Portland Music Foundation

The next installment in the Portland Music Foundation's "Music as a Profession" Series

Wednesday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m.

Maybe you've heard about the "analog renaissance" or the "return of vinyl." While CD sales have been falling steadily, vinyl sales have seen increases of 33 percent (2009), 14 percent (2010), and a whopping 39 percent in 2011. Some 3.9 million vinyl LPs were sold last year, which Nielsen claims is the most vinyl albums ever sold in a single year.

Potentially the best news from those numbers for independent artists is that 71 percent of those vinyl records sold last year were sold in independent music stores, places where you can actually get your own records placed.

So, is putting your next album out on vinyl something you should be looking at? How much more expensive is it to press vinyl than get CDs printed? How many should you have made at a time? Which styles of music are most likely to sell vinyl and which bands are having the most success with vinyl releases?

Well, this webinar has the answers.

Jay Millar will join us from United Record Pressing, based in Nashville, which is one of the premier record manufacturers in the country, and the place where Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many, many others had their records pressed. He'll talk about your options, what you need to do to optimize your music for vinyl, and all the manufacturing details.

Billy Fields, Senior Director of Sales and Account Management at Warner/Elektra/Atlantic, will talk about trends in the industry, who the people are that are buying vinyl and how you can reach them, and whether vinyl might be a good idea for your band.

William Etheridge, head of Eternal Otter Records, will talk about his experiences working with United Record Pressing, why he decided to print many of his label's records on vinyl, and what his lessons learned have been from putting records out this way.

Chris Brown, head of marketing at Bull Moose Music, will talk about Bull Moose's experience with vinyl from local and independent artists and the lessons he'd pass along to those looking to sell their vinyl through the Bull Moose chain and other independent record stores.

If you're considering going the vinyl route with your next record, you absolutely need to be in on this Portland Music Foundation webinar. Sign up to be a member now to get an invite to participate.

Please join by Tuesday, March 27, to get an invite to the webinar.