Sony’s Tokyo studio ready to revive vinyl record production: Nikkei Asian review: Sony will revive in-house production of vinyl records at a Japanese factory run by its subsidiary Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) as early as spring 2018, for the first time in 29 years. A Nikkei reporter on July 7 was allowed a glimpse of the fine craftsmanship required for vinyl record production at a Tokyo recording studio equipped with a record-cutting machine to create vinyl masters, or original recordings for use in mass production. Sony Music Studios Tokyo, one of Japan’s foremost recording studios, is located in Minato Ward, Tokyo. A 10-sq.-meter room on the third basement level is home to a record cutting machine with a massive turntable.
South Korea opens first record pressing plant in over 13 years: After over a decade without its own vinyl-making hub, Machang Music & Pictures has opened a new, two-machine, pressing plant this month in the country’s capital. The Korean factory solidifies Asia’s growing presence in the pressing world, following Sony’s announcement that it’s opening up a plant in Japan soon. According to the Korea Times, “The vinyl-pressing industry died in Korea over 10 years ago in 2004 when Seorabul Record closed down. There was an attempt to bring back a vinyl-pressing plant in 2012, but the plant did not own a lacquer cutter and had to import a master plate, or lacquer, transcribed overseas. It didn’t last long.”
Exhibition charts music history via vinyl LPs: When producer Naoki Tachikawa read an article about 30 years ago predicting vinyl record production would cease in the future, he strongly believed the culture needed to be preserved. The article prompted him to donate 17,000 records from his collection to Kanazawa Institute of Technology (KIT) in Kanazawa. Based on Tachikawa’s donation, the institute founded the Popular Music Collection at its library in 1992. The number of items in the collection has since expanded to 240,000, thanks to donations from music critic Ichiro Fukuda (1925-2003) and many other enthusiasts around the nation.
Vinyl makes a comeback at Leeds’s Kirkgate Market: A record collectors’ fair made its debut appearance at Kirkgate Market this weekend, in a move which could see the event held there permanently. Vinyl lovers from across the country attended the Premier Music Fair on Saturday, with dealers and collectors swapping stories about new finds. The event is usually held in the Corn Exchange on the last Sunday of every month but fair organiser Adrian Melling said it may now run at both venues. He said: “It was interesting moving the event to a multi-function venue, as you can pick up a bit of extra interest with different people shopping.” Collectors were also invited to bring in their records and memorabilia to be valued.
JJ’s Vinyl will put you in a spin at Music Palooza 2017: As a long time online buyer of vinyl records Jamie knows how badly some of the different services treat their records. He states: “When you buy Vinyl online with me, I personally package the record and send it to you the next day. I use proper cardboard with padding to ensure it’s not damaged as well, there is nothing worse than a broken record in the mail. So check out my catalogue and buy your Vinyl online with me today. Insurance is included in our postal costs, so if the worst does happen return the record and you will receive a refund.” As avid collectors ourselves, JJ’s packaging protocols are very reassuring.
How to take care of your vinyl records, and get the best sound from your turntable: A couple of years ago, Ringo’s personal copy of The Beatles (which just happened to be #0000001) sold for a whopping $920,000, so it might not be a bad idea to keep some of your rarer records in top condition. But if you want to, you know, play the things rather than keeping them sealed in a vault, it’s important to know how to keep them in good shape for as long as possible. As some of us are avid vinyl nuts, we’ve put together a guide with some of our favourite tips on keeping your records happy, and getting the best sound from them as a result.
Will My Kids Make Any Money Off My Vinyl Collection? I Asked Experts to Find Out: A few months ago, a neighbor died and his adult kids were having an estate sale. I got wind that a slew of his old records were being sold, so I dropped everything and hustled down the sidewalk straight to his collection. It was clear he was a fan of the classics — literally, every other thing was a classical piece I didn’t recognize. But in between the Chopins and the Tchaikovskys were first pressings from the ‘60s of John Denver, Johnny Mathis, and the Chipmunk’s Christmas for some reason. I walked away with Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” and a Nat King Cole album, both in great condition. The total cost was $2. “What a steal,” I thought.
Eric B. & Rakim’s Paid in Full is being reissued on “money green” vinyl, The hip hop classic is heading back to vinyl: New York record store Turntable Lab is running a reissue of Eric B. & Rakim’s 1987 ‘Paid in Full’ album and it’ll be limited to 500 copies. Pioneering sample use in hip hop when the album was originally released, it was reissued on platinum and regular vinyl in 2014. This limited edition run is a collaboration between Turntable Lab, French label Culture Factory and Universal.
