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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – In the six decades since United Record Pressing stamped the Beatles’ first US single, the country’s oldest vinyl record maker has survived 8-track, cassette, CD, Napster, iPod and streaming services. Now, the Nashville-based company has made such a dramatic comeback that some equipment and technology have been modified to keep up with the demand for old-school vinyl.
The 75-year-old company has adapted its business from filling jukeboxes to helping DJs play and stock shelves despite the pandemic. On the shelves in the warehouse are master versions by Johnny Cash, Kanye West and The Black Crowes.
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When Mark Michaels bought the company in 2007, vinyl was gone – 38 employees mostly made singles for rap artists, often promoting them for clubs. Michaels wanted a hands-on chance to build a business and thought he could keep this one steady, but not grow it necessarily. It also comes with a rich history as the first record pressing plant in the South, including an apartment above the plant that housed Black artists and music executives during the separation.
“You walk into this building and you just feel 50, 60 years of history and just the importance of what it stands for,” said Michaels, CEO and company chair. “And yes, you’re going to choke, you’re getting goosebumps just experiencing it.”
Today, United Record Pressing opens a newer factory six times larger than the one Michaels bought, with about 125 employees turning out 80,000 records a day.
Various factors have boosted vinyl in recent years, from independent artists insisting on vinyl albums to big box retailers getting on board again.
By 2023, US revenues from vinyl records will grow 10% to $1.4 billion, the 17th year of growth, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Records accounted for 71% of revenues from non-digital music formats, and for the second time since 1987, vinyl surpassed CDs in total sales.
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United Record Pressing underwent its own evolution. The initial pressing was formed in 1949 by the Nashville label Bullet Records. In the 1950s, it changed to Southern Plastics Inc and focused on 7-inch singles favored by jukebox makers.
By the early 1960s, the company was releasing more than 1 million records a month. It signed a deal to produce singles for Motown Records and moved into a larger facility that included an apartment that hosted The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and others – and became known as the “Motown Suite.” In 1963, it hit the Beatles’ first US single, “Please Please Me.” Then in the 1970s, restructuring turned the company into United Record Pressing.
During the 1980s, notes were reduced to niche markets. DJs still need records for their turntables. Rap and hip-hop artists used to “scratch”. But CD has caught up with him.
In the late 2000s, indie artists pushed to release vinyl records. In 2015, the notes were embraced again, but there were few manufacturers, and they relied on presses from the 1960s and 1970s and few specialists who could operate them, Michaels said. Demand is rising again during the coronavirus pandemic.
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“It’s art,” Michaels said of vinyl records. “Artists and fans, they want something they can grab and do. It’s easy to stream music, and streaming music is a great way to discover new music. But you know, at the end of the day, it’s sonic wallpaper.
Today, the factory mixes old and new.
There are many wooden panels in throwback audio equipment used to test master versions of recordings before they are used to press copies. And the factory floor has a section of retrofitted pressing equipment that looks and sounds like it’s been around since the last time vinyl ruled the market.
Technology also improves the process. Beyond the old slim press, newly made machines that plop out notes more quietly and efficiently. And there is a large sack of colorful pebbles from discarded materials that can be re-pressed into new notes.
Machines that stamp master copies using technology that already exists to produce CDs and DVDs, have now been recreated for vinyl.
In the farthest room of the factory, the rumbling of machines gave way to music.
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There Tyler Bryant can listen to 10 recordings with changes as the company’s quality control leader. Talking about the harmonica beats from Cash’s album, Bryant said he discovered many artists and records that weren’t on the list, ranging from Harry Styles to Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” to indie artists.
“A lot of variety, which I appreciate,” Bryant said. “I don’t like being stuck in just one genre, you know?”
A few miles away, architects and construction crews are working to preserve the old 1962 factory and pave the way for the future. As for what that will look like, Michaels said it remains to be heard.
“My vision has not completely crystallized, but the command, it is some of the most important places in all music,” said Michaels. “It needs to be celebrated. This should be something people can do.
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