I don’t have a personal preference for LPs, CDs, tapes or digital. Throughout my 48 years I’ve enjoyed music on all formats. I’ve lined up boom boxes to record other people’s tapes, I’ve checked out LPs from the local library, inherited CD collections and found so many gems at charity shops, record stores and yard sales. Through my work with the archive of Harry Bertoia, I’ve fallen in love with the sound of quarter inch tape. This has been a lifetime pursuit of music, of escape and everything we love about sound. I love it all and I want it all.

I also have an appreciation for nearly everything that creates or reproduces sound and music. Musical instruments, recording equipment and playback equipment fascinate me and I’m fortunate to have lived a life in pursuit of music both in the air and affixed to a physical format. Important Records affords me daily interaction with digital files, compact discs, cassettes, quarter inch tape and vinyl long players.

My career in the music industry began at the end of the CD era. In 1998 I was completing a teaching degree and planning to attend graduate school, but instead I began a new kind of schooling at Bull Moose Music in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This was a time when the majority of people still went to record stores to shop for music, new records cost less than new compact discs, and there was still a wall of brand new cassettes for sale.

In 2001, when our beloved manager was fired, I quit and started Important Records with the release of Merzbow’s Amlux followed by a 7" from Daniel Johnston. I’ve since manufactured over 600 CD, LP and cassette titles. Overseeing the manufacturing of these releases has been a full-time job.

Playback of the compact disc is as simple as the manufacturing process. Drop the disc in the tray, toss the packaging aside, press play and your work is done. Full spectrum audio delivered efficiently to your ears. I have one CD player in my office, one in my car and one in the house. The players, like the discs, are durable and require little maintenance besides occasional dusting.

Manufacturing a compact disc is an effortless process. Like records, it starts with music and mastering. Unlike vinyl, I don’t worry about what factory I’m going to use. I’ve only had one problem with defective discs over the course of my career and I’ve never experienced manufacturing delays. The compact disc provides the artist, label and listener with the closest possible representation to what was being experienced in the studio, with no flipping. The compact disc is a sleek, versatile, durable physical object.

The CD manufacturing process presents few obstacles. There are no test pressings to evaluate because when you send your master to the factory you know what you’re going to get. No back and forth, no delays, no remasters or recuts, no shipping records to the factory for reinspection and then waiting on a reply. Important Records is a small business and the efficiency of the compact disc helps me get things done without much troubleshooting, which can waste a lot of time.

The compact disc is also relatively inexpensive to manufacture. CDs and tapes afford me more curatorial freedom with less consideration of the financial risks. However, when I release a CD I worry about whether or not anyone will notice. The current perception seems to be that a release is less visible when it’s not on the glorified vinyl format. The LP is a recognised, relevant medium dripping in nostalgia and excitement. The CD doesn’t have quite the same allure. Artists and fans have made claims that certain works “deserve to be on vinyl” as if the medium itself is distinguished and unique.

There are no surprises when a pallet of CDs arrives at my office, but when a pressing plant alerts me to a shipment of records headed my way I start to worry. Manufacturing vinyl is the antithesis of manufacturing CDs. I’m full of dread when I drop the needle on the first unsealed copy.

I need two record players in my office. One is for general listening and the other is for analysing test pressings and new releases. If there are problems on one player, a second is required to make sure that the problem is the record and not the turntable. Recently, when I had only one turntable functioning properly, I was working with a factory to solve test pressing problems. We went back and forth for days before I discovered that the problem wasn’t the test pressing but a wire barely hanging on to my cartridge. Rotational distortions, non-fill issues, objects embedded in new vinyl, static, factory dust, warpage from storage and shipping, and many more problems can present themselves even when a factory assures you they’re being careful. To be sure if the problem is on the record I need to hear it on two turntables and inevitably, I might even drive to a friend’s house to really make sure.

What is a test pressing good for? At best, it lets you know how successful the multi-step cutting and plating process was. A test pressing can’t predict what problems might arise during the manufacturing process. Temperature (air and water), pressure, humidity, debris and handling can all impact the sound of the final product, something you cannot determine on a test pressing. What I want isn’t a handful of white label records pressed two months before I receive the final pressing. What I want is 20 copies of the final pressing so I can listen to them and determine whether or not I want to take delivery of the final product.

I use multiple mastering engineers, cutting engineers and factories depending on the music being cut. I’ve lost thousands of dollars and many hours of time moving projects from factory to factory. I could release a lot of compact discs with the money I’ve lost trying to solve problems with vinyl manufacturing.

After almost 25 years of making vinyl I can say with certainty that only elite factories are capable of delivering high quality records. Even then, under strict manufacturing conditions, there still exist a number of problems that can arise. Every record is an individually manufactured miracle, like a newborn baby, birthed only to be exposed to the heat and pollution of both the factory and delivery methods. This might be part of why good records seem so special and the utterly predictable CD so common.

This essay appears in The Wire 491/492 along with many more critical reflections on 2024. To read them, pick up a copy of the magazine in our online shop. Wire subscribers can also read the issue in our online magazine library.