Well now you can do it for them. Vinylize.it is a new website that interacts with SoundCloud, allowing you to send requests to the artist or label to let them know what you are after on vinyl. Artists are then able to convert your request to an online pre-order or crowdfunding project for you to purchase with vinyl ready audio files.
“Fans get to decide what they want, instead of labels calculating what makes the most sense,” explains Taishi Fukuyama, Vinylize.it’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Artists and labels can go into this, knowing there are people who want these records, already signed up. It has profound implications. We’re basically introducing vinyl on demand.”
The idea comes from Japanese-based company Qrates that merged crowd funding and quick, small-batch vinyl production. “We’re tapping into soundcloud API. You can search their database, pull your music into Vinylize.it and that becomes a project on our platform,” says Fukuyama. “Although, the minimum crowdfunding quantity on Qrates is currently 100, once you have 20 people wanting a certain track, we’ll notify the artist via the SoundCloud platform. They can click a button and start a crowdfunding project, to gather pre-orders.”
For more details, head to vinylize.it.