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Music

A Canadian Company Is Trying to End Record-Pressing Bottlenecks

Viryl Technologies leads the charge in pressing plant advancements.
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Canadian company Viryl Technologies has developed a fully automated record press that could help modernize the vinyl industry, The Globe And Mail reported. Backed by $1 million in funding from a fellow Canadian investor, Viryl hopes to roll out their new machines before the end of 2016.

The vinyl industry has exploded over the past few years (Canadians bought 517,400 vinyl records in 2015, a 30 percent rise over 2014) but has faced numerous challenges to consumers (like ballooning production times)—a topic that THUMP recently explored in-depth. Canada made news late last year with the launch of its only operational pressing plant in Calgary, Canada Boy Vinyl, while a São Paulo, Brazil plant is set to open in the coming months (which will be South America's largest).

"The idea is to help the industry get rid of its own bottlenecks," Chad Brown, Viryl's chief executive officer, told The Globe And Mail.

The new machines will account for technical elements of the record creation process such as nozzle pressure and temperature in order to craft a "perfect record," Brown said.

The machines will sell for roughly $160,000 (USD) and will be produced outside of Toronto, Ontario by manufacturer Alf Zeuner, who put up the $1 million investment. His plant has the capacity to build two presses per week that can be shipped throughout Canada and the world.