Vinyl’s comeback story has been big, but its latest chapter is deliberately small. Tiny, in fact.
Forget 12-inch and seven-inch records. Startup Tiny Vinyl is launching a series of four-inch records that play on standard turntables.
The pitch is not just that they’re cute collectible items: the smaller size (as well as the company’s use of bio-attributed vinyl) lowers the environmental impact.
These records are singles, not albums: the format can only fit one song per side, and those tracks can only be up to four minutes in length.
The startup already has a deal with US retailer Target, promoted on its website. 31 records are available initially from artists including Gracie Abrams, Katseye, Doechii, the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Lola Young and Keith Urban, priced at $14.99 each.
Industry insiders may have spotted the fact that all those artists are signed to Universal Music Group labels. UMG has a big share of the initial drop, but there are also Tiny Vinyls for Sony Music-affiliated artists including Britney Spears, Tate McRae and Doja Cat, as well as Bruno Mars, Teddy Swims and Black Sabbath from WMG’s WEA imprint.