In the six decades since United Record Pressing released the Beatles’ first US single, the country’s oldest vinyl record maker has survived 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, Napsters, iPods and and broadcasting services. Now, the Nashville-based company is so strong again that some of its equipment and technology has been retrofitted to keep up with the ever-growing demand for old-school vinyl.
The 75-year-old company has adapted its business from filling jukeboxes to helping DJs spin and stock shelves despite the pandemic. On the shelves of its store are beautiful versions of Johnny Cash, Kanye West and The Black Crowes.
When Mark Michaels bought the company in 2007, vinyl was dying—its 38 employees were making rap songs for rappers, often as club promos. Michaels wanted an opportunity to build a business and thought he could keep this one strong, but not grow it too much. It also comes with a rich history as the first record pressing facility in the South, including an apartment above a factory that housed Black musicians and music executives during apartheid.
“You walked into this building and felt 50, 60 years of history and the importance of what it stood for,” said Michaels, CEO and chairman of the company. “And yes, you choke, you just get a deer and you experience that.”
Today, United Record Pressing has a new factory six times larger than the one Michaels bought, with about 125 employees making 80,000 records a day.
A variety of factors have fueled vinyl in recent years, from independent artists insisting on vinyl albums to big box retailers pushing for reissues.
By 2023, US revenue from vinyl records will grow 10% to $1.4 billion, the 17th straight year of growth, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Records accounted for 71% of revenue from non-digital music formats, and for the second time since 1987, vinyl CDs surpassed total sales.
United Record Pressing has found its own. The first pressing plant was built in 1949 by the Nashville label Bullet Records. In the 1950s, it changed to Southern Plastics Inc. and focused on the 7-inch singles preferred by jukebox makers.
By the early 1960s, the company was pressing more than one million records a month. Signed a deal to produce singles for Motown Records and moved into a larger facility that included an apartment that hosted The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and others—which eventually became known as the “Motown Suite.” In 1963, it pressed the Beatles’ first US single, “Please Please Me.” Then in the 1970s, a reorganization transformed the company into United Record Pressing.
In the 1980s, records became a niche market. DJs still needed records for their turntables. Rap and hip-hop artists use them for “scratching.” But CDs were outdated.
In the late 2000s, indie artists were insisting on releasing vinyl records. In 2015, records were widely accepted again, but there were fewer producers, and they relied on presses from the 1960s and 1970s and a limited number of professionals who could use them, Michaels said. Demand has also increased during the coronavirus crisis.
“It’s art,” Michaels said of vinyl records. “Musicians and fans, they want something tangible that they can hold on to and share with. It’s easy to stream music, and streaming music is a great way to discover new music. But you know, at the end of the day, it’s kind of sonic wallpaper. “
Today, the factory combines old and new.
There are a lot of wooden planks in throwback sound machines that are used to test the master versions of records before they are used to press copies. And the factory floor has its share of refurbished pressings that look and sound like they’ve been around since the last time vinyl dominated the market.
Technology improves the process, too. Beyond the old presses are sleeker, newer machines that churn out records quietly and efficiently. And there are large sacks of colorful stones from scrap materials that can be pressed into new records.
Professional duplicating machines use existing technology to make CDs and DVDs, which have now been converted to vinyl.
In a room far back in the factory, the hum of machinery is replaced by music.
This is where Tyler Bryant might listen to 10 records in a row as the company’s quality control lead. Speaking over a harmonica beat from a Cash album, Bryant said he gets a lot of artists and records that wouldn’t be on his list, from Harry Styles to Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” to indie artists.
“A lot of variety, that’s what I appreciate,” Bryant said. “I don’t like to stick to just one type, you know?”
A few kilometers away, architects and a team of builders are at work to preserve the old 1962 factory and pave the way for its future. As for what that will look like, Michaels says stay tuned.
“My opinion is not clear yet, but the goal is that it is one of the most important areas in all music,” said Michaels. “It needs to be celebrated. It has to be something that people can relate to.”
-Jonathan Matise, The Associated Press
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