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The grooves you can see on a vinyl record are actually sound waves or more like a type of fingerprint of the sound waves captured in a lacquer disc that we call a vinyl record. These three-dimensional grooves cut in the vinyl record are a recording of how the sound waves behave as they move through the air.

There is no real set limit to how much music a record can hold, however there are standards. A vinyl record can safely hold roughly 23 minutes per side for a 122033 record, if it complies with the industry standard. This comes with some caveats, however (explanation coming).

Etched Vinyl is an image pressed into an unplayable side of your record which has a frosted appearance. The Etched side does not contain any grooves or music, but adds a real touch of style to your records. Your image is etched directly onto the lacquer and is then taken through the standard plating process.

"Stitching occurs when the separation of pressed vinyl from stamper is faulty or when the stamper is improperly pulled from the mother in which case every record pressed from that stamper will look like this and there's no excuse for it not being caught and corrected.

It is safe to play warped records. They have no major effect on the stylus but sometimes the sound produced can be unpleasant. If the record is extremely warped then the stylus might skip across the grooves and damage your record further. Just because you CAN play a warped record doesn't mean you should!

Vinyl records warp because of extra weight, heat and direct sunlight. It is very important to store and use your records carefully so that they don't warp. When records heat up they become soft. After they are soft they will warp with virtually any pressure that is applied.

The "Dead Wax or Run-Out Area" is the part between the end of the music on the record and the centre label (in the image above the area between the red lines).