Sony Music will start making records again after almost 30 years. The new pressing plant is set to open in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture in March 2018.
The Japanese company stopped making vinyl records in 1989 to focus on CDs and other emerging technology like digital downloads and streaming.
But lately Vinyl has been making a global comeback as it attracts not only nostalgic older consumers but also younger generations. In fact, according to recent estimates, records are growing in popularity and in terms of revenue while sales of CDs and digital downloads continue to fall.
Although Sony didn’t specify the genre of records it would manufacture, Nikkei says the first releases will include Japanese reissues (older, popular Japanese songs) as well as bigger contemporary music. However, the company intends to expand this area, indicating they will accept orders from outside labels.
There’s only one problem: Sony states that it’s now struggling to find engineers who know how to make records.
