How to Make

Vinyl Records

The Ultimate 2024 Guide to Hearing Your Music on Vinyl

Pressing Vinyl Records FAQs

How much am I looking to spend?

Pressing vinyl isn’t cheap, but fans are willing to pay more for real records that they can hold in their hands. Expect to pay anywhere between $1000-$3000 for a pressing of 100-300 copies, depending on if you include artwork (jackets) or spring for colored vinyl!

Do I need to do color vinyl?

Colored vinyl is something that fans are going crazy for these days. Black vinyl just doesn’t demand as much excitement and perceived value as color does. While color variants cost more than black, it is a worthwhile investment to please your fans and to create a stunning vinyl package!

How many copies should I get made?

The sweet spot for indie artists and labels is 300 units. The cost of pressing 100 units may be cheaper, but it would likely require you to sell all 100 at ~$25 each, just to break even. Whereas, quantities of 200-300 trigger “price breaks” and make the overall cost per unit much less. Meaning you break even or make a profit easier!

Helpful tutorials on making vinyl.

5 Cool Vinyl Pressing Hacks

Here are 5 cool things you can do to help improve the overall packaging of your vinyl records!

Album Cover Design Templates

How to use your vinyl manufacturing plant’s template to design your album cover.

How to review your test pressings.

What should I expect to receive with my test pressing package?

A month or so after you send in your audio and downpayment, your pressing plant should send you 5-10 copies of your record. These “test pressings” will generally be on black vinyl, have a generic sleeve, and will not yet have your proper labels on it.

What should I be concerned with?

When you hear something that doesn’t sound right, listen on another test pressing copy at that exact same spot on the album. If you hear the same noise at the exact same spot on multiple test pressings, contact your sales rep.

Also, make sure the song order is correct too!

What do I do if I’m not sure about something I hear…

You should always consult with your sales rep at the pressing plant. Tell them what you hear and why you’re concerned. Don’t be afraid to bring it up, you’re spending a lot of money on these records and you want them to sound great!

How to ship vinyl records.

Here are 3 things to keep in mind when preparing to ship your vinyl records.

Order yourself a bunch of cardboard shipping boxes.
They come in a flat pack and can hold up to 3 records per box. These are mandatory as they take care of the records.
Get a shipping quote before you sell your records.
Take a record in a box to the post office and ask them to provide an approximate quote on how much it would cost to ship this box to various countries (Canada, USA, Japan, UK, Germany, etc). This will help you know how much to charge your fans!
Throw in some freebies with every order.
Things like old stock (unsold records/CDs), stickers, flyers, candies, or a personal note from the artist/label owner.