Diggers Factory
Comment: 1. Please read WP:SOLUTIONS and remove marketing fluff terms. 2. Please read WP:NPOV and rewrite article in neutral & encyclopedic for tone & content. CopyleftEverything (talk) 01:36, 19 July 2026 (UTC)
| Société par actions simplifiée | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Music industry |
| Founded 📆 | September 23, 2015 |
| Founders 👔 | Alexis Castiel Victor Périn |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | diggersfactory |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Diggers Factory is a French music technology company founded in Paris in 2015. It initially launched an online platform enabling artists, labels, and brands across more than 60 countries to produce and distribute physical music products through a fanfunding-based pre-order model. By manufacturing only what has been pre-ordered, the platform eliminates upfront financial risk, avoids excess inventory, and promotes a more sustainable approach to physical media production.
Over the years, Diggers Factory has expanded its offering beyond vinyl to include CDs, cassettes, and merchandise. The company has also developed a broader suite of services, including direct-to-fan storefronts, global distribution solutions, and retail distribution. In addition, it operates The Vinyl Box, a monthly vinyl subscription service.
History
Diggers Factory was founded on September 23, 2015, by Alexis Castiel and Victor Périn.[1] Castiel, a graduate of EDHEC Business School and Paris Dauphine University, conceived the idea after observing the financial and logistical barriers facing independent artists seeking to release music on vinyl.[2]
In 2017, the company raised €300,000 in a seed funding round and joined the French Tech Grand Paris ecosystem.
Also in 2017, Diggers Factory established a partnership with the Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA) to produce and distribute previously unreleased vinyl records drawn from INA's archives, including live recordings by Serge Gainsbourg, Ray Charles, and Dalida. The Gainsbourg live maxi single released through this partnership became the best-selling record on Record Store Day France in 2020.[3]
Over the following years, the company expanded beyond its founding pre-order model to offer direct manufacturing, white-label direct-to-fan storefronts, and global fulfillment through a network of warehouses across North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania — allowing artists to sell physical music directly to fans worldwide from a single storefront. In a 2025 interview with the Music Business Association, co-founder and CEO Alexis Castiel described this evolution: "While we initially focused on supporting independent and smaller labels, we've grown to become a valuable partner for some of the biggest names in the industry."[4]
Business model
Diggers Factory's core service is a fanfunding pre-order model: artists or labels launch a campaign with a minimum production threshold, typically 100 copies. If the target is reached within the campaign period, production begins; otherwise, all customers receive a full refund.[5] This model enables smaller production runs than those traditionally offered by vinyl manufacturers, reducing financial risk and minimizing excess inventory.
The company works primarily with French pressing plants as part of an approach intended to reduce overproduction and waste.[6]
Notable collaborations
Diggers Factory has worked with major and independent labels including RCA Records, Parlophone, Roc Nation, Ed Banger Records, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment, as well as artists including Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, and Arnaud Rebotini.[7] The platform has also been used for branded projects by companies including Netflix, Ubisoft, Hermès, and Nike.
The platform has been used by artists including Tommy Guerrero for limited-edition vinyl releases[8] and London Music Works for their Essential Games Music Collection Vol. 1.[9]
In 2026, Joji's fourth studio album Piss in the Wind, released through Palace Creek and Virgin Music Group, used the Diggers Factory platform for its official direct-to-fan physical store. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200.[10] James Blake's album Trying Times was similarly distributed through a dedicated storefront powered by the platform.
The company has also handled official soundtrack releases for major entertainment properties, including the Assassin's Creed franchise (Assassin's Creed: The Piano Collection, Ubisoft) and the official soundtrack of the Netflix live-action series One Piece.[11]
International reach and industry context
Although headquartered in Paris, Diggers Factory operates primarily as an international platform. A 2025 white paper co-published with Ctrl+Reach, a music marketing consultancy, examined how artists and labels can identify and convert streaming audiences into direct physical music buyers across multiple territories — citing a case study in which an independent electronic artist achieved a 5.4x return on ad spend in the Netherlands, a market identified through streaming data rather than conventional distribution assumptions.[12]
The company's growth coincides with the sustained resurgence of the vinyl record market. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), vinyl generated $1.4 billion in revenue in the United States in 2023, accounting for 71% of physical music sales.[13] In France, the vinyl market grew 4.5-fold between 2016 and 2020, according to the Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (SNEP).
References
- ↑ "Broke? This French Company Will Press Vinyl for Anyone's Budget". Vice. 2024. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Breaking the vinyl mould with Diggers Factory". Attack Magazine. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Diggers Factory, la start-up qui distribue des vinyles édités par l'INA". Institut national de l'audiovisuel. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Super-Serving Vinyl Buyers & Artists Alike: Interview with Alexis Castiel of Diggers Factory". Music Business Association. January 22, 2025. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Breaking the vinyl mould with Diggers Factory". Attack Magazine. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Diggers Factory, la start-up qui distribue des vinyles édités par l'INA". Institut national de l'audiovisuel. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Breaking the vinyl mould with Diggers Factory". Attack Magazine. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Breaking the vinyl mould with Diggers Factory". Attack Magazine. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Diggers Factory Digs Deep to Deliver Limited-Run Vinyl Pressings". Analog Planet. 2024. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Piss in the Wind". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "One Piece: Into the Grand Line – 2LP Liquid-Filled Vinyl". Diggers Factory. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "D2C international: un seul store pour vendre la musique physique dans le monde entier". Ctrl+Reach. 2025. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "On-demand vinyl: How Diggers Factory is changing the game". Bridge.audio. 2025. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help)
External links
Category:Companies established in 2015 Category:Companies based in Paris Category:Music industry Category:Crowdfunding
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