Why We See Evovinyl As Music Made Better
Evolution Music aims to provide solutions to multiple problems.
We want to optimise the choices and actions that the music industry and lovers of music can take as positive responses to the significant problems of our time.
We aim to show in practice what ‘music made better’ means – to demonstrate why it is better, and show this choice is available now. We want those that choose our product to know that it is a step towards more earth care, people care, and fair shares.
At the same time, we want people to know that we are all on a journey towards sustainability. So, at this point, ‘better’ means taking incremental steps. But these need to be significant steps toward a credible goal. Steps that have integrity in environmental, social and equity terms, in the products, the manufacturing processes, and in the supply chains that feed them.
There are 3 dimensions to this kind of evolutionary change to create music that is made better – net zero carbon, net zero waste, and net zero toxicity. This is the basis of the 3D product and manufacturing model we want to make the norm in the music industry, by working with others to achieve these challenging goals. Because the planet is calling for this now, and so many of us are waking up to this need, and wanting it also. Because the reality is, that only a non-toxic world is truly sustainable. Why would you want to continue to pollute and toxify the living systems of the planet, for your children and future generations to have to live in and deal with?
As well as producing a high-quality product, we want to work with allies to build a movement for change. We operate with a small team, still face constraints in terms of capacity and resources, and have plenty to learn – as well as having plenty to offer. So Evolution Music is not looking to say things just for the sake of being in the news or social media space.
We want to demonstrate that circular economy principles and practices can be used to replace the harmful production and use of single use plastics, and to minimise waste at the same time. Our initial flagship Evovinyl™ bioplastic LP product is produced using pressing plants’ existing machinery and production processes – only the raw materials are changed. This makes it easy for labels and artists to take the ‘music made better’ path, to change to Evovinyl™ bioplastic LPs, instead of PVC.
This is a path of making small changes with big effects. Making these small changes is like cutting a path through the undergrowth… it takes effort and determination from the pioneers (the R&D stage), but once the path is opened others can follow easily. These changes can be made now, because a number of different pressing plants have completed trials with us, using different pressing machines, to ensure the solution works for the main types of presses used across the world. There has been a lot of trial, error and learning in this process – learning about the materials, the manufacturing process and the people involved, which is summarised as follows:
A technical, manufacturing and business summary for record pressing businesses from Kevin da Costa (independent record manufacturing consultant and Evolution Music Technical Director) on why Evovinyl represents Music Made Better for the record pressing industry:
The approach from Evolution Music is not just understanding this material is good from the sustainability point of view with this material being made primarily from plants, but also recognising that for this to be taken onboard at scale, it has to be as good or better than PVC in terms of the quality of the product, and that it’s as good or better for the customer who just wants a good record in terms of their enjoyment of the music… whether they are into the sustainability aspects or not. And I think we have got this with our new material.
Then the holy grail is to achieve audio parity and price point parity, and we are getting close to that. When we have achieved this, then the use case trumps the narrative around sustainability, and customers out there have a genuine choice between a sustainable product compared to one that is not sustainable. Then it becomes a no brainer, and the question becomes why wouldn’t you use it?
At the same time for scaling this, we have to make sure the manufacturers, the producers of records, will take this on board enthusiastically. And this is to do with how the material goes through the presses and the extruder. Again we are getting there, at least with a good number of manufacturers being enthusiastic to work with us to achieve this goal.
Already, as a starting point, we know that producing the evovinyl material has a lower carbon footprint than PVC. And what’s fascinating is that from the results we are seeing, once the evovinyl material is in the press, it takes a lot less energy to produce these records than it would compared to PVC. For PVC it will take around 30 seconds in terms of cycle time in the press – with this material it is more like 16 to 20 seconds. And that means less heating time and less cooling time, and that’s a lot less energy being used to make these records. So there is an immediate energy saving – but this also fundamentally changes the options for heating, cooling and energy systems for running the presses, and for the amount of pressure needed to operate them – which is a more technical issue we can go into in more depth another time!
Another thing is this material is naturally antistatic. This is great news for the listener because they don’t have to deal with static on their turntable…. But also it’s really important in the manufacturing process, because PVC is naturally static which is a bit of an enemy in record pressing, because PVC draws dust particles into the manufacturing process, which can cause problems with pitting and spots, and pops and clicks on the sound… so it can lead to a higher rejection rate of the pressed records.
