Hollywood isn’t the only place where dreams come true, boys and girls! Allow me to introduce y’all to Nashville, Tennessee.
Now, one doesn’t have to be the next aspiring Kasey Musgraves to dig Nashville these days. Oh no! All you gotta do is love vinyl… and absolutely hate how damn long it’s been taking to get a new run of LPs by The Soft Moon or Trust (TRUE LIFE: THIS HAPPENED TO ME) back in stock once the initial five they had at your local record store sold out. (TRUE LIFE: I DON’T KNOW IF THOSE LABELS EVEN USE PRESSING PLANTS IN NASHVILLE, BUT WHATEVER, YOU GET IT.) So, it’s a very beautiful thing indeed that, to meet growing demand for vinyl, Nashville’s United Record Pressing LLC is opening a second location, where they’ll bring 16 magical pressers and create a Narnia’s worth of glorious storage space. United Record Pressing’s original location operates 24 hours a day, six days a week, and is the nation’s largest vinyl pressing plant. United Record Pressing CEO Mark Michaels says he hopes the second location will increase the firm’s production by 30%.
“Our belief is that it’s being driven by the rise in digital,” says Jay Millar, the company’s Director of Marketing. “People who want something tangible and the best sound quality and experience are going to vinyl as opposed to CDs.” And lo, while overall music sales declined 6.1% last year, vinyl sales increased 6.3%. So let’s all sacrifice a goat or two (or just give what you can) in honor of Vinyl, the Savior of the Music Industry. And let’s give a toast of artisinal mead or whatever you cool people are drinking nowadays for a new chapter in the life of United Record Pressing, the company responsible for the first Beatles 7-inch in America, loads and loads of Motown singles, and more. And here’s to getting that new Trust LP back in stock sometime soon.
• United Record Pressing: http://www.urpressing.com
