PressageVinyle.caPressing a single record, or close to it: 1 to 100 copies
One single record, twenty copies for a launch, fifty to test a market: very small runs exist in Canada, but they are not always pressings. Here is what is actually available, and what each option costs.
Pressing or cutting by unit: the distinction that changes everything
A real pressing needs a cut lacquer and metal stampers before the first copy exists. Those fixed costs are the same for 1 copy as for 1,000, which makes pressing a single record economically absurd. That is why most Canadian plants start at 100 copies.
One-off copies and very small runs almost always go through lathe cutting: a blank disc cut one at a time, with no stamper. The sound is good, the price per record is high, and every copy takes the real time of the music. For a prototype, a gift, a DJ tool or a test edition, it is the right tool. To sell 200 copies, it is not.
One Canadian exception: Train Records, in Toronto, offers express pressing runs of 1 to 10 copies, with packages that then go from 50 to 100 copies. Published express turnaround: 4 to 6 weeks.
Your options by quantity
1 copy: lathe cutting by unit. A prototype, a personal archive, a gift. Priced by quote, per record, and never comparable to the price of a pressing.
20 copies: small run cutting or express pressing. Enough for a launch, promo copies, and testing a jacket for real.
50 copies: the grey zone. The fixed costs of a real pressing start to make sense if the record sells well; otherwise, cutting stays simpler.
With lathe cutting, 50 copies are still possible, but the per record price barely drops: this is the point where comparing cutting and pressing becomes mandatory.
100 copies: where standard pressing really starts in Canada. Microforum, Drummond Vinyl and Clampdown all start at 100. Expect $15 to $40 per record at this level, fixed costs included. See the small quantities guide for the levels above.
Dubplates: lathe cutting built for DJs and very small runs
The dubplate is the best known form of lathe cutting. Originally, it was a one-off disc cut for a DJ or a sound system, played before anyone else. The same format now serves very small runs: durable plastic discs, cut one at a time, from 1 to about 50 copies.
It is not a pressing. Every copy takes the real time of the music, the price is per record, and the sound can be a little softer than a pressing: slightly lower volume, small differences from one copy to the next. In exchange: no minimum, no stamper, and turnaround that is often shorter than a full pressing.
The right uses: playing unreleased tracks in a DJ set, offering a test edition to a small audience, handing out 10 to 50 copies at a launch, or checking the reaction to a record before investing in 100 pressed copies. For regular retail sales, pressing stays the right tool from 100 copies up.
We take lathe cutting requests through the same form as pressings. Give us the format, the runtime and the copy count: every request gets a firm price before production, with no commitment. The dedicated lathe cut vinyl and dubplates in Canada page covers the process in full.
What moves the per unit price
- The process: lathe cutting is billed per record, pressing is billed per project.
- The jacket: at 20 copies, a printed jacket often costs more per unit than the record itself.
- Turnaround: express costs you, in money or in flexibility on the specs.
- Shipping: on a very small run delivered far away, freight can exceed the project's margin.
The question to ask before you order
If the copies are meant to sell, do the math at the 100 copy level: that is where pressing becomes a product. If they are meant to test, to give away or to play, by-unit and very small runs do the job without committing a full pressing budget. The cost guide gives the ranges by quantity to compare.
Frequently asked questions
Can you press a single record? Not with standard pressing: lacquer and stamper costs apply from the first copy. A single copy is made by lathe cutting, or as an express run of 1 to 10 copies at Train Records.
How much does one record cost by unit? The price is given by quote and varies with the process, the format and the jacket. It is always far above the per record price of a 100 copy pressing, which sits between $15 and $40.
What is the minimum quantity for a real pressing in Canada? 100 copies at most of the plants compared here. Some plants' packages start between 50 and 100 copies.
What is a dubplate? A dubplate is a record cut directly, in very small numbers, usually so a DJ can play unreleased music. It is cut one at a time on a plastic blank, with no pressing involved.
How many copies can you cut as dubplates or lathe cuts? From 1 to about 50 copies. Past that, the per record cost of cutting quickly overtakes a short pressing run, and pressing takes over from 100 copies up.
Get a quote
Pressing or lathe cutting, from 1 copy.