Pressing Vinyl, From Then Until Now

“It’s integral to the future of the medium that it’s for more than just a niche section of the industry.”

In 2002 Paul Miller, now VP of Sales at Precision Record Pressing (PRP), became the founder of SAMO Media – a Toronto based vinyl and CD broker. In 2010 SAMO launched a high-quality record jacket manufacturing facility, later expanding again in 2015 as demand for the new service grew. The SAMO brokerage team would later form the sales department at the newly formed Precision Record Pressing, and the print department became PRP’s in house printing facility.

We caught up with Paul to discuss how the vinyl industry has changed in the 16 years since SAMO launched, and what he thinks is the future direction for the format.

How did you start out in the vinyl industry?

I worked at a company called Design Infinity in the late 90s which focused on brokering CDs for independent artists. I had a personal interest in collecting vinyl and asked if they would let me bring that product into the fold too. The stakes were low so they allowed me to go out and start a relationship with a vinyl plant who could supply us. It was really the start of everything for me.

Vinyl manufacturing went through some very tough times from 2008 – 2014, what kept you in the industry?

When SAMO began in 2002, there were so few places involved in vinyl production either as a manufacturer or a broker. So when we were able to carve out a niche for ourselves, it felt like a special opportunity.

Things became quite challenging in 2008 when demand increased to such a level that it put a dramatic strain on the available capacity in the market. And although it was tough navigating through that, we were still propelled by the same feeling of opportunity.

Plus, with all of the renewed interest in vinyl, it was hard to imagine that the industry could remain so stagnant with all of its old, malfunctioning equipment and out of date business practices. I was holding out hope that things would improve – and improve they did.

How does the industry now compare to when you started SAMO?

It’s quite a bit different. Firstly, there are more record plants in North America, which is a real plus for the independent artist and label community. It also pushes Precision to be dynamic and vigorously compete on turnaround, quality, color and effect offerings.

The concept of who vinyl is “for” has also changed a lot too. I used to think “this band has a vinyl audience but this one doesn’t” and that’s simply not true anymore. It’s really opened up and it now feels like a format for everybody. We’ve pressed plenty of records I never would have imagined a vinyl release for. That’s also a big plus – it’s integral to the future of the medium that it’s for more than just a niche section of the industry.

How do you see the vinyl industry progressing in the future?

It’s going in a collector’s direction at the moment: lots of color variants with stickers advertising which special version of the release you’re buying. That’s used to stoke presale and hype for the overall campaign of the album, and it’s something that vinyl does better than any other format. Its ability to create desirable, attractive physical objects of art is unmatched by CDs or digital.