Jack White and the Vinyl Record Renaissance
On paper, there does not appear to be a logical reason for the production of new vinyl records in today’s world. Digital streaming has replaced physical music and transformed the entire industry for both consumers and artists, offering unparalleled convenience and value with a single subscription. Purchasing individual albums in physical form is simply obsolete and overly expensive in a world dominated by Spotify. Even for those still looking to buy their music in a tangible medium, CDs are vastly more practical than vinyl, being far more portable and compatible with a wider range of devices, taking up less shelf space, and costing half the price of your standard LP. So, why then have vinyl record sales increased by over 260 percent between 2009 and 2019? The answer is a combination of many different factors within the industry, but one man in particular has spent the past decade doing everything in his power to bring vinyl back into the mainstream.
Nestled away in an old industrial warehouse in Midtown Detroit, the Third Man Records pressing plant is the culmination of Jack White’s push for a vinyl comeback. Opened in 2017 in the legendary blues rock musician’s hometown, it was the first record manufacturing facility in Detroit since 1965 and sparked plenty of buzz throughout the city and across the musical landscape. After visiting the space in person or even looking at pictures online, it quickly becomes obvious that White’s Third Man building is not your average record plant. He had a much bigger vision for the project, turning it into a unique celebration of the music industry that is equal parts factory, museum, record store, and concert venue, all of which is surrounded by stylish, colorful modern art installations.
It’s no secret by now that Jack White is a pretty strange guy; he has essentially built his entire career around it. He is best known as one half of The White Stripes, a band that deliberately made music as simplistic and lo-fi as possible, yet still somehow found massive mainstream success. It was a project that seemed to have no chance of reaching as wide of an audience as it did, but the Stripes single handedly sparked a revival of the garage rock genre in the early 2000s thanks to their uniquely raw aesthetic and bizarre public image (Jack spent years trying to convince the media that his bandmate and ex-wife Meg was actually his sister). He has been one of the most innovative musicians of the 21st century, earning an incredible 12 Grammy Awards while never sanitizing the eccentric character of his music.
Infused in every element of Jack White’s musical and entrepreneurial endeavours is his fascination and dedication to analog music equipment. His music is exclusively recorded directly to tape, engineered using old school techniques, and even sometimes performed using instruments and other equipment that he built himself. Unsurprisingly, his devotion to the analog world includes his advocacy of vinyl, a topic which he became increasingly vocal about over the years as he witnessed the medium slowly lose its place in the market. With his massive following and unorthodox success story, he knew that if there was anyone who could bring new life into something as antiquated as vinyl, it would be him.
Over the course of the past decade, White and his company Third Man Records have put together a number of different stunts to bring vinyl back to its former glory, and his efforts have been crucial to the rise of vinyl sales in recent years. Whether it be the pressing of records with special gimmicks like playing backwards or displaying holographic images when spun, limited releases of live albums from a number of different artists whose performances are recorded directly onto vinyl, the promotion and funding of the annual Record Store Day, or even sending the first functional record player into space, his campaigning has made a visibly massive impact on the medium. White’s own albums are consistently at the top of vinyl sales charts each year, and his more unconventional antics have garnered national attention, only further increasing the amount of publicity the recent vinyl boom has received.
The Detroit Third Man location serves as a permanent, fully analog reminder of Jack White’s impact on vinyl record sales and the music industry as a whole. It’s a love letter to the medium and the philosophy behind it.
“I've always felt like, until you buy the vinyl record, you don't really own the album,” White expressed in an interview from a few years ago. The personal connection to the music that vinyl offers is difficult to properly express with words, but it is incredibly rewarding to own an album for yourself; it easily makes any LP worth the price.
I have found myself beginning to fully agree with such sentiments ever since I took up record collecting as a hobby. And it only seems fitting that after being gifted a turntable on my birthday in 2016, I made a trip to my local record store to buy my own copy of the latest Jack White album.