How to make a custom vinyl record

 

Once considered dead with the advent of CDs in the 1980s, vinyl records have made a surprising comeback in the age of Spotify streaming.  In 2023, vinyl records surpassed CD sales by the 6 million mark for the first time since 1987, accounting for $1.2 billion of total physical-format media sales.

There’s something nostalgic about the warm, rich sound of a vinyl record spinning on a turntable that makes music fans likelier to pick your vinyl-pressed album. But why are vinyl records still cherished in the digital streaming era, and how can you get your albums pressed on vinyl? Read on to find out!

 

How Does a Custom Vinyl Record Work

 

A vinyl record, also known as a phonograph record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. These grooves have a V-shaped appearance and spiral from the periphery of the disc to the center. Inside this spiral groove, you’ll see three-dimensional cuts that encode the audio information.

When a custom vinyl record is played on a turntable, a stylus or needle runs along these grooves, producing tiny vibrations and bumps. These vibrations are then converted to an electrical signal, which is then amplified to produce sound waves that we hear. Vinyl records first debuted in the music industry in the late 1940s and soon rose to popularity before being replaced by digital media in the late 20th century.

Musicians and artists can press their albums on vinyl in many different formats today, from 12 and 10-inch LPs to 7-inch singles. You can also choose the speed of your custom vinyl record, with 33 ⅓ RPM accommodating a full album and 45 RPM records holding one track per side.

 

Benefits of a Custom Vinyl Record

 

1. Sound Quality

 

Vinyl diehards argue that when sound waves are broken down and then put back together in digital media formats, the warmness and richness of music are lost. But there’s good news. Unlike digital files, which sample the audio at discrete intervals, vinyl records capture the continuous waveform of sound.

This analog recording preserves the full spectrum of audio frequencies, leading to a warmer, richer sound. Plus, high-quality vinyl records that are mastered and pressed with care result in a high-fidelity reproduction, allowing you to feel everything from the texture of instruments to the inflections in the singer’s voice.

 

2. Treasured Keepsakes

 

In the times of digital downloads and streaming, a custom vinyl record gives you a tangible connection to music. Holding a vinyl-pressed album, admiring the cover art of your favorite artist, and placing it on a turntable engages one’s senses in a way digital formats can never do. This emotional connection adds to the collectibility aspect of vinyl records.

Just as people love to collect old coins and stamps, vinyl albums are treasured as vintage keepsakes. Collectors particularly value early blues or jazz records from the 1960s and 1970s, in addition to colored vinyl, first pressings, and those in good condition. Plus, each vinyl record pressing is released after 1-10 test copies that are provided to help the artists fine-tune their final release. These authentic test copies are particularly valued (but hard to collect).

 

3. Perceived Value

 

Vinyl records often retain or increase in value over time, making them a smart collector’s item. And if someone is lucky enough to grab your first pressings, autographed records, or limited releases, you can demand an even higher sum due to the perceived rarity of the record.

For example, the early pressing of the “Velvet Underground & Nico” is now regarded as a masterpiece in rock and pop music. Featuring a banana sticker cover, this custom vinyl record has become highly valuable due to its “rarity” aspect. Similar is the case with the vinyl-pressed “White Album” by The Beatles released in 1968.

 

4. Nostalgia

 

Sure, you can search all the best artists and combine their singles into a playlist on digital mediums, but you cannot feel them. In contrast, when you pick an album pressed on vinyl, you’re transported back to the golden days of turntables and record store bins. This nostalgia traces back to the experience of unwrapping and sliding a vinyl disc out of its sleeve, watching your favorite artist’s cover on display, and hearing the needles running on the grooves.

 

5. Timeless Appeal

 

Millennials and Gen-Z are often drawn toward vinyl-pressed albums due to their timeless appeal and promotion by famous artists. Taylor Swift stands at the forefront of vinyl revival, whose ninth album, Evermore (2020), saw the highest vinyl sales for an album since 1991. Swift did it again in 2022 with Midnights, her tenth studio album, closing at 945,000 vinyl LP sales.

