(MINNEAPOLIS, MN) -- Copycats Media, a division of The ADS Group, will be the first modern-day vinyl record pressing plant in Minnesota. Construction is underway within the newly dedicated 65,000 sq.-ft. building that will initially house five record presses with existing infrastructure to support future growth. 

ADS has also introduced an electroforming department that is fully operational. Electroforming is a process used to create data stampers which is then pressed onto PVC in the record creation. Greg Schoener, VP of Quality and Technology, started his career with ADS 33 years ago, when the CD was considered new technology. "I would have never thought that in 2022, I would be focusing on electroforming for vinyl records. I anticipate our first record to be pressed sometime during the second quarter of 2022," Schoener states.

"ADS' manufacturing expertise and Copycats' passion for music have brought us to a good place," states Justin Kristal, President of Copycats. "For 25 years, Copycats has provided award-winning media packaging solutions to the music and film industry. From garage bands to Grammy winners to indie filmmakers and studios, the Copycats experience is always professional and personable. Bringing vinyl record manufacturing in-house this Fall will make Copycats the only US manufacturer to provide a single-source solution to the music industry and something I've wanted to do for years. So yes, I am very excited."

"One of the founding principles within our organization is to 'listen to your customers.' For some time now, there has been an undeniable market demand to provide a variety of mediums for music delivery. Therefore, we needed to introduce vinyl production capacity to further support our current optical media portfolio and packaging expertise," said Connie Comeau, COO.

The ADS Group is a multimedia manufacturer of optical and vinyl media, print, packaging, and fulfillment solutions. Additional services include a full-service studio offering audio, video, translation, and ASL proficiency. The ADS Group is comprised of Advanced Duplication ServicesLLC, Copycats Media, and Studio120.