Photo credit: Onyx Record Press
In Los Angeles, Onyx Record Press, a new indie-focused vinyl pressing facility, has opened and plans to start pressing vinyl as early as August.
Onyx record press is a new vinyl pressing facility opening in Los Angeles County, the brainchild of the LA-based DJ and producer, drum cell. The Arcadia-based pressing plant is already taking pre-orders and is expected to begin pressing vinyl as early as August.
“We believe in investing in our music community by not prioritizing big labels and artists, providing access for customers who face unrealistic schedules or who are turned away outright, and new state-of-the-art pressing machines for faster turnaround,” says Drumcell.
“Our team has over 25 years of experience in the vinyl manufacturing industry. “We believe that the release of records is a special compliment to an artist,” the statement continued. “We believe that the sum of feeling the weight of the vinyl in your hands, hearing the needle turning the grooves to music and admiring the great work of art is the ultimate way to experience recorded music. At Onyx Record Press, we strive to deliver this essential music format at the highest possible quality.”
The news comes nearly a year after the opening of a new vinyl pressing facility in California that hopes to become “America’s premier vinyl manufacturing facility,” amid a trend for bottlenecks and delays at plants worldwide. New vinyl pressing plants were also opened in Germany and Great Britain last year.
U.S. vinyl sales rose 21.7% in the first half of 2023, according to Luminate’s mid-year report. Despite vinyl’s continued resurgence in popularity, production delays and rising costs continue to weigh on independent companies vinyl market; Many smaller or indie musicians have been turned away by pressing plants in favor of more well-known artists, which Drumcell hopes to remedy.