Why Sony Music To Resume Vinyl Record Production

The old-fashioned black plastic records are back into fashion. Its demand is increasing and amid such potential market Sony has announced to offer those to music lovers. The company said would be releasing own vinyl again for the first time since it was completely stopped in 1989.

Sony Music added the in-house domestic vinyl production will be resumed at its Japanese factory in capital Tokyo by March next year.

After the rise of CDs, digital downloads and streaming the popularity of vinyl records degraded and finally disappeared.

After the downfall of vinyl demand in the late 1980s many factories stopped production and shut down their units, but in 2017 the global revenue from it is expected to hit $1 billion.

Lately younger music lovers have rediscovered the vinyl records in clubs, music fests and other places apart from older consumers getting more attracted towards it.

Vinyl records were killed by the rise of CDs and the digital downloads left it dead and buried. Sony played key role in the disappearance by developing CDs as a replacement of the records.

Now, after finding the demand is rising, Sony is struggling to find older engineers who hold experience in making the vinyl records.

The Record Store Day organized every year in April and other similar music events have boosted the popularity of vinyl records lately and this has led the production of special limited-edition singles and albums by several record companies.

Lately Sony has equipped its Tokyo studio too with a cutting lathe that is required in the production of master discs for manufacturing further vinyl records.

As of now Sony has not disclosed which titles will be produced in vinyl first, but it is believed to be a mixture of classic back-catalogue items as well as modern releases by new bands.

What is vinyl record

Vinyl record is commonly also known as a gramophone record or simply vinyl is a medium in which analog sound is recorded. It is in the form of a flat polyvinyl chloride disc equipped with modulated spiral groove starting near to the periphery and ending at the center.

The early discs were produced in several speeds ranging from 60 to 130 rpm and as early as 1894 the Gramophone Company used to sell single-sided 7-inch discs with speed of about 70 rpm.

The standardized nominal value of 78 rpm was introduced in 1925. However, it also varied between places with alternating current electricity supply.