Physical-release cost acts as a quality filter, letting only commercially viable tracks reach the scene

In the pre-digital era, pressing a track to vinyl required real upfront money, and that cost worked as an implicit gatekeeper: only tracks likely to recoup their pressing costs got released, so a kind of natural selection kept the catalogue’s standard high. When digital distribution removed the cost barrier, release volume exploded and this selection mechanism vanished, forcing labels to build explicit curation systems (tiered sublabels, A&R, editorial planning) to replace what the pressing cost used to do for free. The transferable idea: any distribution channel with a cost-to-publish embeds quality selection, and removing that cost shifts the burden of curation onto people and process.

Examples

Early Scantraxx vinyl catalogues felt coherent because each release was vetted against pressing cost; once digital, labels needed sublabel tiers and A&R to re-create that filter.

Assessment

Explain how vinyl pressing cost created implicit quality control, and name what has to replace it once releasing becomes free.