Californian metalheads Metallica have acquired a majority stake in the US company Furnace Records, one of the most important manufacturers of vinyl records in their country. The latest figures on the increase in vinyl sales confirm the quartet’s acquisition, making the sector’s renaissance a reality.
The quartet formed by James Hetfield (vocals and guitar), Kirk Hammett (guitar), Robert Trujillo (bass) and Lars Ulrich (drums) released their latest album seven years ago under the title of Hardwire… to Self-Destruct (Blackened, 2016), but they still sold nearly 400,000 copies last year, ranking them sixth among best-selling artists in the United States.
Previously, in 2021, the Angelenos shipped some 338,000 records and with just a few weeks left before they release their long-awaited LP entitled. 72 Seasons (Blackened, 2023) sales are expected to increase considerably. For that reason, they have bought part of the company since their goal is to continue manufacturing vinyl without having to rely on external intermediaries.
The company managed to manufacture more than 5 million copies of their albums since they started working together nine years ago, including “deluxe” editions of several of the group’s classic albums. A significant fact of the increase in sales is its appearance in the latest season of the series Stranger Things series, a fact that made the public want to have their vinyl copy of the legendary work Master of Puppets (Elektra, 1986).
A few weeks ago, a report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was published with favorable data on vinyl sales compared to CDs, confirming the potential increase and billing 41 million vinyls compared to 33 million recorded in CD format. In addition, the vinyl boom has been growing positively over the last three decades, with a profit increase of 17%, reaching 1.2 billion dollars.
When will we be able to see Metallica in our country?
We remind you that the quartet will be performing on July 12 and 14, 2024 at the Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano in Madrid, the first day with Architects and Mammoth WVH as guests and the second day with Ice Nine Kills and Five Finger Death Punch. On the “M72” tour they will perform two concerts in each city and will play two different setlists. Advance tickets are still on sale at www.livenation.es y www.ticketmaster.es .
