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Czech companies

The Czech Republic produces the biggest quantity of phonograph records in the world

photo: (http://gzmedia.eu/)

A little village near Beroun – Loděnice – is proud of its world record. It is the place where the biggest number of vinyl phonograph records has been manufactured. The factory manufacturing lines produce records of such stars as Lady Gaga or Radiohead who, among other things, provided the biggest contract for GZ Digital Media in 2011.

The company GZ Digital Media, which manufactures vinyl records as well as CDs and DVDs in Loděnice, was established at the beginning of 1950s. It was when the very first phonograph record was pressed in the factory. In the 1990s, vinyls came back thanks to the retro period and the machines producing phonograph records in Loděnice were started again. Compared with foreign competitors, the Loděnice machinery is valuable due to its versatility. The facility is based on manual production so it is very flexible in terms of special effects such as heart-shaped or coloured records. It was the employees who, at the time of the huge CD boom, saved ten press machines from the 1960s and did not allow them to be destroyed.

Due to the renaissance of vinyl records, the production has been restored. At present the factory in Loděnice produces nearly six million items every year. Most of them are exported abroad. The biggest customers are the United States and the United Kingdom, followed by France, the Netherlands and Germany. The biggest contract in the company history is the collector "box" of 38 albums made by the Rolling Stones.

There are 1,400 employees in total in the factory, thus the company in Loděnice is the biggest employer in the region.