The Insanity of Making Vinyl Records in 2025

Inside Jack White's 3rd Man Pressing Plant 27/08/25

Vinyl records are a complex beast in 2025 - the format is certainly not an essential commodity, but that doesn't stop millions of people buying and collecting them for their collections. There is also an environmental impact of creating the records themselves to consider, in addition to a hugely labour intensive production process. Here we have a look inside 3rd Man Records; the Detroit pressing plant owned by Jack White of the White Stripes. Its a fascinating, no commentary view of the factory and all of the stages involved.

Here's more on the subject

More from https://thirdmanrecords.com/

 

Don't know. I've just bought Pioneer PLX 500K and Bowers & Wilkins 607. Building my vinyl collection again because I just love it.
Bheh, nostalgia

 

I would add:
"Save the Vinyl"
"(the environment is fucked anyways)"

 

Not too thrilled. I see all kinds of trendy exploitation in this, and I never fall for trends as they cost too much and they tend to pass, and you're left with some garbage nobody wants anymore.

I sold my vinyl collection decades ago (2 I think) along with the platten-spieler. A pretty nice collection and a platten-spieler. I was a DJ for a couple of years in the late 90s. 80s pop...

Musicians see this as a way of making some money with their music. I can't blame them. Go, go, go! While it sells, everything's fine. It's the only party in this I can't blame for trying to make a buck. Streaming services are so screwed, you can make enough for a burger per month, so it doesn't exactly bring the food to the table, eh?

Music equipment companies see it as a way to make some money selling really cheap turntables for more than they are worth.

All kinds of people just too thrilled to profit from this. I don't like it. But as I said... musicians. I'm happy that some musicians found a way to make more money with more than just T-shirts, but the catch is - it's very expensive to make records, so not everybody can afford it, and you better be sure you can sell them once you've made them.

p.s. I'm more of a CD fan myself. Made right, CDs sound great and the format is far more practical. I would like them to be 48kHz/24-bit, though, and possibly mini-cd format. Something you can easily put in your pocket.

 

Last edited: Aug 27, 2025 at 8:12 PM

I think some people have a greater need to hold something physically, like a record cover and vinyl, in their hands.
Instead of just bits and bytes you can't see.

EDIT. Sorry i mean physically!!!

 

Last edited: Aug 28, 2025 at 7:48 AM

You mean *physical? Yes. Tactile. Real.

 

I want to think he did. The alternative is scary...

 

Vinyl records have a character all their own. Depending on the turntable and needle, every vinyl has a unique vibe.
Bass comes through nice and full, and the whole sound feels warmer.

Funny thing: two of my first self-produced records back in ‘95 were actually colored, one red, one blue.
Those colored records sold better, too. DJs always felt a bit cooler pulling out a colored vinyl.

Honestly, I’d love to see more vinyl releases, even with current music—EDM, pop, whatever.
A real vinyl revival would be fantastic

 

I still buy some new vinyls if I cant get a used copy, but I prefer buying used copies of many obvious reasons...

Vinyls are clearly preferable to, for example, CDs or streaming - in my opinion.