The Problem With Vinyl

According to Thaddeus Herrmann, long-standing label owner and editor of German online magazine Das Filter, it may soon be difficult to press enough to keep abreast of the burgeoning demand. Since the recorded music business has switched from vinyl to cassette and on to CD, many of the plants that used to press the vinyl have been shuttered.

The remaining ones are apparently at full stretch to meet the increasing demand. Another problem is the lack of trained personnel to deal with the electroplating, which involves coating the master lacquer in a metal layer to guarantee the final product sounds exactly as originally intended. Apart from being a lost art, the master lacquers only have a shelf life of about two weeks before the delicate process has to be repeated to produce a new one.