Fire At Manufacturing Plant Threatens Global Vinyl Record Supply

A massive fire burned through the manufacturing and storage facility for Apollo Masters in Banning, California, Thursday, according to The Desert Sun.

No employees were injured, but with Apollo Masters being one of the only manufacturers of lacquers in the world, the fire could shake up Vinyl production worldwide. “We are uncertain of our future at this point and are evaluating options as we try to work through this difficult time,” a statement on the company’s website reads.

Pitchfork spoke with Ben Blackwell, co-founder of Third Man Records, email: “From my understanding, this fire will present a problem for the vinyl industry worldwide,” Blackwell wrote. “There are only TWO companies that make lacquers in the world, and the other, MDC in Japan, already had trouble keeping up with demand BEFORE this development.

“I imagine this will affect EVERYONE, not just Third Man Pressing and Third Man Mastering, but to what extent remains to be seen.”

Pitchfork also contacted David Read, vinyl production and sales coordinator for Duplication, who believes that the damage “will directly affect all vinyl plants, bands/labels, mastering engineers, plating facilities etc., anyone who used lacquers as part of their vinyl production. In my almost 40 years experience the vinyl industry as a whole is incredibly resilient and filled with talented professionals who will, and already are, teaming together to find a way out of this current problem.”

Vinyl popularity has been on the rise in recent years. In 2018, sales grew 12 percent from 8.6 to 9.7 million according to The Verge.