VMP Pressing Plant Future and Why All The New Pressing Plant Challenges? (Episode 170)

great did as always David! i agree 110% most folks have no idea what the manufacturing processes take. so many aspects and variables involved folks would never even realize. and for vinyl as you make mention to the "special sauce", i believe, is the "craftsmanship" aspect of the making of vinyl with so much passed down knowledge, granted some possibly lost but being regained, that can vary widely from one production facility to the next. love the content as always my friend!! \m/ \m/

Another great informative video. Almost felt like a fireside chat. Very comprehensive and relaxing of the transfer of information. Thanks once again. 🫡

Good morning David, and thank you as always for another great video. Your knowledge and leg work are a cut above the others....cheers....✌️

Great discussion on the complexities of vinyl production. It’s clear that setting up new pressing plants like VMP comes with its fair share of challenges. Beyond the operational hurdles talked about, just wanted to mention that there are issues that impact us as customers. Delays and quality control problems not only affect our wait times but also our overall experience with the product. It’s also interesting to think about how the latest tech advancements could help new plants streamline their processes and improve record quality. And with vinyl making such a strong comeback, I wonder how these plants are adapting to the surge in demand while trying to keep things sustainable. Are there new materials or production methods that make the process more eco-friendly? Lastly, I feel there’s a great opportunity for the industry to educate both the public and aspiring vinyl producers about what goes into making these records. A better understanding might cultivate more patience and appreciation for the craft. It’s an exciting time for vinyl, and discussions like this really highlight the passion and dedication of everyone involved in bringing this beloved format back to life. Thanks for sharing, and I’m looking forward to hearing more insights from this channel! (I am now a subscriber)

Enjoy your videos David. Automated equipment is great, provided the process(es) developed can be successfully repeated and the operator(s) follows the working process to the letter. I've worked in manufacturing for about 45 years now and have witnessed first hand many occasions when operators get lazy, or ham handed and screw things up royally, so even though many of the presses are fully automated there is always a human involved in the process so errors will be made. One pet peeve I have is spindle holes punched off center. This is unacceptable, especially with modern technology.

Great video David. And I appreciate your POV. Yes, we are getting more pressing plants and that is a wonderful thing. But, not to gloss over what happened at VMP, those in charge that report to the Board were lying about where the money for the new plant was coming from. The agreement, I'm sure which was all signed and contracted with the Board, was that it was to be totally separate from VMP. And the money would not be taken from the company. But, they were funneling money from VMP to the new plant. Anyway...yes...you are correct though. Getting more pressing plants and more QUALITY records to us is the main priority.

Great explanation of an internal business problem. Fortunately for VMP they caught this issue before it became worse. I hope the best for VMP.

I think the Pearl Jam 2x45 was pressed at the VMP plant. I am not sure if any of us really know what is going on there. I think it was of great quality. The mastering and the pressing quality was great!

Great video David.
The image quality issue happens everywhere actually. Even the new japanese reissues have pixelated images as well.
I guess until they are able to get a better quality image, we will all be stucked with bad cover reproductions.

Great video. My takeaway is that we (or, the industry) is 'rediscovering how to create these physical products. Not too unlike like a culture rediscovering old ways or techniques thought lost to time. (How did they build those pyramids, anyway?!) Ok, a bit of a stretch, but simply put, this is a physical world issue. It's not like pugging-in a 100,000 CDs into a computer and pushing a burn-in button.

Great discussion.
Mr. Pete------->
aging hippie

Considering the amount of time and focus necessary to develop a pressing plant in the same town as VMP, I find it highly unlikely that the other parties were unaware of the financial and labor allocation devoted to this venture. My thought is that the cost and complexity overwhelmed some partners and they decided to create this narrative to exit. If they weren’t aware of these issues until now, shame on them for not following the evolution of their business.

