Leer en español.
Metallica has purchased a majority stake in Furnace File Urgent, one of many largest and most essential vinyl data corporations within the U.S. If anybody had any doubts in regards to the development of the vinyl gross sales, which final yr outpaced CD gross sales for the primary time since 1987, Metallica’s new buy simply gave them a really loud reminder that what’s previous is new once more.
Vinyl data are experiencing a renaissance amongst music lovers. Though Metallica hasn’t launched a brand new album since Hardwired…To Self-Destruct in 2016, it offered greater than 387,000 vinyl albums in 2022, in keeping with information from Billboard. That yr, it ranked sixth on the record of most albums offered within the U.S., topping the 337,000 albums it offered in 2021. The value Metallica paid for Furnace was not disclosed; members of the band will now sit on Furnace’s board.
Metallica is predicted to launch its first album in seven years someday over the subsequent few weeks, setting the stage for the band to promote to many, many extra vinyl data in 2023.
The metallic band has been working with Furnace File, which was based in Virginia in 1996, for years. As reported by Selection, the document urgent firm has produced greater than 5 million of Metallica’s albums since 2014, together with deluxe boxed set variations of many traditional and legendary albums, equivalent to Kill ’Em All and Journey the Lightning. It’s possible that the latest season of Stranger Issues additionally performed an enormous function in gross sales, inspiring many a fan to need their very own vinyl model of Grasp of Puppets.
All of this, in addition to the state of the music market, appears to have incentived the band to spend money on Furnace. About 900,000 vinyl data from Metallica’s intensive catalogue had been produced in 2022, and that quantity will possible improve with the band’s new funding. Within the phrases of James Hetfield, the band’s lead singer and guitarist, the aim is for followers to “have continued entry to prime quality data sooner or later.”
In keeping with latest report from the Recording Trade Affiliation of America, in 2022 there have been extra gross sales of vinyl data than CDs for the primary time in three a long time (41 million vinyl data versus 33 million CDs.) However the numbers are much more stunning if we zoom in on the enlargement of the vinyl document market, which hasn’t stopped rising over the past 16 consecutive years. In simply 2022, in keeping with the report, income from vinyl document gross sales elevated by 17% to $1.2 billion.