Given the perpetual sales and streams Metallica‘s catalog continues to generate, their latest business venture will no doubt benefit them for years to come. The Bay Area thrash metal titans have recently acquired the majority of Furnace Record Pressing in Alexandria, VA.
Metallica have been utilizing the services of that vinyl pressing plant since 2008. It’s another move to keep things in-house for Metallica, who gained the rights to the master recordings of their venerable catalog back in 2012. The band have since conducted their business via their own label Blackened Recordings, and have been issuing their various reissues, deluxe sets and new outings via that endeavor.
Metallica‘s majority stake in the plant won’t signal a turn to the plant focusing solely on Metallica‘s output however, as the company still intend to press other projects as well. According to the band’s management Q Prime, 2022 saw Metallica press over 902,500 pieces of vinyl for more than 620,000 packages. Half of those items were sold within the United States, though not all were pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
Additionally, Luminate report that Metallica sold some 387,000 vinyl albums in 2022 alone, and 337,000 in 2021. Speaking on this new arrangement, drummer Lars Ulrich stated:
“We couldn’t be more happy to take our partnership with Furnace — and Eric, Ali and Mark specifically — to the next level. Their indie spirit, the passion they have for their craft… culturally we’re kindred souls.”
Metallica vocalist/guitarist 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.”
High demand is expected for the band’s approaching eleventh studio album, “72 Seasons“. Furnace have been steadily pressing new copies of that record since January of this year ahead of its April 14th release date.
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