You may have seen a How It's Made: Vinyl Records, a process that starts be cutting into a lacquer disc from a master audio recording, which then becomes a stamper through electroplating process, which then molds vinyl blobs into LPs.

What boggles my mind about the process is that the lacquers are only made by one company; Public Record Company / MDC in Japan. There used to be a second company- called Apollo/Transco - but it was destroyed in a fire in 2020. The idea that one company supplies the entire planet with the raw materials for creating vinyl records is truly mind boggling.

There are alternative ways to make a vinyl record that do not involve a lacquer but those processes are not as widespread nor as high in fidelity for all kinds of recordings.

Regardless, enjoy this pleasant manufacturing video of the lacquers being made at PBR / MDC. Soothing.