Toronto Startup Joins Forces with Calgary's Canada Boy to Up Vinyl Production

Published Jun 02, 2016

Last year was a good one for vinyl, with reports confirming an increase in sales (despite a decrease in kids actually listening to the things ). But that high demand has put a strain on production — and while folks like Jack White have stepped in to try and help relieve the pressure stateside, it looks like a solution will now be making its way to Canada.In an attempt to aid with the surging demand, Toronto startup Viryl Technologies produces modern, fully automated machines that allow pressing plants to spend "more time pressing and less time setting up runs, re-grinding wasted vinyl, sorting out flawed records and standing by to aid the process."Now, as the Globe and Mail reports, Viryl has signed its first partnership, teaming up with Calgary-based pressing business Canada Boy Vinyl . The company, which got off the ground last fall, has ordered three of Viryl's presses and they're expected to arrive in September.Canada Boy Vinyl is currently operating with three presses that were purchased from England, granting the company a max capacity to press 4,000 records (though it averages 1,500 to 2,000 on a daily basis). Despite the newly acquired machinery, the plant intends to maintain the older models, as well."Giving Canadian musicians the chance to keep their business in Canada was huge for me," Canada Boy co-founder Dean Reid told the Globe. "It can be pretty cold and lonely in the Great White North when you're building a pressing plant from zero… It's extremely nice to have Canadian support."Canada Boy stands as this country's sole pressing plant, following the shuttering of RIP-V back in 2014.