A small Czech village is at the heart of the global vinyl record revival

Czechia’s GZ Media has steered through communism and revolution to lead the global comeback of the vinyl record.

It doesn’t look like the center of rock ‘n’ roll. The biggest vinyl record producer in the world is located in a small village in the Czech Republic.

The vinyl revival of recent years has driven GZ Media to heights that owner and President Zdenek Pelc could never have imagined as he steered the company through the tumultuous days of communism.

40 years of CDs, from listening pleasure to hazardous waste.

Pelc said it was like the Wild West at times. He smiled as he recalled how he steered the company through the bad times. The birth of the Czech Republic was one of the highlights of the decade.

GZ Media’s vinyl presses stopped working as the older technology was throttled by CDs. Punk and metal bands were looking for cheap production and tiny batches when the company produced 350,000 records a year in 1994.

The same amount was turned out in a single day.

The revival of vinyl has led to an expansion of the company that now operates six plants in four countries. The Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole, Black Sabbath, and Ariana Grande were some of the artists GZ Media pressed last year. The goal is to turn out 140 million by the year 2024.

History did not end in the 1990s. That hurts both ways.

Pelc has taken a break from running the day-to-day operations and is only in the office for four days a week.

It’s back from the dead.

The GZ Media website says that nothing will ever beat the sound of a vinyl record.

While the company also produces CDs, DVDs and has a large printing operation, it’s the vinyl division that gets all the attention, as fans of rock and pop have developed a new taste for the aural, visual and tactile pleasures of theLP.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America, just 1 million albums were sold in the United States in the 90s. US vinyl sales surpassed 22 million in 2020.

Pelc said that it was the only example he knew of of a product dying and returning. There is too much information in the world. Some people are fond of holding a package in their hand. The same reason that books exist.

When COVID-19 forced people to stop spending their hard-earned money on concerts, restaurants and holidays, these newly appreciated objects of desire got an additional boost.

While the Pandemic increased demand for records, it also disrupted trade and transportation.

Transport containers are still taking longer to traverse the Atlantic due to the effects of Donald Trump’s feud with Europe or the UK’s decision to leave the EU. Two years after a machine was purchased in China, a Chinese technician still hasn’t arrived.

The company’s ability to adapt while navigating the music world over the years allows them to take such bumps in their stride, according to the president and CEO. Pelc is reddened when energy costs go up.

The company’s vinyl presses use a lot of gas and electricity to heat the vinyl up to a temperature of 160 degrees Celsius.

Over the past year, GZ Media’s energy costs have gone up by 2,000%. Pelc suggested that the country’s powerful energy lobby may have helped push the price of energy to the highest in the EU.

The question of sustainable is raised by that. It’s early days and there are no plans to make vinyl more sustainable using recycled plastic.

He said that the most sustainable solution was to download music, but consumers wanted an emotion connection that that music downloads didn’t provide.

Do you think music of the future will be?

GZ Media bases its production close to consumers. The company opened a plant in Nashville in June. There are production bases in Canada and France.

Although the company is proud of its high-end, high-tech printing and packaging services, it is also proud of the limited expansion plans for the division. Pelc said that the US is the biggest vinyl market in the world.

Other destinations are not easy to navigate. He didn’t like being asked about European markets to the east. GZ Media stopped working in the Russian market because they wouldn’t pay.

Adaptability is a key word and one that Sterba must keep handy while working with the company president.

Pelc said it made sense to build the investment in the US now, but maybe in three or four years we’ll be off to Asia. Or the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

The CEO gave a good-natured grimace at his colleague’s grand ideas.

The president said that they were always ready to adapt. In 10 years, who knows, butVinyl is big now.

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