Independent musician claims production issues with German vinyl pressing plant

22 July 2020 - News

Musician Simon Gore writes:

In the summer of 2019 I received a letter from iconic, French composer, Eliane Radigue, “…Of course I’ll greatly appreciate you dedicate this beautiful piece of work to me…”

I had written to her a month earlier, enclosing a CD of a new piece of music I wished to release as a dedication to her. As she is one of my biggest musical influences and most admired progressive thinkers, this was one of the biggest honours of my career.

My friend and mentor, Lasse Marhaug, the Norwegian composer and noise musician, was equally enthusiastic. He suggested the release was worthy of a single-sided, screen-printed 12” vinyl LP. He offered to provide mastering, graphics and layout for the collaboration, which I gratefully accepted.  

Eliane is not only an icon within experimental music history; she is a national treasure in her native land of France. My French record label, October Tone were understandably overjoyed about the news and excited to put the record out. This was to be the most important release of my life.
 With European distribution organised, the final step was to find a pressing plant to cut the LP. This was to be a self-funded release of a specialist nature - one for a very limited, but dedicated audience. I needed an exclusive, high quality production, of a low, limited quantity. Using the reputable and fail-safe online directory, Vinyl Pressing Plants, I sourced an independent German plant located in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid, called Master Media Productions.

They advertised their “quality guarantee” on their homepage, boasting that they were one of the most modern vinyl pressing plants in Europe. Other areas of their website carried quotes such as, “with over 30 years experience in the record industry, we resolve any problem quickly and easily” and “we try always to improve and optimise our production to meet your needs”. They ran their plant from 100% renewable energy and did not follow the crowd with a social media presence. Plus, they claimed to have fair pricing. I felt like I was dealing with my kind, so happily chose them for the job. 

Little did I know this would be a decision that would prove catastrophic to my career, mental health and financial economy. 

 I began communicating with a seemingly very reasonable and helpful chap called Wolfgang Müeller – the only means of contact for Master Media Productions, who since 2019, are also trading under the name Interpress Vinyl. But why? Could it be a rebranding? Or maybe an attempt to disguise a dark reputation? One can only speculate.

Their terms were clear – 50% of the payment upfront as a surcharge, confirm test pressings, then the second 50% upon completion of the order. Wolfgang’s communication was sharp, but his information was inconsistent. When asked for a quote, he provided an itemised list with prices per unit. No quantity prices, and no total. Despite prompting him multiple times for a total price for the job, I was repeatedly ignored. As a Welshman living in Norway, I innocently put this down to cultural misunderstanding. It was, in fact, malicious business tactics.

My audio master and graphics were accepted and I received an invoice for the 50% surcharge of €350. Before paying I insisted on a total price for the job. Finally, Wolfgang confirmed the total price of €700 including VAT and shipping. It all added up, so I sent the payment. Only 2 days later, a box arrived with 5 fresh test pressings. Their advertised efficiency certainly seemed to be true.  
 I took the test pressings to a new, impressive hi-fi shop in my local town where we tested them on multiple systems from entry level units to handmade, Japanese masterpiece turn tables of €100,000. A problem repeated on each pressing, on every system we tried them on. There was a lateral needle movement of up to 4mm left and right, causing a back and forth pitch drift of a semitone. A production error meant the grooves were warped, making the playback of the record sound ridiculous. This was not an adequate representation of my work. I could not accept these test pressings. 

For what would be the first time of many, Wolfgang’s welcoming attitude took a contrary turn to a flippant and dismissive nature. He claimed that there was no such problem and what I mentioned was nothing serious – merely “an adjustment of the press”, and pressured me to confirm the order. This is something I was completely uncomfortable with doing. I requested he correct his mistake with another test pressing, which he wanted an additional €70 for. 

Due to release date commitments and financial limitations, this was not an option for me. So, I accepted his written guarantee that this issue would not affect the final pressings - a naïve and stupid move on my part. 

Due to the increasing shipping prices in Norway, I could not afford to dispatch the records from my country of residence. So, I had the order shipped to my UK distributor who would organise the screen-printing and distribution. 

Nearly 2 weeks after the agreed completion date, I received an invoice from Wolfgang that I imagined would be for the second 50% of €350, as agreed. Instead it was for an additional €855.83, over €400 more than the agreed price for the quantity. So much for their advertised “fair pricing”.

A week of email discussion followed which resulted in very little progress. Additional charges had been made, which had not been agreed and the prices were plus VAT and shipping, not including VAT and shipping, as agreed. After great consideration, I had no option but to bite the bullet. Wolfgang assured me that I would be happy and the records looked nice – possibly the most cruel and unfair part of this whole ordeal. 

