Sony Music has announced it will start pressing its own vinyl releases again for the first time since 1989.

The company will resume in-house domestic vinyl production at a Japanese factory south-west of Tokyo by March 2018.

Sony Music is one of the big three global record companies.

The move comes amid renewed demand for old-fashioned black plastic records, which now occupy a key market niche.

Image source Max Pixel

At one time, the vinyl format had been expected to disappear after the rise of CDs, digital downloads and streaming.

During vinyl’s long decline from the late 1980s onwards, many record factories closed down, with production confined to a few specialist independent companies.

However, this year, global vinyl revenue is expected to hit $1billion, with many consumers swearing by its supposedly superior sound quality.

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Vinyl records have been growing in popularity again in recent years, boosted by events such as Record Store Day in April every year, for which record companies produce special limited-edition singles and albums.

Sony Music’s move comes a few months after it equipped its Tokyo studio with a cutting lathe, used to produce the master discs needed for manufacturing vinyl records.

It has not yet said which titles it will be pressing in vinyl, but big sellers in the format these days are a mixture of classic back-catalogue items and modern releases by new bands.