Music lovers can drop the needle on a new exhibition that celebrates the rich culture of vinyl records.

The Vinyl Factory: Reverb opens at ACMI, Australia's museum of screen culture, in Melbourne on Friday in an early taste of the city's annual RISING arts festival.

The show was originally staged at London's 180 Studios in 2024, with films and installations exploring the influence of vinyl on art, fashion and society.

Music firm The Vinyl Factory acquired the EMI Records facility about 25 years ago and now runs the only large-scale record pressing plant in the UK.

Its vinyl is created on the original machines that first pressed albums by The Beatles, Pink Floyd and the Sex Pistols.

The label has so far released about 500 records by musicians such as Daft Punk, Massive Attack, Pet Shop Boys and Thom Yorke.

It also works with artists such as Marina Abramovic and Dinos Chapman to make records that are both music and art projects.

One hundred of these releases are on show at ACMI, but best of all is a specially fitted-out listening room with rich acoustics, where people can lie back and enjoy a selection of vinyl.

"It just sounds astonishing in there, and it's a very bespoke, unique experience where you get to listen to these things in such a good quality environment," RISING music curator Yasmine Sharaf said.

By day, people can choose from The Vinyl Factory's releases.

By night, Sharaf, who is the presenter of community radio station Triple R's Cease + Desist program, has planned a series of sessions during which various artists will play records.

They're expected to be so popular with the city's music scene tickets are being allocated by ballot.

Listening rooms are a way for people to become absorbed in the music they love, 180 Studios curator and The Vinyl Factory creative director Sean Bidder said.

"They really are responding to people's desire to give a bit more to something they're passionate about, maybe get away from digital culture for a little bit," he said.

The Vinyl Factory: Reverb opens Friday and runs until August 31.

RISING starts on Wednesday.