Provisions: United Record Pressing

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United Record Pressing

Category: Vinyl record pressing
Founders: Ozell Simpkins, John Dunn, and Joe Talbot
Founded: 1949
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Current CEO: Mark Michaels
Representative products: Vinyl pressings, customized vinyl pressings, and reissue pressings, in a range of colors and templates

At a glance:

• Founded as Southern Plastics in 1949, the year that the smaller 45 rpm record format first appeared, United Record Pressing is now the oldest and largest vinyl record pressing plant in America.
• It has since grown to become one of the largest and most prominent record pressing plants in the world, churning out roughly 80,000 records a day.
• United Record Pressing has innovated the art of making vinyl records.
• The company has pressed some incredibly important albums and singles, from a diverse range of music legends including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Taylor Swift, Hank Williams Jr., Tammy Wynette, Kanye West, Adele, Mumford & Sons, the Black Keys, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Antebellum, and Dolly Parton.
• It also pressed the Beatles’ “Please Please Me”/ “From Me to You,” the band’s first single made in America.
• United Record Pressing is also known for its community engagement: At a time when the South was segregated, United Record Pressing welcomed black musicians and industry executives.
• It survived the industry drought.
• Demand for vinyl exploded during COVID-19 lockdowns.
• In 2023, the United Record Pressing saw a $10 million expansion that added 200 jobs to the company.

In their own words: CEO Mark Michaels

Seventy-five-plus years of history gives you a lot of gas in your tank in terms of pride. You don’t make the first Beatles record in America, you don’t make all these Motown records, you don’t accumulate all this history and know-how and not have something special. And I never want to lose that.

There's a whole generation that never really got to experience music as art. They may value the portability (of downloads), but they still want to have an experience.

Never in a million years did I think it would, as a market and as an industry, become what it’s become today.

The vinyl revival has been incredible to witness. At United Record Pressing, we’re dedicated to meeting the growing demand with the highest standards of quality and precision. It’s an exciting time for both music lovers and the industry.

United Record Pressing is and always has been a Tennessee-based company with over 74 years of rich history here. We are excited to be making this investment in our expansion in Middle Tennessee and are very appreciative of the important support we have received.

I bought the company in 2007. I’ve got an enormous passion for music, so that was a happy coincidence. But that wasn’t why I bought it. I thought it was a good deal, and I wanted to build a small, niche business. I didn’t think vinyl was going to go away, but I didn’t think it was going to have the explosive growth that it has had over the past decade.