Making Vinyl Memphis

Maybe it's osmosis, but the co-founder of Making Vinyl is actually getting in the game. Thermal Beets Records was organically born where else but Making Vinyl? Coming back from Making Vinyl Europe in the fall of 2022, I had to switch planes in Iceland. The quality of the in-flight entertainment knocked me out. All I knew were The Sugarcubes, Björk and Sigur Ros. I thought to myself, if any place in the world might need a pressing plant it might be Iceland. I had just made a mental note of the plant-based material I heard about for the first time days earlier in Offenbach at the conference. At next year's events in Minneapolis and Haarlem, I found my co-founders. We manufactured our first record in October 2024, a sampler for Iceland Airwaves, featuring the music of nine local musicians playing at tits 25th festival. But we're not making vinyl, lol.

We'll learn how the world's largest pressing plant has made sustainability a priority.  

UK-based Evolution Music has developed its 100% fossil fuel-free alternative to PVC—trademarked as "EvoVinyl"—for six years and it's already been endorsed by EarthPercent, the music industry non-profit organization focused on climate change and headed by Brian Eno. It appears that Evo is ready for prime-time.

At the 2024 edition of Making Vinyl, Ryan presented findings from the first analysis of the carbon footprint of a vinyl record. The Vinyl Record Manufacturers Association this year has expanded the scope of their continuing study to analyze non-PVC compounds, including various "bio-vinyl" options now hitting the market.