of service presses to run a 24-hour manufacturing plant that will include a glass wall through which visitors can watch the records being made in person.

Responding to the high demand and increased turn-around times for vinyl manufacturing in the industry, the new plant has turned to Kickstarter for help. Having already secured the location, Brooklyn Vinyl Works is now seeking funding for a number of factory specifics (new boiler, shrikwrap machine, hydraulics) as well as for the acquisition and restoration of additional record presses."

This is more than a pipe dream because the plant appears either already up and running or close to being up and running. The company will dedicate itself to helping smaller indie labels and artists at a time when the majors are starting to hog press time.

This is particularly annoying to me because I remember when then MCA (then Universal, now UMe) planned to close down its profitable Gloversville, NY pressing plant. I told whoever it was I got to talk to (can't remember) "You'll regret doing this! In ten years you'll need a pressing plant!" They laughed at me and shut it down, putting out of work dozens of loyal and experienced people. It did improve the corporation's bottom line for at least the next year.

They sold the presses to United in Nashville, which is now restoring and installing them in a second building but the Gloversville plant was pressing great 180s when it was shut. One reason was that Sundazed's Bob Irwin lived close by in Coxsackie, NY and he was helping them to improve pressing quality. What will we get from URP? We'll soon find out.

I also visited in the early 1990s with Sterling Sound's Greg Calbi and record producer Craig Street, Specialty Records in Olyphant, PA, which was owned by Warner Brothers. It too was a well run vinyl pressing plant that had expanded to cover DVD and CD production. I gave them the same advice but they closed down the record pressing division to make room for more DVD production (insert collective laugh here).

Learn more about Brooklyn Vinyl Works' and its Kickstarter campaign here.