Worldwide Vinyl Supply Jeopardized By "Devastating" Manufacturing Plant Fire

Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

The Apollo Masters manufacturing plant has been completely destroyed by the fire.

Vinyl supply throughout the world may be threatened following the destruction of a manufacturing plant caused by a fire.

READ: This At-Home Vinyl Record Cutting Machine Could Change Mixtapes Forever

In a report from The Desert Sun, the Apollo Masters manufacturing plant in Banning, California, suffered a fire on Thursday, February 6. No employees were hurt in the fire, which the news outlet called "devastating." The facility was commpletely destroyed, though. Apollo Masters supplies the lacquer used for making master discs, which are used to make vinyl records.

In a separate report from Pitchfork, the outlet noted a statement about the incident on the Apollo Masters website.

"We are uncertain of our future at this point and are evaluating options as we try to work through this difficult time," a part of the statement read.

Pitchfork also spoke with notable figures in the vinyl record produciton industry, including Third Man Records co-founder Ben Blackwell.

"From my understanding, this fire will present a problem for the vinyl industry worldwide," Blackwell said. "There are only TWO companies that make lacquers in the world, and the other, MDC in Japan, already had trouble keeping up with demand BEFORE this development."

Blackwell went on to say that Apollo was the "primary or possibly only supplier of the styli" that are used in the vinyl pressing process.

"I imagine this will affect EVERYONE, not just Third Man Pressing and Third Man Mastering, but to what extent remains to be seen," he said. "I don’t want to be an alarmist. But I’m attempting to be realistic as opposed to Pollyannish."

Source: The Desert Sun, Pitchfork