Later that week, my manager Naomi Preece, who also runs my UK distribution, Circuit Sweet, found 2 boxes outside her home, on a rainy evening. The records had been dispatched without any notification. Upon inspection, she found that they had been packaged with no protection at all, whilst the sleeve ink was still wet. The rough green/brown ink, which was supposed to be black and gold, had rubbed off on the inside of the flimsy box. Many of the records had broken out of their cardboard sleeves due to a rough ride in transit. They were all damaged and the production quality was absolutely appalling. The die cut cover I had overpaid for was rough and sloppy, something I would have had to correct by hand.

Naomi called me instantly to explain the situation, where I requested she test the playback of the records. Despite Wolfgang’s written guarantee, every tested record had exactly the same playback fault as the test pressings. So much for their advertised, “quality guarantee”.

Circuit Sweet, October Tone and I all rejected the pressings. The overall quality in every field was so substandard we could not sell them. Needless to say, I was outraged. With the budget blown, I was making a loss on the record as it was. I would now miss the release date. Upon contacting Wolfgang again, I included photographic evidence of the damage, the pixilation of the text, the colour inaccuracies, rejection letters from Circuit Sweet and October Tone and video/audio evidence of the playback fault. I explained that I could not accept this work.

Wolfgang’s flippant attitude persisted. He stated that, “this is not a claim for us” and “be sure, a refund will not be happening”. So much for, “always trying to improve and optimise their production to meet [customer’s] needs”. He explained that such low quality should be expected when ordering such low quantities of 110 units and that colour imbalances should be expected, as their printers essentially needed time to warm up. 

So much for being, “one of the most modern pressing plants in Europe”. He recommended I return a copy to them for quality testing, to see if a repress was necessary. 

As a businessman and optimist, I decided to explore every possible avenue to complete this release. If I could get a repress of the records from Interpress Vinyl and submit a handling damage claim to UPS for the cost of the covers, I could have them made locally and assemble the records myself. 

At my own expense I returned a copy back to Wolfgang, as requested. UPS collected the records for inspection. Their damage claim was understandably rejected, as it was not their fault. However, without my consent, they returned all of the records back to the supplier, claiming that they acted within standard procedures and they could not divulge any further evidence of the claim, due to their contract with the supplier. 

Interpress Vinyl’s ability to cover their backs certainly meets their claims of efficiency. So much so, I can’t help but think they have done this before. 

Over the course of the last 6 months I have tried every possible option of obtaining some kind of refund. From an unsuccessful chargeback from my Norwegian bank, to ECC Norway, Inovasjon Norge, Creo (the Norwegian musician’s union), my lawyer’s insurance and free legal aid + more. All of which has proven null and void, as I am not a Norwegian citizen, I am not considered to be a consumer as I am a self-employed artist and this was an international business purchase. Sadly, this is the present reality of being an ambitious foreigner in Erna Solberg’s Tori Norway – you have no rights, at all.

When conducting some research on the company, Interpress Vinyl, formerly known as Master Media Productions, on a German business registry website, they do indeed have decades of experience and have an annual turnover in excess of €300,000. Their details on Discogs also confirm their impressive and varied catalogue of releases. 

But what about my record? Wolfgang did not acknowledge the arrival of the record he asked me to return. Nor did he send it to quality checking. He has ignored multiple prompting emails for over 10 weeks and when he finally answered the phone to me, albeit unexpectedly, he was very quick to fob me off and hang up. He has not responded to my calls or emails since. I have not received anything resembling an apology for his mistakes. 

So much for “resolving any problem quickly and easily”. I have asked him not to return the records back to me, as they are no use to me, or anyone. The Norwegian magazine, Musikkultur reached out to me and published a feature on my story, but I still do not have a refund, or a record to put out.

I have lost over €1200 to this cowboy pressing plant, who simply should not be trading. They do not honour the terms of their guarantees and have ruined the most important release of my life. Like many artists, I live on less money than anyone I know – I would be financially better off on benefits. I do not have the available funds to give the job to another pressing plant, whilst I try to pursue legal action against Interpress Vinyl/Master Media Productions at my own cost.  
 As an independent artist it is my moral obligation to warn others not to fall into this trap.

Independent music is a community, not confined by genre or region. Our industry is too small and sacred to be swallowed up by capitalist bullies posing as our DIY peers. I have experienced an indescribable level of stress from this ordeal, spanning over 6 months to date, but I am eternally grateful for the continued support of Circuit Sweet and October Tone records. 

I urge anyone releasing records to learn from my mistakes and avoid business with Interpress Vinyl/Master Media Productions at all costs - as it is a cost that may be detrimental to your career and livelihood.

 

Video of the playback fault