Vinyl Comes Back Around

At the height of the vinyl industry, over a billion units were being pressed per year in the United States. But, after the advent of the cassette and compact disc, vinyl production numbers dipped down into the hundreds of thousands. Now that vinyl "is back", and production figures are back up in the millions, what does this mean for the music industry, exactly? For major labels, and their high-dollar re-issue box sets, it’s been a welcome source of "new" revenue, but for many of the independent labels, that kept the format alive throughout the downturn, this vinyl resurgence has resulted in longer wait times and lower quality product -- at a time when demand for their product has never been higher.

In this episode, we visit the newest, and only, record pressing plant in the Northwest, Cascade Record Pressing, and talk to the owners (Adam Gonsalves, Amy Dragon, and Mark Rainey) about the niche they hope to fill in this exploding market, and how they hope to live through their experiences as label owners and master engineers. After that Portia speaks with one of the founders of Record Store Day, Michael Kurtz, who's organization is often credited with starting the vinyl resurgence. Finally, Portia talks with Darius Van Arman of Secretly Canadian about what the shift to a global release date means for U.S. retail stores that are trying to keep up with this new, increased demand for vinyl.