It’s been over the 30 years since Sony last produced a vinyl record, but with sales figures overtaking that of digital for the first time ever, the Japanese company is looking to come back to where it all started.
Sony’s in-house vinyl production had completely stopped back in 1989 due to the rise in popularity of CDs. Very few vinyl manufactures remain ever since CD and MP3 formats took over the music industry.
In Europe for example, only two plants, GZ media based in the Czech Republic, and Record Industry in the Netherlands, are able to produce vinyl. Supply isn’t meeting demand, and all stakeholders are losing out. “It’s actually too good,” said Record Industry’s owner, Ton Vermeulen, last year. “Demand is sky-high and we’re having to turn people away, which I don’t like doing.”
The shortage of supply has drawn the eyes of Sony execs, and the industry giant will be opening up its own factory in Japan to service customers.
So is vinyl back in a big way?
If a major like Sony’s in on it, then we’re probably going to witness a historic turning point in how the market consumes music.
