Editing Acetate disc (section)

== Production ==

Acetates are usually made by dubbing from a [[master recording]] in another medium, such as [[magnetic tape]]. In the vinyl record manufacturing process, a lacquer master disc is cut and [[electroforming]] is used to make negative metal molds from it; certain molds are converted into stampers, can be used to [[record press|press]] thousands of vinyl copies of the master. Within the vinyl record industry, lacquers, sometimes called 'acetates' or 'refs', are also used for evaluating the quality of the tape-to-disc transfer. They were once a favored medium for comparing different takes or mixes of a recording, and if pressed vinyl copies of an impending new release were not yet available, acetates were used for getting preview copies into the hands of important radio disc jockeys.

Acetates were produced in very small quantities using elementary cutting machines. The majority of discs found on the market were not labelled or marked, as distributing studios would only at most have their name and address written on the disc. It was generally up to the recipients to write the song title or name of the artist onto the disc by hand.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thompson |first=Dave |date=July 6, 2007 |title=These ain't your dad's collectibles - Part I |journal=Goldmine |volume=33 |id={{ProQuest|855926}}}}</ref>

On February 6, 2020, news broke of a fire at the [[Apollo Masters]] manufacturing plant in [[Banning, California]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/devastating-manufacturing-plant-fire-threatens-worldwide-vinyl-record-supply/|title="Devastating" Manufacturing Plant Fire Threatens Worldwide Vinyl Record Supply|website=Pitchfork|date=7 February 2020 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-05}}</ref> The plant produces Lacquer discs used in vinyl production with the fire completely destroying the manufacturing facility. The manufacturing facility is one of only two in the world, the other being Public Record (the lacquers of which are labeled MDC – the name of their principal distributor, based in [[Japan]]).<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8550477/vinyl-record-industry-apollo-masters-plant-fire|title=Apollo Masters Plant Fire Leads to Vinyl Shortage Fears|date=2020-02-07|magazine=Billboard|access-date=2020-03-05}}</ref> This led to industry experts fearing that the [[Phonograph record|vinyl]] production supply chain would be put under stress with heavy demand and only one factory worldwide.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/vinyl-industry-apollo-masters-fire-951903/|title='This Is Disastrous': How the Vinyl Industry Is Responding to the Apollo Masters Fire|last=Blistein|first=Jon|date=2020-02-18|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-05}}</ref>