世界で２社しかないレコード原料製造の最大手、山火事で壊滅的被害

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】流行に敏感な人やコレクター、温かみのあるアナログな音のファンらの間で、近年レコード人気が復活している。だが、レコードの原盤となる「ラッカー盤」の原料を製造する「アポロ・マスターズ」が、昨年米カリフォルニア州で発生した山火事により壊滅的な被害を受けたため、レコード製造への影響が懸念されている。（写真は資料写真）
　アポロ・マスターズは世界で２社しかないラッカー製造会社の一つで、最大手。同社は先週、カリフォルニア州南部にある製造工場と倉庫が「壊滅的な火災」によって「最悪の被害」を受け、困難な状況にあると明らかにした。
　全米レコード協会（ＲＩＡＡ）によると、２０１８年のレコード総収益は４億１９００万ドル（約４６０億円）と、１９８８年以来最高を記録した。だが業界関係者らは、火災によるラッカー不足で、世界的な供給に影響が出ると懸念している。
　ロサンゼルスのレコードプレス業者カプセル・ラボのギル・タマジアン最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）は、「大惨事を予測するのは時期尚早だが、業界全体にとって非常に恐ろしい状況だという点では皆、一致している」と述べた。
　同氏によると、アポロ・マスターズが火事で工場を失ったため、これまで約２０％のシェアだった日本企業ＭＤＣが唯一のラッカー供給者となるという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/02/13-09:31）

The darling of hipsters, collectors, and fans of a warm analog sound, vinyl has seen resurging popularity in recent years -- but the industry is fearful after a recent California fire destroyed a key supplier.
Late last week, Apollo Masters, the top global producer of lacquer used to produce vinyl records, suffered catastrophic damage after a devastating fire -- causes yet unknown -- raged through its manufacturing and storage facility in southern California.
In 2018, vinyl saw revenues hit their highest level since 1988, totaling $419 million -- an eight percent jump from the previous year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
But the recent blaze has industry members fearful that a lacquer shortage could disrupt global suppliers.
It's too soon to predict a disaster but we all can agree this is a very scary time for all of us in the industry, said Gil Tamazyan, CEO of the LA record pressing plant Capsule Labs.
We are all worried there may be a delay before a solid solution is found, he told AFP.
The loss of the plant leaves the Japanese firm MDC as the world's sole lacquer supplier, which previously had provided only approximately 20 percent of the total global stock, according to Tamazyan.
Disaster for the vinyl pressing industry, tweeted the Canadian firm Duplication in the immediate aftermath.
But though he called the fire quite a blow, David Read, Duplication's vinyl coordinator, cautioned against predictions of doom.
The industry will rebound as it has before, he told AFP. Remember vinyl was considered 'dead' 20 years ago -- except to everyone who was still keeping it alive.
The loss could trigger a backlog and spike in vinyl manufacturing prices, but Read said it could also spur new growth.
Perhaps the phoenix-in-the-flame here is that new innovators get involved, he said.
A lacquer disc is created when an engineer cuts grooves into its surface that will be used to create a master recording, which can then be used to press copies.
Another option is Direct Metal Mastering, in which a blank copper plate is cut directly into instead of the lacquer material.
Reid said there are currently no commercially available DMM plants in North America, and eight in Europe.
Hopefully labels will allow for a longer lead time on projects so things flow as smooth as they can, he said.
Vinyl isn't going anywhere, believe it!