Avid record lovers can rejoice now! With a next day turnaround time, gone are the days of waiting months for vinyl production as vinyl manufacturing gets to don a new hat.
Eliminating the old-fashioned way of pressing vinyl and offset printing, British music tech startup elasticStage has plugged in £3.5 million in funding for its on-demand vinyl platform.
The funding has been backed by leading music producers, including Paul Epworth (Adele), Dan Grech-Marguerat (Lana Del Rey), Ryan Walter (Lewis Capaldi), Ed Millet (Dua Lipa) and others.
The investment will enable the company to enter partnerships with labels and DSPs. elasticStage will unveil its first London-based production and fulfilment centre in Q4, which will give a selected number of artists, labels and DSPs the opportunity to join a trial run.
Yet to launch, the on-demand vinyl manufacturer creates vinyl using new techniques - via its patent-pending technology. elasticStage aims to eliminate the use of harmful chemicals, uses less energy and no PVC - offering a sustainable solution to creating vinyl. The company has created an ingenious way to manufacture and distribute vinyl for the music industry which is both sustainable and ethical.
A significant shift away from outdated and archaic processes currently in use, the startup has invented a progressive way to produce vinyl and artwork. The startup does not press vinyl, but rather, each manufactured record is a first-generation recording. elasticStage claims to replace the current long lead times which can take up to 12 months. Artists can essentially sell vinyl on the same day when making a release available on the elasticStage web-platform, which can not only boost revenues, but potentially bolster crucial chart positions based on physical sales.
Steve Rhodes, CEO and co-founder of elasticStage said: “We have built a revolutionary way to manufacture vinyl that will soon replace the current outdated, traditional method that uses harmful chemicals and a lot of energy, along with long lead times and unnecessary warehousing. We are already in talks with a major DSP for integrating our tech and we can’t wait to help the industry in meeting commercial demand for vinyl at speed.”
Paul Epworth, Oscar and Grammy winning record producer, writer and musician, added: “The sound of the vinyl is a significant upgrade from the established 50-year-old manufacturing process. There is sharper definition in all frequency ranges without losing any of the vinyl character. Largely indistinguishable from the original master in blind tests, on a sonic level it brings the vinyl process into the 21st century.”
Pricing for the vinyl will be competitive, with zero up-front cost.
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