Press your own vinyl records with QRATES

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The QRATES service uses crowd-funding principles to allow artists and labels to press vinyl records of their music to order, right down to the label and sleeve designs.

The increasing popularity of vinyl, which saw Record Store Day sales up 742%, is rearing its head in all sorts of ways.

If you're not busy building your own working lego turntable, then you may be interested to know that you can now press your own vinyl records, with minimal fuss and risk.

The QRATES website allows you to build an online music store, design your release, set your costs, then press your vinyl - but only when enough people have pledged to buy your record.

Choose how many records you'd like to press and sell (minimum 100) and a fund-raising page is started. Once you hit your target, the presses kick in to life.

MORE: 12 of the best vinyl test records

Selling directly to fans, the site also allows you to sell digital music, t-shirts, tickets and more, and promote your releases in order to hit your vinyl pressing target - tags on the site allow punters to search for music, too.

Vinyl pressing is available for a minimum of 100 copies and includes the ability for artists to press-up back catalogue tracks as well as new releases. QRATES takes a 15% sales charge on all vinyl sales.

As the growth in vinyl shows no signs of abating, it looks like we could see plenty more vinyl releases in future - and now it's that little bit easier, less expensive and less risky for smaller artists.

MORE: Best turntables 2015

Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).