Vinyl wait times have been insane over the past few years thanks to supply chain issues and COVID-related delays. Metallica clearly doesn't want to wait for their albums to arrive, and has simply purchased Furnace Record Pressing of Alexandria, VA.
Metallica states they've been working with Furnace since 2014 on vinyl pressings and that leadership will stay with the company despite the purchase. Whether or not this means Metallica will take priority over other bands isn't clear, but I mean… why else would you buy an entire vinyl pressing plant if not to prioritize your own stuff?
Of course that raises some red flags. If Metallica takes priority and other artists get pushed, is it going to gum up the works of vinyl production even more? Because the industry sure as hell doesn't need that. Hetfield mentions in his statement that the purchase "ensures that fans of vinyl everywhere, particularly our Fifth Members, will have continued access to high quality records in the future." In other words, Metallica's fan club is about to get more stuff, but the question of if other bands will get bumped remains.
Hopefully this is just business as usual and isn't Metallica pushing bands to the back of the line, but we'll see what happens.
"Building Furnace into the dedicated and experienced family of experts that it is today has been a huge effort, but immensely gratifying" said Eric Astor, founder of Furnace. "Knowing our long-term future is secured while also being better able to take advantage of growth opportunities is really exciting for every member of the Furnace staff.”
Ali Miller, Chief Operating Officer of Furnace, added "We have found ideal partners in Metallica. They want us to continue our customer driven focus. To that end we look forward to providing even greater capacity and service to each of our customers in the future.”
"We couldn't be more happy to take our partnership with Furnace — and Eric, Ali and Mark specifically — to the next level," said Ulrich. "Their indie spirit, the passion they have for their craft… culturally we're kindred souls."
James Hetfield added, "Furnace has been great to Metallica and more importantly to our fans. This deepened relationship between Metallica and Furnace ensures that fans of vinyl everywhere, particularly our Fifth Members, will have continued access to high quality records in the future."
