What Is Tiny Vinyl? All About The New Format Hitting Target Shelves

Tiny Vinyl, a new company producing miniature music singles, partners with Target for a run of exclusive releases.

Nathan Zucker

Collectable. Affordable. Cute …?

From Chappell Roan to The Rolling Stones and Kacey Musgraves, some of the biggest artists in music can soon be played on Tiny Vinyl – a miniature new way for fans to embrace the popular format.

Producing a four-inch, double-sided single small enough to fit in a pocket or purse, Tiny Vinyl lands this month on virtual Target shelves, where the retailer offers online pre-sales on popular, pint-sized singles from Tate McRae, Gracie Abrams, Lainey Wilson, Bruno Mars … and the list goes on.

How does it work? And which artists are getting the Tiny Vinyl treatment? Read on for more about the head-turning, hand-sized format.

Who Makes Tiny Vinyl?

A few years ago, Tiny Vinyl began when Neil Kohler – a toy industry veteran based in Nashville, Tennessee – approached album-making plant Nashville Record Pressing about producing a playable vinyl small enough to fit into a Funko Pop package. Along the way, he enlisted Jesse Mann, a season music business professional, to help navigate the industry.

The engineering team at Nashville Record Pressing produced a miniature vinyl single that plays a song on each side of the disc. The product comes in folded, cardboard packaging complete with artist artwork and credits – similar to most records (but, of course, smaller).

“We measured a Funko Pop box and we said it would be really cool if we could put a four-inch record in that box,” Kohler said. “It took a minute, but when we held one in our hands … we were like, ‘This is a great product by itself.’”

Tiny Vinyl combines the popular trend of product miniaturization with continued growth of vinyl music sales. Last year, music data company Luminate reported that vinyl sales grew from 13.1 million units in 2016 to nearly 50 million sold in 2023.

“That idea of making real-life things smaller is one of the reasons Jesse and I thought, ‘What if we made vinyl – which is really popular and surging – smaller and cool and collectable? And we number each one,’” Kohler said. “That’s really the genesis of it. There [are] a lot of market forces that are converging that support why this is such a popular idea.”

The company cut its proveribal teeth by producing limited edition releases for independent artists, such as indie rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise as psychedelic country singer-songwriter Daniel Donato.

Donato sold Tiny Vinyl on tour as a compact, affordable option for those wanting to buy music at his show.

“It allows somebody who really wants to hold music and have a tangible relationship with music, it gives them a product. It’s something they can add into their collection that is really unique and really high-quality,” Donato said. “A lot of the responsibility on getting people to listen to music is [on] the artist. That is a great, new, innovative product that helps achieve that goal.”

Plus, on some merch tables, it doesn’t cost much more than a koozie.

“The tour managers love it because it’s not as bulky to loan on the truck,” Mann said. He added, “These come in packs of 50 that look like a Vans shoe box.”

How Does Tiny Vinyl Work?

Each disc fits roughly four minutes of music on each side. That’s not quite enough space for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but the length should cover most hits.

Tiny Vinyl spins at 33 1/3 revolutions-per-minute (RPM), same as a 12-inch LP. To compare, singles released on seven-inch records typically spin at 45 RPM.

“We heard from the RIAA that this was the first new physical platform to be launched in over 20 years,” Kohler said.

Still, some turntables may need adjusting to play the miniature single. Vinyl players with an auto-return function may pick up the needle before it reaches the end of the song; users should disable the function before playing a Tiny Vinyl.

Who’s Getting A Tiny Vinyl?

This month, Target announced a run of exclusive Tiny Vinyl releases from 30+ artists in pop, country, classic rock, hip-hop, K-pop and more. Titles sell for $14.99 before taxes and shipping. Releases include:

• Chappell Roan: “Pink Pony Club”/ “Naked In Manhattan”
• Black Sabbath: “Paranoid” / “The Wizard”
• The Notorious B.I.G.: “Big Poppa”/ “Hypnotize”
• Gracie Abrams: “That’s So True”/ “I Love You, I’m Sorry”
• Tate McRae: “Sports Car” / “Revolving Door”
• The Rolling Stones: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”/ “The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man”
• Britney Spears: “Baby One More Time/ ”Oops … I Did It Again”
• Doechii: “Denial Is A River” / “Anxiety”
• Ghost: “Lachryma” / “Mary On A Cross”
• Frozen: “Let It Go” / “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?”

Find the full list at target.com/tinyvinyl and additional information at tinyvinyl.com.