On Monday (Aug. 4), a small but mighty new physical music format arrived: Tiny Vinyl. Measuring at just four inches in size, Tiny Vinyl is a playable record that can hold four minutes of audio per side.
The disc, according to a press release, aims to “[bridge] the gap between modern and traditional to offer a new collectible for artists to share with fans that easily fits in your pocket.”
Initial releases include singles from Chappell Roan (“Pink Pony Club” / “Naked In Manhattan”), Gracie Abrams (“That’s So True” / “I Love You, I’m Sorry”), Doechii (“DENIAL IS A RIVER” / “Anxiety”), Frank Sinatra (“Jingle Bells” / “Silent Night”), Lainey Wilson (“Somewhere Over Laredo” / “4X4XU”), Britney Spears (“Baby One More Time” / “Oops!…I Did It Again”), Rolling Stones (“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” / “The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man”) — plus many more artists across decades and genres.
In early 2024, Billboard reported that vinyl was on track to generate over $1 billion. Yet, a guest column questioned how the format could better harness the influence of superfans. Tiny Vinyl is hoping to be the answer.
Tiny Vinyl co-founders Neil Kohler and Jesse Mann had taken note of the vinyl resurgence — which had been steadily ticking upward, then ignited in the pandemic and has sustained. Over the same timespan, they noticed a trend toward miniature collectibles as well. And so they combined the two concepts into a modern day take on HitClips.
“We created Tiny Vinyl to reward fans with an adorable, collectible, and playable miniature vinyl record,” Kohler and Mann said in a statement to Billboard. And in addition to trends in vinyl and mini collectibles, the pair say a third trend especially worked in their favor: “hit songs are getting shorter,” they said. “We knew we needed our vinyl format to play an overwhelming majority of popular music, which happened to be trending to less than four minutes per song.”
Kohler and Mann partnered with Nashville Record Pressing (a subsidiary of vinyl manufacturing giant GZ Media) to develop the format. All Tiny Vinyl records are made from 100% bio-attributed vinyl, and given their size, use approximately one tenth of the materials required to make a standard 12” vinyl record.
“It was always important to us to make Tiny Vinyl play at 33rpm on a standard turntable,” Kohler and Mann said. “That’s the most common format, so we made that our standard. Lastly, to engage fans at this scale, we knew the jacket and art had to feel authentic, just like 12” vinyl — only at the 4” diameter.”
Starting today, Tiny Vinyl is available for purchase at national retailers including Target as well as directly through exclusive artist partnerships. With the goal of artists using the format for album launches, tour exclusives and more, each record is numbered and released as a limited edition.