Massive Fire at Manufacturing Facility Apollo Masters Threatens Vinyl Record Production

On Thursday morning, a fire broke out in Banning, CA at the manufacturing and storage facility for Apollo Masters Corp., which supplies the lacquer needed to create vinyl records. The company later confirmed that the plant had "suffered catastrophic damage.”

The Desert Sun reported that employees were inside the building when the fire started, but they all escaped safely. As for the loss of the plant, it is expected to largely impact the vinyl record industry. The plant was just one of two producers worldwide that creates the lacquer used for making master discs, which are then used to create vinyl records. MDC in Japan is the only other producer.

In an email to Pitchfork, Ben Blackwell, co-founder of Third Man Records said, "From my understanding, this fire will present a problem for the vinyl industry worldwide."

According to Billboard, founder and president of the California-based vinyl pressing plant Capsule Labs, Gil Tamazyan, noted that "unless something happens really quickly, there will soon be Vinylgeddon." Tamazyan also estimated that Apollo supplies 80% of blank lacquer master discs globally.

Pitchfork also reached out to David Read at the Canadian company Duplication, and he assured that despite the "disaster" having a widespread impact on the vinyl industry, professionals are already trying to figure out a solution.

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