Third Man Records is an independent record label, store, and vinyl-creating studio with locations in Nashville, Detroit, and London. The company was created in 2001 by Detroit-native Jack White and opened the doors to its Nashville location in 2009 which houses label offices, studios, and product distribution center. In 2015, the company expanded to Detroit, Michigan a location that included all the essentials of the Nashville location but also has its very own manufacturing facility. They are currently the only studio that can also create a vinyl on site.
Designed to support local artists in the surrounding community and keep the physicality of vinyl records alive, Third Man opened a brand-new pressing facility in Detroit in 2017, 35 years since the last presses were built. The plant is located in the Cass Corridor, a neighborhood within the larger city that has a rich artistic and musical history. The facility processes orders for their own artists and artists outside their label. The minimum order is 200 vinyl records, a smaller batch number to help support smaller artists. The current production capacity is estimated at 5000 records per 8-hour shift — just 45 seconds per record. The items they can create include 12” LP’s and 7” singles.
The plant is the first of its kind to produce records in an environmentally friendly way in a purposeful environment. Water waste is minimized with recycled water from the air conditioning system, creating the only fully climate-controlled pressing plant work environment in the world. Each pressing station is equipped with high-tech touch screens to control factors like temperature, hydraulic compression, and extruder speed. A unique quality of the plant is that it was specially built to decrease noise production to ensure no disruption to the surrounding community.
Within the Detroit facility, guests can access listening rooms to enjoy the records on site. There is even an indoor performance space that can be rented out and a live stage setting where music can be recorded directly onto a vinyl record.
The space and its vinyl-printing abilities are a major amenity to the Detroit area and to all artists and bands that come from near and far to produce their music or share it on vinyl with the world. Third Man is open for tours at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Fridays for $15 per person led by an experienced staff member. Tickets are offered in limited quantities, so be sure to snatch them up quickly! The tour includes an exclusive look into the onsite store, performance space, recording studios, and the vinyl pressing plant. The tour lasts about 30 to 40 minutes. Support small artists by checking out Third Man Records and maybe even grab your own vinyl to take home!