Vinyl me please doesn't surprise me as incapable of meeting goals, although things going criminal was a surprise when I heard about that 

. When I visited their site, it was formatted so that anyone who wasn't a collector, the type of customer who will buy albums sight unseen for collecting with no questions asked, was the focus of the business , and those people are not the majority of likely customers .

the casual, one album at a time buyer, was treated as a second class customer, paying more for the same album only because you didn't want to commit to a subscription that had financial requirements paid in advance, as if everyone just routinely bought albums as a lifestyle.

I saw an album I liked, but instead of just buying the thing , I then needed to figure out if there were other albums that I might enjoy , to try and make the "buy multiple albums and save money format" workable for me. The reality is that I do tend to buy a couple of albums at a time for shipping reasons , but the way they structure the business, and the limited selection, killed my enthusiasm .

I think we, the customers, need to chill the heck out! 99.9% of us end users have 0% of an idea what it takes to run a vinyl publishing house. Period.

As VMP's co-founder was on the Board and is now back as CEO is he the best choice to 'right the ship'? I wish him well and good luck! Watch this space...

The image reproduction on album covers is equal between AS and VMP. Both companies have a fuzzy graininess with the graphics on vintage reissues. Obviously a copy of a copy since the original printing plates long have been scrapped. It takes a Peter Jackson to preserve and improve images such in Let It Be. He scrubbed the graininess of the 16mm frames in the new release of the film. It can be done. I support VMP. The music industry has always been a dirty nasty business. We need more pressing plants with high standards, not less. An art that's been partially lost after Steve Jobs dismantled it for his Apple iPod profits. Cost for pressing plants has gone considerably up like everything else and the economy is bad now. This isn't post WWII where you had mass production everywhere in the US on a dime. I'm not canceling my VMP subscription, holding out to help them through it as one customer. If they fold then what you already have will likely skyrocket in value. The Miles Davis set was exceptional.

Irrelevant to me with regards to VMP, not a customer but interesting video.

Because none of the main record labels have had their own pressing plants for decades, they are all dependent on 3rd party pressing plants. Nothing new here. Of the re-issue labels, Analogue Productions has successfully created it's own self contained pressing plant, QRP, but still sometimes relies on a 3rd party. Mofi is trying to put their pressing plant together as well as VMP. They have to go through State and local regulations, which like any manufacturing company, that is a given. For any re-issue label, they initially have to get the rights from the owner of what they want to re-issue. With Analogue Productions, they have already secured the rights from Warner Communications for the Atlantic 75th re-issues, so their problem is securing pressing time as well as having mastering and cutting done, if it hasn't already.
Suspiciously, Analogue Productions has left out Led Zeppelin. LZ was contracted to Atlantic Records from day 1. Analogue Productions is sitting on atleast the first four LZ albums, with the 45 rpm metal parts sitting on the shelf, left over from when Classic Records manufactured and released them on vinyl, years ago.
Back to VMP. Like the old record clubs, they secured the rights and had their exclusive versions pressed. Of the old record clubs, Capitol, Columbia and RCA had their own pressing plants, so pressed and packaged their own versions. They still had to obtain the rights, even if their parent record labels were who owned the rights. You might remember, record clubs kept their parent label's releases to themselves and didn't share. After Capitol's record club shut down, the other 2 record clubs could manufacture and sell their own exclusive versions. Towards the end of the record clubs, it became a free for all and everybody could press anything, after they secured the rights.
There may have been more, but one independent record club, Record Club Of America, released any record they secured the rights for, no matter what label. Ofcourse the records were pressed by the original labels' pressing facilities, if they had one. So, VMP is the same kind of company.

There is another aspect of the whole process that is lost to the vinyl consumer. There are very few people capable of maintaining and servicing the cutting lathes, cutting styli etc. Without that expertise there are no records, period. These technicians are getting old(er) and there is a danger of lost skills threatening an end to vinyl mastering.

You don’t have to date your videos. The recently released album selection behind you always time stamps the video.