Finally, because it sets and hardens much quicker than PVC the work-flow is much quicker. The best case scenario with PVC records is you have to leave them to cool and set overnight before you can pack and ship them. With this material it hardens much quicker, so you can do that in 2 hours. So you can press, cool, pack and ship all in one day. So purely on business terms, on bottom line terms, over the year that could make a significant difference to any record pressing business.
All this means that purely on bottom line business terms, there is a very strong case for using this evovinyl material. So for me this is the holy grail of any product – it’s both sustainable and also actually better for your business.
What’s more, any ‘waste’ (e.g. trimmings) can be used to produce ‘Evovinyl regrind’ LPs, with the same quality of product as the virgin Evovinyl™ material. So apart from the essential job of flushing out the pressing machines to avoid PVC-Evovinyl cross-contamination, we’re essentially creating a near zero waste and 100% industrially compostable non-toxic product. This is inline with our aim to provide products and manufacturing options that deliver solutions to multiple problems. So these are four benefits that are specific, measurable aspects of why we see Evovinyl™ as music made better. So we know the benefits are significant, and come in many forms.
It takes a significant effort to achieve ‘music made better’… but we know it can be done. We also know that if a small, independent company like Evolution Music can do it, then the whole industry can too.
Professor Kyle Devine’s book Decomposed (MIT Press, 2019) highlights many of the problems with the PVC supply chain. Once used to make a product, such as in an LP, PVC is very stable and not toxic in that form. However, the manufacturing of that PVC before it gets to the pressing plant, is a very different matter for human and ecological health. So we are actually pleased to see that some PVC companies are now offering various ‘bio vinyl’ options alongside their conventional PVC, with some going further than others. Our aim is to offer simply the best 100% reliable, non-toxic bioplastic alternative we can, which does not support companies that are still mainly producing oil-based PVC and other plastics that are dependent on manufacturing processes that have significant toxic impacts.
We aim to do this firstly because there is clearly demand for cleaner greener alternatives. And secondly because it simply doesn’t seem that the planet and human / ecosystem health can handle the current load of oil-based plastics and toxic manufacturing anymore. We believe we need more positive and more radical, evolutionary alternatives. So that’s our purpose as a business, to provide those positive and more radical, evolutionary alternatives – and not to provide anything else. Our mission is to create ecologically sustainable solutions that will accelerate the evolution of the music industry to become earth friendly and socially responsible. So, the way we see it, with our flagship Evovinyl™ bioplastic LP product we are evolving passed the use of PVC vinyl.
We want to help create music that performs for people (listeners, artists and workers in the manufacturing process) and planet:
- To push the boundaries of our experience and sustain our love of music.
- To ensure artists, labels and music lovers produce and purchase music in good conscience.
- To forge a frictionless path to encourage transition.
- To help evolve the music industry to amplify this social and environmental message and catalyse responsible behaviour change.
- To drive the development of robust, socially just, earth friendly methods to create and enjoy music – considering waste, pollution, carbon emissions, living and working standards.
We want to do this by:
- BRINGING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY PRODUCTS OF THE FUTURE INTO THE PRESENT – Innovating the development of products and services, that are better on every level – placing equal value on efficacy and social and environmental responsibility.
- INSPIRING MUSIC LOVERS ACROSS THE GLOBE TO MAKE SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR CHANGES – Evolution will engage and educate music lovers to both understand the negative aspects of the status quo and inspire them with the possibilities for enjoying music with good conscience.
- SIMPLIFYING AND STREAMLINING THE PROCESS OF CHANGE – Evolution will work to understand the barriers to behaviour change and build in solutions to encourage rapid uptake of earth friendly alternatives, across the supply chain.
- STANDING UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT – Evolution are savvy to potential barriers to success in the music and plastics industries and will take professional advice and appropriate steps to protect their actions and the actions of those who partner with them in driving their mission forwards.
So, if you like the sound of Evovinyl and want to help accelerate the evolution to a low impact music industry, then check out the ways you can play your part in doing so on our website. We are taking orders NOW, with a significant project pipeline already building up, so we want to make sure this particular ‘music made better’ choice is widely available in 2024 and beyond, for artists and music lovers alike.