→ https://elasticstage.com/aaahhrealrecords ←
We found a company called ElasticStage. Well, “found” isn’t the right word. Their social media advertising is pretty aggressive. They offer a platform to create lathe-cut vinyl, on-demand, and ship directly to the consumer; and give us a royalty per item sold.
It seemed good, so I thought I’d check it out using some of my own material. To say I was actually impressed is an understatement. The product you receive is retail quality. Full colour inner sleeves. Full colour outer sleeves. Shrink wrapped. The vinyl itself both looks and sounds as close to a pressed disc as you’re going to get.
We thought it would be a good way to allow our fans – that’s you – the chance to get some Aaahh!!! releases on vinyl that would otherwise never get pressed.
PROS
- There’s no risk to the label or artist. We pay nothing upfront, and ElasticStage take their money from the sales. If there are zero sales, they take zero money.
- There’s no minimum order. This means we can offer the most niche releases on vinyl. Ever wanted that Frank Fiott EP on vinyl? Now you actually can.
- As stated above, the quality is superb.
To keep their system efficient, ElasticStage do have some limitations on what they offer.
CONS
- Only black vinyl is available. No colours. No fancy swirls. Just classic black.
- Only 33⅓ RPM is available. Even if it’s a 4 track EP, it’ll still get cut at 33⅓ and not 45.
- Because these are made-to-order, the wait times can be pretty long. I’ve found they usually take a month-or-so to arrive.
- The price works out around £27 + p&p for an LP. ES offer three prices for the label to choose from, and we always choose the lowest we can. This means we get less money, but means you pay less too. Yeah, I’d love these to cost £20ish, but £27 is actually pretty reasonable by today’s standards.
- The barcode always has to go in the same place. You probably wouldn’t even realise this, but it can irk me when re-jigging CD artwork for the vinyl!
All-in-all, I was super impressed with what they offer, which is why I’m willing to use this platform for Aaahh!!! Real Records.
So yeah, please check out our page on ElasticStage and order yourself a niche release on vinyl! Keep checking back, too, as we’ve got loads of plans for future additions.