New vinyl pressing plant by Vinyl Me, Please to open in Denver
Online subscription record service Vinyl Me, Please are opening a new vinyl pressing plant in Denver.
According to Denver news outlet Westword, the plant is set to open across from music venue Mission Ballroom in the River North Art District (RiNo) of the Colorado capital in the coming months.
Operated by Gary Salstrom – a vinyl manufacturing veteran who previously managed Kansas’s Quality Record Pressings – the 14,000 square feet plant will also feature host listening areas, guided tours, as well as a daytime cafe and a full bar. It will also boast a plating operation, where it will lathe the stampers that press records – making it one of few plants in the U.S. capable of doing so.
Speaking to Westword, Vinyl Me, Please CEO Cameron Schaefer said: “What we’ve seen is, essentially, the demand for pressing vinyl over the last two years far outpacing supply for pressing records. About a year ago, we were really digging in on this analysis, because obviously, the vinyl supply chain was pretty critical to our business.”
“As we started interviewing heads of major labels and heads of pressing plants and distributors, we learned that last year at this time, there were about 300 million units of pressing demand worldwide, chasing about 150 million units of global capacity.”
The Vinyl Me, Please plant aims to be operational by October, with the bar, lounge and tour to follow by the start of next year.
Back in February, DJ Mag’s digital tech editor Declan McGlynn explored the problems facing vinyl today, as well as a new pressing machine that can turn short runs around in as little as four weeks. In another recent DJ Mag feature, Will Pritchard investigated whether manufacturing delays and rising costs could spell the end of the end of the vinyl revival.
