D.C. has a long history of musicians and bands making and recording their own records.
In a changing music industry, including the ongoing resurgence of vinyl, the do-it-yourself ethos spawned in the nation’s capital will be the focus of the upcoming Making Vinyl USA 2026 conference in Old Town Alexandria, at The Westin, from May 27 to 29.
“Vinyl is still on an upward trend,” said Bryan Ekus, founder of Making Vinyl. “We continue to see an increase in sales, as well as the number of units that we manufacture each year.”
Consumers of vinyl, both young and old, are supporting double digit growth, Ekus said.
“We’re excited to be working on something which was thought to be dead not too long ago,” Ekus said.
During an opening reception at the Eaton D.C., Dischord Records’ Ian MacKaye will speak, as will Ron Moten from D.C.’s Go-Go Museum and Cafe. A keynote address will be delivered by Ali Miller, CEO of Furnace Record Pressing in Springfield, Virginia.
Since 2017, Making Vinyl has built a platform where organizers say pressing plants, labels, mastering engineers, audio tech companies, fashion innovators and beverage brands have gathered to connect, collaborate “and create the future of physical music.”
No record deal needed
A lot has changed since vinyl’s initial go-round, which generally required a record company to press an album and promote it.
“It’s not necessary to be working with a major label” in 2026, Ekus said.
He said independent bands and artists are going directly to pressing plants, “and pressing plants are set up to work with them.”
In addition, minimum quantities of physical product have changed.
“Years ago, probably the minimum order was 2,000,” he said. “Now, you can get 100 records made.”
For an artist or band considering pressing vinyl, “These days it’s super important that you’re working with a mastering engineer that understands vinyl, because the mastering for vinyl is very different to what it was for CD,” in which a lot of recordings were highly compressed.
Ekus said a resource is VinylIndustryDirectory.com, where artists can find services they need, in the process of putting out their records.
Without large promotional budgets borne by record companies, Ekus said social media is proving to be effective in helping potential buyers to hear an artist’s music.
“It’s probably one of the best ways to do it, because you can’t necessarily go to a radio station anymore, and say, ‘Hey, can you play my album?’ Not many are interested in doing that anymore,” he joked.
Early bird tickets for the conference, priced at $565, are on sale. The price for attendees under the age of 25 is $226.
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