Jack White Just Sent a Surprising Message to Major Record Labels

Jack White, a former member of the White Stripes and owner of Third Man Records, is calling on major record labels to open their own vinyl record pressing plant. The artist issued a statement along with a one-minute video earlier this week, asking labels to follow in his path to address and possibly fix the vinyl supply chain problem plaguing the industry amid the resurgence. 

"It's 2022 now and it's no longer a fad — vinyl records have exploded in the last decade, and the demand is incredibly high," he says in the video. "A small punk band can't get their record for 8 to 10 months … As MC5 once said: 'You're either part of the problem or part of the solution."

"At least once a week, without fail, someone will reach out asking me to help expedite their vinyl record manufacturing. It's a natural thought… knowing that I own a pressing plant and have my own record label, 'if anyone could help, it's this guy!'" he wrote in his statement.

He continued in his written statement, adding, "With industry-wide turnaround times for vinyl currently leaning towards the length of a human pregnancy, it's obvious, in a world so contingent on being of-the-moment and timed just right (a single, an album, a tour etc.), these timelines are the killers of momentum, soul, artistic expression, and far too often, livelihoods."

"I've done everything within my power to help. Third Man Records began a concentrated focus on vinyl in 2009 with hopes of exposing its wider potential to the farthest reaches of the music industry. In 2017 I furthered my commitment by opening Third Man Pressing… a plant which has always been open to anyone and everyone who walks in the door and wants to press a record, from bedroom hip hop artists to field recording documentarians. And in the last year, I've doubled down and invested in even more record presses, more employees to run them, and more shifts to try and accommodate the insane growing demand for vinyl product," he added.

"To be clear, the issue is not big labels versus small labels, it's not independent versus mainstream, it's not even punk versus pop," White continued. "The issue is, simply, we have ALL created an environment where the unprecedented demand for vinyl records cannot keep up with the rudimentary supply of them."