United Record Pressing

Bullet Records began in 1946 as one of Nashville’s first independent record labels. Bullet Plastics opened in 1947, pressing records for the label. The ownership and name changed in the 1950s to Southern Plastics, and the company moved from Broadway to Franklin Road. In 1963, it moved to a larger facility on Chestnut Street that pressed 1 million records per month, including all of Motown’s singles. The company became United Record Pressing in the 1970s.

African American artists and music executives who could not find accommodations in Jim Crow-era Nashville stayed in a rear apartment called the “Motown Suite” or “United Hilton.” Notable guests included Berry Gordy Jr., Smokey Robinson and the Supremes. In the 1990s United Record began manufacturing 10- and 12-inch records. In 2008 a distribution division was added and in 2010 a record label—453 Music—was launched. The company moved to a larger facility on Allied Drive in 2017.