GZ Media

{{Infobox company|image=GZ Media.jpg|location=Czech Republic|founded=1951}}

GZ Media, named for the Czech Gramofonové Závody, which translates to Gramophone Record Factory, employs nearly 2,000 people,{{cite web|url=http://business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/growth-strategies/can-a-vinyl-comeback-sustain-two-players-in-the-canadian-market|title=Can a vinyl comeback sustain two players in the Canadian market?|publisher=Financial Post|author=Mary Teresa Bitti|date=14 July 2016}} and runs its major operations in Loděnice{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-05/vinyl-records-czech-s-gz-media-is-world-s-biggest-producer|title=Putting a Czech Spin on Vinyl|publisher=|via=www.bloomberg.com}} in the Czech Republic.{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/the-vinyl-comeback/av-19244160|title=The vinyl comeback - All media content - DW - 09.05.2016|publisher=|access-date=2017-05-26|archive-date=2017-08-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802211441/http://www.dw.com/en/the-vinyl-comeback/av-19244160|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/3aa1f8e8-5b60-11e4-b68a-00144feab7de|title=Back to black: Vinyl discs enjoy renaissance|website=Financial Times}} GZ Media is known as the world's largest vinyl manufacturer. Since its founding in 1951,{{cite web|url=http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE97I0NE20130819|title=Czech firm hits right tune with vinyl records in fashion|date=19 August 2013|publisher=Reuters|author=Jana Mlcochova}} it has supplied records across the Eastern Bloc.{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/09/16/news/companies/vinyl-records-gz-media/index.html|title=The home of vinyl records is... the Czech Republic|author=Lidz-Ama Appiah and Francesca Street|date=16 September 2016|website=CNNMoney}}

Winslow Partners, a U.S. Private Equity Fund, briefly acquired GZ Media in 1998, only to sell it a few years later.{{cite web|url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/czechs-the-spin-kingpins-in-global-lp-revival/|title=Czechs the spin kingpins in global LP revival|date=11 February 2015|publisher=}} Current GZ Media owner and president Zdenek Pelc{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/07/world/europe/vinyl-records-gz-media-lodenice.html?nytmobile=0|title=Czech Company, Pressing Hits for Years on Vinyl, Finds It Has Become One|first=Rick|last=Lyman|publisher=}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.gzmedia.com/en-GB/About-GZ-Media-en.aspx|title=About GZ|website=GZ Media|access-date=2017-06-28}} is the longest reigning CEO in the history of the Czech Republic.{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lan-anh-vu/ceo-talk-zdenek-pelc-owne_b_9482656.html|title=CEO Talk: Zdenek Pelc, GZ Media|first=Lan Anh|last=Vu|date=25 March 2016|publisher=}}

Supported by American investments, GZ Media has developed into a modern business enterprise, accounting for approximately 60% of total vinyl records produced globally.{{cite web|url=https://www.economist.com/news/business/21722232-only-two-firms-still-make-lacquer-discs-used-mastering-hunger-vinyl-means-chronic|title=Hunger for vinyl means a chronic shortage of pressing machines|website=The Economist|date=18 May 2017}} According to The Guardian, GZ Media was valued at £76 million ($100 million) in 2016 and was forecast to press just over 25 million records a year.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/18/in-the-groove-czech-firm-tops-list-of-worlds-vinyl-record-producers|title=In the groove: Czech firm tops list of world's vinyl record producers|first=Robert|last=Tait|date=18 August 2016|publisher=|via=The Guardian}} In 2015 it produced about 65,000 records per day.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/36044609/record-store-day-this-is-what-happens-inside-a-vinyl-factory|title=Record Store Day: This is what happens inside a vinyl factory|website=BBC Newsbeat|first=Steve|last=Holden|date=15 April 2016|publisher=}}