Canada Suffering Severe Shortage of, Er, Vinyl Pressing Plants

Quick:  how many placs across this country can press up your album on vinyl?  The answer is “one.” Only RIP-V, a Montreal-area plant can do it.  If they can’t handle it, you’ll have to go outside Canada.

Today’s Toronto Star has a story on the vinyl gap in this country (sorry, no link as of this writing) and how artists who want to cash in on the vinyl revival need to go to America.

This, of course, is a stunning reversal from 15 years ago when manufacturers couldn’t shut down their vinyl pressing machines fast enough.  But with sales doubling over last five years–and with vinyl becoming this cool, hip thing–the demand to get these machines back online is increasing.

Unfortunately, the costs are very high and the margins are still a little low. 

RIP-V, which began in 2009 after buying up a mothballed plant, has six presses but only four are operating. Try getting parts for the old machines–and even when everything is running, there’s no Canadian company making the lacquer masters, which are the things from which all copies are made. There’s no Canadian supplier of metal stampers, either.  This adds to the costs–and the price.   Business (and jobs) go south to the US, where apparently 99% of the world’s vinyl production is carried out.

Now you know why 180-gram vinyl costs so much.

Still, vinyl’s resurgence shows no sign of slowing down and it may just be a matter of time before someone with deep-ish pockets jumps into the game.  According to The Star, there’s a rumour of someone setting up company to make lacquer masters.  That would help.

Meanwhile RIP-V is running flat out and is booked solid.  And to think that people told the company’s founders they were crazy back in 2009.