I wish it was yellow. And with the triangle shaped sticker. Each side would have six songs. In A, there would be singles. In B, the acoustic ones. This contrast has always caught my attention: recordings that start at breakneck speed and end in a vein in a rag. The cover will be matte, supplemented by a picture of multi-colored strokes. Not surprisingly, my first album would be called Garabatos. Letters will be screen printed. And as soon as we walked in, a cardboard box was opened to show the credits that those who loved the physical support were eagerly reviewing. On the other hand, he would use the script as a story: there he would tell the origin of each theme. Who doesn’t want to know the details they hide?
The artistic step would be something other than the one signing these words. And to imagine it would include a duet with Andrea Corr, perhaps a candid version of her popular “Summer Sun”. It would be 500 copies, (who knows) maybe a limited edition that would become a cult object in the future. The fantasy has already been thought out, so all that remains is to make it a reality. The first record of my career (which I invented) would be ready in 10 weeks.
“Now everyone wants theirs,” says Eugenio López. He is co-owner of Mad Vinyl, a small factory located in Algete (Madrid). It’s the third (along with Press Play Vinyl in Vizcaya and Krakatoa Records in Castelló) to open in Spain following the format’s announced demise. It has been operating at full capacity since December 2020. This suggests that the record is experiencing a second youth. The data supports this: for the first time in 31 years, it managed to outsell a CD. For example, they already represent 54% compared to 44% in our country. As noted by Promusicae, in the first six months of 2022 demand increased by 25.6% to 13.6 million euros. Thus, it went from shipping 140,000 copies in 2013 to 1,624,000 copies in 2021.
Still a marginal boom: 81% of revenue comes from listening when around 50 million CDs were sold in Spain in 1999. However, it is showing some recovery in an industry that has been particularly affected in the last decade. Reasons for this resurgence include the rise of collecting, the physical experience, the reprints of popular icons, and the devotion of people like Taylor Swift or Rosalía.
Eugenio enthusiastically accepts the offer. There are no big or small names for him, but good compositions. Therefore, the skin is left to give them the best possible support. Vinyl is the most handmade of all, so just having machines is not enough. “I’ve had a very direct relationship with them since I was little, and that has increased my commitment,” she says. He’s surrounded by the latest projects he’s gotten his hands on: Marlango, Robe, Mónica Naranjo, Zahara and Guitarricadelafuente adding warmth to a place that’s always on the move. “It’s easy to find new music today, but when I was younger, the only option was to go to the disco. “I remember walking into the DJ’s booth when my friends went crazy,” recalls the specialist, who started playing in Pachá Madrid at the age of 15. The explosion of CD in the 80s turned everything upside down.
“Many albums have been discontinued in this format. I’m sure the record died not because the public rejected it, but because it stopped production.” He even wanted to buy another part but never completed the operation. Most of it was scrap that did not allow him to start his own business in any case. This came mainly from the United States, where stocks were almost immediately disposed of as soon as the state of the industry changed. By contrast, Germany and the Czech Republic , kept them almost intact thanks to various government subsidies. This explains why both regions lead the global turnover thanks to their monopoly on original works and their knowledge of putting them into operation. Currently, they have succeeded in producing new equipment that is already adapted to the digital needs prevailing in the market. Base its price exceeds 250,000 euros.
Time passed before I learned in 2014 that new advances were being made in Sweden. “They went back to marketing spare parts by anticipating what was going to happen,” he notes. By that time the UK was already attracting attention. So he started preparing everything: financing, investments, connections… Thanks to a friend, he met Michael Robinson, who is a legendary football player as well as a music lover. He liked the idea and they acquired the company on March 2, 2020. On the 11th, they imprisoned us. But that didn’t stop them either.
The first album came to light on November 20: «At first we came to pick up the machine on the weekends. We thought ours would be a small company: we were satisfied with 300 LP per month». Far from that thought, today they produce up to 3,000 units in 24 hours. And it’s not just rock as they thought it would be: pop, flamenco, reggaeton, indie, electronic bands passed through their facility… And their clients are both local and multinational artists.
In my case, it would have belonged to the first category: musicians who wanted to release their songs on vinyl, which they would later sell at their concerts. In these cases, the runs are often short and daring. The first step is to send the audio on a host with certain qualifications. This, once reviewed, is recorded on a metal wheel with an acetate layer. So the key is to trace this rift. This piece is known as lacquer, and stamps are obtained to be used in duplicating copies. Then the prepared base plates are included in the device and the polyvinyl chloride seeds begin to be heated and all that remains is to cut the edge to remove the excess. When finished, the discs are stacked on a coil so that they cool and can be sleeved.