Why pay more for vinyl masters?

Today from the mastering studio, I’m answering a common question about vinyl record production.

“Why should I pay more for a dedicated set of vinyl masters, if I want to press a vinyl record?”

Honestly, in many cases I would skip doing a vinyl pressing if I couldn’t also afford dedicated vinyl masters.

That’s because, in certain situations, your music will sound noticeably worse on vinyl if you skip doing a vinyl-optimized master.

Differences between digital and analog recording technology mean it’s not as simple as just using your digital masters to do your vinyl pressing as standard practice, if you want your music to sound its best in the vinyl medium.

This is a decision that is completely project-dependent, and should be handled on a case-by-case basis in consultation with a qualified mastering engineer. Here’s why.

Can you use a vinyl-optimized master for digital music streaming?

Yes you can! This can be a great way to go, and I prefer doing this whenever the project allows for it.

A great sounding analog master optimized for vinyl record production can often sound lovely when used as your digital streaming submission. This can also allow you to save some money on mastering costs, as you don’t have to buy two different sets of masters.

Whether this will work, though, depends on the specific project at hand. Vinyl-optimized masters are often a bit more compressed in the peak levels, softer in general, less wide in the stereo field, and can require different low and high-end EQing than a digital master does.

If those technical requirements fit with the style of music on the project, and your mix was professionally done by an engineer familiar with analog workflows, you can get great results when using vinyl masters for your digital streaming submission.

There are also times where it might make sense to do separate sets of digital and analog masters, especially for music that’s highly dynamic, louder, uses a wider stereo image, or has extended low and high frequencies present in the mix.

The digital medium is more flexible in those specific areas, and taking advantage of that could be a good idea.

The bottom line? Make sure you tell your mastering engineer if you’re planning on releasing your music on vinyl, because they’ll do things differently to accommodate that, even if you’re also using your vinyl masters for your digital streaming submission.

Differences between digital and vinyl masters

When I master for vinyl, there are many things I do differently compared to a digital-only release. One of the biggest of these is making sure to stay away from the use of digital limiters completely, as those tools can make the cutting heads of some vinyl lathes freak out.

Depending on the length of each side of the record, you might need to adjust the high frequency balance of a track that’s going to be placed closest to the center of the disc. That’s not a concern in the digital medium.

Phase issues between the left and right stereo channels in a mix are another consideration, especially in the bass area. If you get this wrong in either mixing or mastering, you can cause the needle of your record player to jump right out of the groove as it plays, leading to skipping. Again, not a concern in the digital space.

Sometimes, vinyl providers have specifications you need to research to make sure the pressing will sound its best, and those specs can change from provider to provider. This is particularly true in recent years, as older lathe cutting technology from the 1980’s has been dusted off and modernized to meet our increasing consumer demand for vinyl records.

Why dedicated vinyl masters can be important

Vinyl record production can be expensive, and it will always be more expensive to produce or purchase vinyl when compared to a digital version of your music.

That’s because when we make vinyl we also often need to make physical tooling to mass-produce a manufactured physical product. Those tooling costs are one of many reasons why vinyl records cost so much at the merch table. Not as much of that $40 you’re paying for a physical record is going to the artists, as you might think.

I’ve got a dedicated resource detailing how the specific costs of producing vinyl break down called “Can you afford vinyl?” right here from the Resources page. It’s a handy calculator you can punch your own numbers into, to see if it makes sense to do a vinyl pressing of your own music.

If you’re expecting your fans to pay $20, 30, 40+ for a physical recording of your music, you need to put your best foot forward and have it sound its very best.

You don’t want your fans to get home, be excited to put your record on, and then be disappointed in what they hear after they’ve thrown down the cash. That doesn’t reflect well on you.

And, you also don't want to spend your own good money on a vinyl pressing, which is a relatively expensive endeavor, only to have your own efforts not sound their very best.

Bad sounding vinyl is waste of time and money for both you and your fans. So, for the best sounding release, make sure you tell your mastering engineer you’re planning on releasing on vinyl, and discuss what’s best to do for each individual project.

Vinyl masters are still very affordable when done by a pro!

The good news is that, while paying for a vinyl run with dedicated vinyl masters might be a bit more expensive when you’re talking about releasing a full album, it’s quite affordable for just about anyone if you’re talking about a small EP or a single!

Just scale the project size down a bit, and you can get even higher quality for much less cash. You see a lot of hip-hop artists take this style of release strategy to great effect.

They often start out their career by releasing a limited edition single, with a limited edition vinyl pressing to go with it.

This is a very cost effective approach, i.e. it allows you to make very high quality music that stands out in the marketplace, while still being something reasonably affordable from a production perspective.

Anyone can do an amazing digital single release, do a small limited edition vinyl run as well, and still be able to afford to work with the best production teams on the planet, if you’re only talking about producing a song or two. Scaling your project size down a bit is a very cost-effective approach to making your music.

Vinyl singles can be very career effective

One amazing single that really stands out can often be much more career effective (at lower cost) than releasing a bunch of full albums that all sound pretty forgettable, because there was no production budget to do them right.

There’s a very large number of meh quality full albums with some great songwriting dying on Bandcamp right now, unfortunately. But, super high quality singles that have amazing writing combined with amazing production blow up all the time.

Maybe it makes sense to save your full album recording efforts for your second or third release, not your first.