Rutlowski runs into a lot of incredulity when he tells people just now wanting to reserve plant space what they’re in for. “For us pretty much, if you’re going to be pressing a record, we’re looking at like the summer of 2022 now in terms of new records coming out and being pressed. There’s a very reluctant acceptance of that, because (artists or labels) go, ‘Oh, well, I can’t wait that long.’ And then I find out that whatever plant they end up going to next, they’re also told they have to wait that long.”
He adds, though, that “the reality is that these frustrations are frustrations because people are embracing the format. So I’d much rather be in a situation of having to change 43 records because we couldn’t get the right color compound than have to scramble to keep the presses running. We’ve done about 1400 different orders over the course of the year, and we’re a mid-sized (plant) here in the U.S.”