Artist Advice Column: Pressing Your Music To Vinyl Pt. 3


Friday, December 6th, 2019 |

Over the past two weeks, we have been looking at the steps one needs to take to press their music to vinyl. If you have a label who will do all of that for you, wonderful, but for smaller, independent artists, it is good to know what you will have to figure out before making this big investment. We have gone over other considerations like number, cost and timing, in two previous columns, but now we look at other important factors in art, liner notes and storage / shipping.

  1. Art:

Next to the actual music, art may be the most important part of a vinyl record. It draws people in when they are digging at record stores. It sets the mood for the entire album. People buy vinyl not just for the actual record, but also for the whole experience of having a beautiful case and the liner notes all in one place.

Make sure whatever design you pick will look good on a vinyl sleeve and have something for the back as well. If you get a special one made for vinyl, go ahead and use that, but don’t make it too dissimilar from what people are familiar with on the web. Art is something worth spending the extra money on because a good design will go a long way. Some people may buy the record just because of the art, even if they aren’t in love with your music. If you can collaborate with a visual artist who has their own work, that is even better since you can create a collector’s item for both sets of fans.

  1. Liner Notes:

In addition to the art, liner notes are a vital part of the record owning experience. Song credits have become less common in the streaming era. Services are starting to fill in credits for releases, but they can be incomplete, notably outside of major label pop music. This is where you can see who played drums on a song, who made the artwork, or who was the mastering engineer on the album. It is fascinating for fans to pour over this information and see what other work those people have done. You can be creative with the liner notes with fonts, writing styles and colors.

You can also write a special note to your fans in the liner notes or have a guest writer come in and do it. This is your chance to get creative with how you present what is normally pretty straightforward information.

  1. Storage / Shipping:

This plays off of what we said with cost and number, but it is worth diving into more detail. Unless you have a retailer or service dealing with the storage and shipping of your vinyl, that will be up to you and your team, if you have one. You may have to store your entire order before it can be shipped to fans. That may take up a lot of space in your apartment, or a storage facility. Be prepared for those extra costs, even if it is just taking up half of your bedroom. If storing in another facility, make sure it is suitable for storing vinyl so there aren’t leaks, it isn’t too hot and it isn’t too humid.

Shipping costs need to be considered into your overall pricing plan. Also work out where you are willing to ship your vinyl to because of distance, price and local tariffs / taxes. If you are doing the packaging yourself, make sure the record is protected in cardboard and shipped with care. Damaged vinyl in transit will make customers mad and be a waste of money.


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Louie Vega

DJ/Vega Records

Winter Music Conference is my ground zero. It has always provided the perfect storm of opportunity and excitement for up and coming artists, including myself back in 2003, where I first caught a glimpse of how it felt to have an audience respond to my work. Over the years, I’ve always made it a point to have WMC in my calendar because that’s the spot where everyone congregates and you can feel it in the air. Creativity, brother and sisterhood, FUN and most of all the chance to come together as a community and celebrate the reason we are all here—the music.”


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DJ/Producer

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Erick Morillo

DJ / Producer / Label Boss - Subliminal Records

Having only missed the very first year of WMC in 1985, it was 1986-1990 that initially placed me on the map globally due to the international attendance of the entire dance music community. All throughout the 90s I was often getting written about by various high profile mags and websites for having contributed to help break many artists, DJs, producers and remixers. WMC enabled me to bring many top industry people together all under one roof, especially at Groove Jet, where house music officially met Techno in my sets and it’s all been uphill since…TBC


Danny Tenaglia

DJ, Producer

Before there was Ultra Music Festival, there was The Winter Music Conference, the annual coming together of the dance music tribes. Miami in March is a fundamental place to be from a business perspective, and has always given me endless opportunities for discovering new partnerships and talent. WMC brings together the dance music industry and surrounding culture like no other event in America. I’ve been attending WMC for nearly 20 years, and I’m very much looking forward to experiencing its evolution in 2019.


Matt Colon

Director, North America - YM&U Music