Why Vinyl?

Why Press Vinyl Records in the Digital Age?

I thought vinyl was dead... Is there still a market for records?

Yes! Vinyl is still a hugely popular music format all across the globe. Records have always been a popular format for fans of punk or indie rock. The 12" LP is essential to hip hop, house, jungle, trance, and other club DJs In the United States, vinyl is no longer relegated to just collector specialty shops or independent record stores.Ê The recent increase in the sales of digital music has lead the way for an increase in the vinyl market.Ê Many consumers are finding a lesser need for CDs and are preferring to have the analog warmth of vinyl for the home along with the portable convenience of digital.

Is there money to be made if I decide to release my music on vinyl?

Absolutely. Whether you decide to wholesale your music to a distributor or go directly to retail, there can be a good deal of money in it for you. Say you have 1000 copies of your 7" single or 12" LP. On average, you can get between $1.50 and $2 from a wholesale distributor for your 7" and $3 - $6 for your LP. Sell every unit to a distributor and you can get up to $2000 for your single or $6000 for your album. With retail, the going rate for 7"s is currently $3 to $4, and LPs will sell for $6 to $11 each. At the retail level of the market, selling all 1000 7"s can bring in up to $4000 or as much as $11,000 for 12"s.

But what will it cost me to put my music on these records?

It all depends on the quantity pressed. 100 7"s at 45 rpm will cost about $512 for your finished product. This works out to about $5.12 per record, as compared to 1000 45s, which will cost about $9l0. This comes to about $.91 per record. 100 12" LPs will cost about $890 (or $8.90 per unit) for production, whereas 1000 LPs will cost approximately $1954 (or about $1.95 per unit).

Why the huge difference in per-unit price with different quantities?

This is mainly because of charges such as lacquer mastering and plating, which stay the same whether you order 100 or 1,000 records. Mastering ($160 for 7" 45 and $320 for 12") and plating ($135 for 45s, $185 for LPs) are the most expensive steps in the process of record production. Other fees, such as press setup charge or test pressing expenses are reduced or waived with higher production quantities.

Why should I use my records as a promotional item?

You can look at this as your cost to promote yourself or your band. You can give your music to club DJs, college radio stations, etc. The DJs and radio stations can present your music to a wide audience, thereby increasing awareness of you and your record both among consumers and other DJs. From this awareness will come a demand for your records. When there is a sufficient demand, then you can repress your record and begin selling it for a profit.

If you are in an up-and-coming band, you can use your record as your "calling card" into the music business. Records are a great and cost-effective means of getting your music to concert promoters or labels. When you get hired for a gig, you can then sell some records to enthusiastic members of your audience. If you're lucky and you get picked up by a label, this means you will be selling more records!

Records are one of the best promotional items imaginable for a band or a DJ. The record itself lets others hear your sound while the cover and the center label can project your image as well as list your lyrics, contact information, etc. Compare this to other promotional items such as T-shirts, which only bear your name or image. Sure, T-shirts can look cool, and they will cost you about the same amount per unit as records, but they can't convey your sound to consumers. Plus, who wants to buy a shirt of someone they've never actually heard?

Wouldn't CDs provide better sound quality?

The sound quality of CDs is definitely different from that of records, but not necessarily better. True, CDs are capable of playing extremely high frequencies that can't be reproduced easily on vinyl. On the other hand, vinyl can hit low frequencies that CDs cannot reproduce (this extra bass kick is one reason vinyl is preferred over CDs by club DJs). Vinyl provides a unique sound that conveys a sense of spatial sonic arrangement that you don't get on a CD. Also, CDs are just digital samples of music. Much like film presents the illusion of motion with a rapid stream of still frames, CDs only reproduce bits and pieces of sound with infinitesimal gaps between the digital samples. Vinyl, however, uses analog sound, thereby reproducing a session in its entirety. Vinyl records pick up that missing sonic information that is lost between the 1's and the 0's of digital sampling.

Wouldn't most people rather have CDs than records?

If your band is consistently scoring Top 40 hits and your video is enjoying heavy rotation on MTV, you might do better selling CDs; despite the rapidly falling sales of CDs they still remain the top selling format.Ê Vinyl is a growing market due to the growth of digital music.Ê Serious music fans are choosing the combination of vinyl and digital as their formats of choice.Ê The emergence of the digital format has made the compactness of the Òcompact discÓ no longer necessary since digital is much more compact than a CD is.Ê Those holding onto their CDs often site liner notes, sound quality and album art as the reason theyÕve yet to let go of their CDsÉ why not step it up a notch to the huge album art, liner notes and sound quality of vinyl.

What are some other advantages of vinyl records?

Records are larger than CDs, and that means a larger package. Thus, you can do more artwork or fit a larger graphic on your record's jacket. Also, you can choose the color of your record rather than having to settle for a silver CD. Records have an aesthetic quality that CDs lack. A record is something that your customers can look at and hold in their hands and enjoy visually as well as aurally.

For DJs, vinyl has several advantages because it can be treated in a "hands-on" manner. A track on a record can be queued to any point in the song at the drop of the needle. With CDs, you always have to start at the beginning of the cut and fast forward to a specific point.

Also, with vinyl it is much more difficult for others to "steal" your music. If you release a CD, someone can put your songs on their computer and have the whole thing shared on the internet in an hour or less. While it is still possible to transfer music from vinyl onto a computer, it takes additional equipment and software and much more time and motivation on the part of the buyer.

Why should I use United Record Pressing to put my music on vinyl?

URP has been making high-quality 7" records for nearly forty years, including many of those singles in your parents' record collection by Elvis Presley, Motown Records artists, and country music legends. Recently, we've expanded our services to include 12" LP pressing. Currently, we are pressing 12"s for major labels such as BMG. United offers high quality pressings at affordable prices. Let us press your next record, and we'll show you just how great your music can sound on vinyl!

Now are you ready to put your tracks on wax?

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