GZ Media Turns 75: Inside the World's Largest Vinyl Plant
Czech pressing plant GZ Media marked 75 years in 2026, having pressed over 930 million records and about a third of the world's vinyl in 2025 alone.
GZ Media, the Czech pressing plant that presses roughly a third of the world's vinyl records by its own estimate, marked its 75th anniversary in June 2026. Founded in 1951 in the small town of Loděnice, the company says it has pressed more than 930 million records in total and now runs ten manufacturing sites worldwide, according to GZ Media's own anniversary announcement.
For collectors, GZ Media is less a brand than infrastructure: chances are good that several records in your own collection, and many more on new-release shelves, carry a "Pressed By – GZ Media" credit or a matrix code traceable to one of its plants, whether or not the label on the sleeve says so.
Seventy-five years, from Loděnice to ten plants worldwide
GZ Media traces its history back to a single factory in Loděnice, a town in the Central Bohemian region founded in 1951. Seventy-five years on, the company says it now operates ten manufacturing sites globally and has pressed a cumulative total of more than 930 million records, a volume the company describes, in its own promotional framing, as enough to stack far higher than the internationally recognised edge of space if piled disc on disc. In its anniversary statement the company struck a reflective note: "Seventy-five years is an important milestone – but our story continues – shaped by the people who create it, support it, and believe in it."
The scale: a third of the world's vinyl in 2025
GZ Media's own figures, published on 29 April 2026, put 2025 revenue at more than €320 million on close to 75 million vinyl records produced, a roughly 7% increase on 2024. By the company's own estimate, that represents about a third of global vinyl production running through its presses in a single year. CEO Michal Sterba pointed to Generation Z demand and newer genres reaching vinyl, including K-pop, as part of what is keeping that volume high.
When one company presses roughly a third of the world's vinyl, its choices about materials and machinery are effectively choices for the format as a whole.
Where GZ Media is investing next
The company says it is putting more than €12 million into modernisation, including a new galvanics operation, the stage where metal stampers are made from a record's master, under construction in Memphis, Tennessee. A paper-bag and packaging facility in Wisconsin opened in 2024, and GZ Media says it is exploring vinyl production in Asia as well. The company has also teased an in-house machine developed in Loděnice that it describes as "unlike anything our industry has seen in nearly fifty years," without giving a date for when it will be unveiled.
TORRENT: a new colour effect for 2026
Away from factory investment, GZ Media used its April 2026 Spring Edition to launch TORRENT, a rain-inspired colour effect for vinyl offered in ten variants, including finishes the company calls Stardust, Snowpiercer, Point Nemo and Charoite. The effect is exclusive to GZ Media's European and North American plants, giving labels a proprietary visual option beyond standard black or simple splatter vinyl.
Do this in the app:Sleevewise · Scanner
GZ Media has also been at the centre of the industry's push toward more sustainable pressing, running a recycled-vinyl pilot with Warner Music that found little audible difference between recycled and virgin-PVC pressings. At the other end of the size spectrum, tiny operators such as Object Permanence Records in Oregon show what pressing looks like on a single machine rather than ten plants.
Checking whether your records were pressed by GZ Media
Most vinyl carries a "Pressed By" or "Manufactured By" credit in its Discogs entry, and GZ Media pressings can often be identified from matrix codes etched in the run-out groove alongside the catalogue number. If you are curious how much of your own collection runs through one company's presses, it is worth checking a few recent releases against their Discogs data the next time you catalogue a new arrival.
Frequently asked questions
01Where is GZ Media, the world's largest vinyl pressing plant, based?
GZ Media was founded in 1951 in Loděnice, a town in the Central Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, where it still has a major manufacturing site. The company now operates ten manufacturing sites worldwide.
02How much of the world's vinyl does GZ Media press?
By its own estimate, GZ Media presses about a third of global vinyl production. In 2025 the company reported revenue of more than €320 million on close to 75 million records produced, about 7% more than in 2024.
03How can I tell if my record was pressed by GZ Media?
Check the release's Discogs entry for a 'Pressed By' or 'Manufactured By' credit, and compare the matrix code etched in the run-out groove near the label, which is often traceable to a specific pressing plant.
Sources
- From Loděnice to the Edge of Space: 75 Years of GZ Media — GZ Media, June 2026
- GZ Media Expands Its Presence in the United States and Targets New Markets. A Major Innovation to Be Unveiled Soon — GZ Media, 29 April 2026
- TORRENT. The New Vinyl Effect. — GZ Media, April 2026
Keep digging
Oregon's Only Vinyl Plant: Inside Object Permanence Records
Object Permanence Records began pressing vinyl in Salem, Oregon, in June 2026, becoming the state's only record plant after Cascade Record Pressing closed.
Warner Tests Recycled Vinyl on 10,000 Unsold Records
Warner Music and GZ Media re-pressed about 10,000 unsold LPs with up to 100% recycled PVC. Blind listening tests found no meaningful loss in sound quality.
Suno Presses AI Songs to Vinyl as Bandcamp Bans AI Music
Suno opened a waitlist in August 2026 to press AI-generated songs onto vinyl, seven months after Bandcamp banned AI-generated music from its platform.