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Vinylgeddon [message #91883] Sat, 16 May 2020 11:05 Go to next message
Kingfish is currently offline  Kingfish
Messages: 548
Registered: November 2012
Illuminati (1st Degree)
On February 6 of this year there was a fire. This was no ordinary fire however. This was in Banning California in a building where 75% of the worlds vinyl was made and pressed. The name of the company was Apollo Masters.

The effects of this will not be seen by us until next year when the shortage of new vinyl records will become apparent for those of us who buy them on a regular basis.

So if you are one those who still enjoy vinyl and buy them on occasion, this is why you might see any new releases in the near future.

Does anyone know who else presses vinyl?

Re: Vinylgeddon [message #91885 is a reply to message #91883] Sat, 16 May 2020 12:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18670
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Yikes! Hopefully insurance will cover the loss and they'll rebuild soon.
Re: Vinylgeddon [message #91895 is a reply to message #91883] Mon, 18 May 2020 04:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Silver is currently offline  Silver
Messages: 116
Registered: December 2013
Viscount
When a niche company like that loses everything on the drop of a dime, the effects ripple down to other businesses in that "family tree". As Wayne mentioned, I'm sure they had insurance so I'm sure they will find a way to get back up.

The vinyl industry has been growing. This will be a hiccup.
Re: Vinylgeddon [message #91900 is a reply to message #91883] Mon, 18 May 2020 06:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Kingfish is currently offline  Kingfish
Messages: 548
Registered: November 2012
Illuminati (1st Degree)
I sure hope so. I would hate to see all that progress just die off. There is a big "fan base", if you will, surrounding this. We want our records and this is the last product I want to see made in China.
Re: Vinylgeddon [message #91920 is a reply to message #91900] Wed, 20 May 2020 21:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Madison is currently offline  Madison
Messages: 326
Registered: June 2017
Grand Master
I only know of one other company that creates the same product and that's MDC in Japan. I'm not that knowledgeable about the history and manufacturing of vinyl though, so I could be wrong. I just buy records because the music has more depth and sounds warmer.

Personally, I see this as a direct consequence of allowing companies to consolidate. I believe Apollo Masters bought out one of their competitors in the early aughts. Less competition means there are fewer companies to produce those goods.
Re: Vinylgeddon [message #91924 is a reply to message #91920] Thu, 21 May 2020 09:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Leot55 is currently offline  Leot55
Messages: 224
Registered: June 2017
Master
There's always DMM if there's a shortage. What kills me is that the same industry gurus who poked fun at it and said that the DMM audio mastering technique produced inferior sound quality are now claiming that it can sound great if done right. It's interesting that this change in attitude only occurred after the Apollo Masters disaster. I don't have golden ears and can't tell a difference between them. To me, a record is a record.
Re: Vinylgeddon [message #91925 is a reply to message #91883] Thu, 21 May 2020 09:19 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Barryso is currently offline  Barryso
Messages: 190
Registered: May 2009
Master
This is a really tough one for a lot of reasons.

Yes, there's another company in Japan that does the same sort of work as the factory that burned but evidently they are already at capacity and are not taking new orders.

It's not surprising that several of these companies merged in the early aughts as the demand for vinyl was still going down. It was a declining business at that point and merging was probably a way to keep a reasonable cash flow.

I've not seen anything since the fire about rebuilding and Googling doesn't bring up any new information. It's got to be a tough decision because making a profit from an old facility is different than trying to do the same from a new, expensive place. Guess it'll all come down to the insurance payoff and how badly the vinyl industry wants to keep the production in the US.

It also isn't clear if they'll be able to rebuild in their old location. Lots of old industries can continue to produce in old facilities because they've been there for decades. They've been grandfathered in, to use the old term. But can a modern plant meet current regulations in California? It remains to be seen.

That isn't to say the business won't be back but they are going to have to jump through a lot of hoops to do it. I'm guessing the plant will end up in a different location.


Re: Vinylgeddon [message #91947 is a reply to message #91883] Sun, 24 May 2020 20:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Miami is currently offline  Miami
Messages: 115
Registered: April 2012
Viscount
If the demand for vinyl remains high, they will get back to it I'm sure. If Japan can't keep up, well, that's a good sign right there.

There's nothing like a dedicated customer base to get a business back on it's feet.
Re: Vinylgeddon [message #92718 is a reply to message #91947] Tue, 01 December 2020 20:53 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Concorde is currently offline  Concorde
Messages: 149
Registered: December 2013
Master
So this happened right before the Covid made its appearance? Are the Gods trying to tell us something? LOL.

I still see the same amount of record shops as I did this time last year, so that's a good thing at least.
Re: Vinylgeddon [message #92733 is a reply to message #92718] Fri, 04 December 2020 20:30 Go to previous message
gofar99 is currently offline  gofar99
Messages: 1895
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, I did a quick check on Google and there are many companies


https://vinyl-pressing-plants.com/all-vinyl-pressing-plants-list/countries/

And it indicated in another inquiry at that time there were 23 in 2017 in the US with 5 more to come on line that year. The listing shows 81 now. I question if Apollo actually did 75% of the pressings. The huge number of other companies would seem to be at odds with that value. Still the loss of any company is sad.


Good Listening
Bruce
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