Ed Gross, who runs Nipro Optics, an Irvine, Calif.-based company that supplies stampers to pressing plants across the United States, says the price of nickel doubled in early March to more than $30 a pound before settling into the $20 range by late April. In early March, the London Metal Exchange temporarily suspended the trading of nickel after prices more than doubled on fears that the supply chain would be disrupted due to sanctions against Russia, which supplies roughly 10% of global nickel output. Now it’s over $2 when you factor in all the fees,” says Mark Rainey, co-founder/CEO of Cascade Record Pressing in Milwaukie, Ore.Īnother emerging concern for the industry is a potential shortage of nickel, a crucial element for producing the metal stampers used to press records. “Pre-pandemic, the price of black compound was $1.16 and $1.17 a pound. Pressing plant executives tell Billboard that over the past year there have been three price increases on vinyl pellets that have nearly doubled the cost. How Vinyl Got its Groove Back - to the Tune of a Billion Dollars

It’s too early to say how much the price increases will affect sales, but rising materials costs and shortages are stretching the vinyl industry to the breaking point. Vinyl sales spiked 51.4% in 2021, with 41.72 million vinyl albums sold, making it the biggest year for the format since Luminate began tracking it in 1991.

“They’re all feeling the same cost pressure.” “We’re waiting for the shoe to drop from Sony, too,” says Laura Provenzano, senior vp of purchasing and marketing for vinyl wholesaler and distributor Alliance Entertainment. UMG’s pricing increase follows a similar move by Warner Music Group, which raised wholesale costs on roughly 600 titles last October. Some vinyl albums are already selling for even more: Harry Styles’ new Harry’s House, released by Sony/Columbia, has a wholesale cost of $24, according to Mello, while retail prices range from $32 to $40. “So those are all essentially becoming like $30 price tag items.” “Out of the 2,400 titles that are lifting, 1,200 of them will now have a cost of $19 or higher,” says Carl Mello, director of brand engagement at Newbury Comics. Whether the vinyl boom will suffer from sticker shock remains to be seen, but retail prices are climbing. On May 20, Universal Music Group raised its wholesale prices on roughly 2,400 vinyl titles, adding new pressure to a format struggling to keep up with increased demand, supply chain issues and skyrocketing materials costs.

Billboard vinyl