 

6. Marketing & Fan Engagement

 

Besides evoking feelings of nostalgia and a collectibility desire in your audience, a custom vinyl record also offers a great medium for marketing. The larger surface area of vinyl (front and back covers, inner sleeves, and spines) gives musicians a lot of space for personalized artwork and branding.

To improve the overall aesthetic of your album, you can opt for colored vinyl, gatefold sleeves, and inserts, which makes it likelier to be picked by fans. In addition, vinyl custom records can be added to merchandise bundles, with other items like posters, t-shirts, and notebooks. These bundles bring extra revenue streams for you as a musician and help your fans remember you.

 

How to Prepare for Making a Custom Vinyl Record

 

Before you order your personalized vinyl record, there are several factors you need to consider, from mastering and artwork to the final pressing. Let’s look at how musicians and artists can prepare for releasing the best custom vinyl records with music.

 

1. Master Your Vinyl Audio Samples

 

If you’re thinking about how to make a custom vinyl record, the first step is mastering your audio samples because improperly balanced frequencies can make the needle jump during playback. Mastering for vinyl creates a master sample by adapting the audio to the vinyl medium, ensuring it will play back without distortion, skipping, or any other mechanical issues.

During the mastering process, an engineer usually adjusts the EQ, frequency levels, and dynamic range of an audio sample. The goal is a balanced, clear, and pleasing sound that cuts well into the vinyl medium, providing the best music experience. Plus, vinyl masters are 24-bit, compared to CD mastering, which usually has a 16-bit word length.

Here are some adjustments that mastering engineers make for vinyl:

• Smooth out low and high frequencies to prevent distortion during playback

• Compress the dynamic range to avoid sharp volume differences in vinyl

• Use de-essing to control vocal sibilance by adjusting high-frequency sounds

• Adjust the bass frequencies through stereo imaging to keep them from slamming

 

2. Make a High-Resolution Cover Art

 

A 12” LP provides plenty of surface area for detailed artwork, giving you the chance to reflect your music and brand. Get in touch with a professional graphic designer to curate high-resolution cover art that reflects the effort (and love) you’ve put into your music album. Remember, most pressing studios will not accept low-quality images for cover art as these can appear pixelated or blurry when enlarged. For this reason, artwork should be at least 300 DPI.

 

3. Clear All Samples to Avoid Copyright Issues

 

Vinyl-pressing plants usually require you to fill out an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) claiming that your music is your own. Therefore, if your music contains any excerpts or segments from other artists’ recordings (known as samples), make sure you have legal permission to use them. This process is known as “clearing” samples for your custom vinyl mixtape.

To do this, all you need to do is contact the copyright holder (usually the original artist, record label, or publisher) and get their approval for a fee or a portion of royalties. The clearing process ensures that you’re legally permitted to use those samples, preventing any copyright issues down the line.

 

Produce High-Quality Vinyl Records With Mediaxpress

 

If you’re looking to make a statement with your music and tap into a broader fanbase, there’s no better way than pressing it onto vinyl. MediaXpress, with nearly five decades of experience in the music industry, takes you one step closer to becoming the next big-selling artist for vinyl albums. Thanks to our extensive skill set in vinyl production, we ensure that your music preserves its richness and warm hues on this timeless media format.

To make your record even more memorable, MediaXpress provides custom jackets, full-color center labels, and even gatefold options. Also, we are known for some of the shortest turnaround times in the music industry, with records available in as little as 40 days.

As a bonus point, MediaXpress tops its production process with custom color and packaging options, letting you create a stunning vinyl piece that reflects your artistic vision. Whether you’re producing a standard black vinyl or a shining colored disc, our company guarantees premium audio fidelity.

Get a custom vinyl record quote today!