We Want To Release An Album

sleep together · #1 01-12-2008, 05:16 PM

So, Im in a band and we want to release a decent looking album. We have a place that we can record at, it actually sounds good, better than the quality of a lot of local bands, but we also want good packaging to give us a heads up. Can you give me some links to places that will burn/print/package our albums for a decent price? Also, we dont want stickers on the cds, we would like a real printing on the cd.

ty

bonzo4880 · #2 01-12-2008, 07:33 PM

If you can't find anyone locally, I would recommend http://www.discmakers.com. They do larger normally but I found a something on their site - 100 discs with case and insert for $180-something. Not too bad. And the turn around time is pretty good. I have no personal experience with the company, so let me know how it goes.

Valerus · #3 01-12-2008, 08:41 PM

Bonzo, that's a good price!

sleep together · #4 01-13-2008, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonzo4880

If you can't find anyone locally, I would recommend http://www.discmakers.com. They do larger normally but I found a something on their site - 100 discs with case and insert for $180-something. Not too bad. And the turn around time is pretty good. I have no personal experience with the company, so let me know how it goes.

ty

whats an insert? What are the panels?

Snakeman1066 · #5 01-13-2008, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleep together

ty

whats an insert? What are the panels?

um the little booklet that comes with most CD's that has the song titles, Lyrics, artwork, thank yous etc. that is an insert and each page of the booklet counts as a panel

Our label uses Bison Disc

this month they have a special running

1,000 CD's with up to 5 ink colors packaged in jewel cases w/ full color 4 page insert, and back splash panel includes high gloss UV coating for $1.27 each.

Geddyfleaharris · #6 01-13-2008, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakeman1066

um the little booklet that comes with most CD's that has the song titles, yrics, artwork thank yous etc. that is an insert and each page of the booklet counts as a panel

Our label uses Bison Disc

this month they have a special running

1,000 CD's with up to 5 ink colors packaged in jewel cases w/ full color 4 page insert, and back splash panel includes high gloss UV coating for $1.27 each.

That's a great price! So you give them a master and they go from there? Obviously agreeing on the art work.

Snakeman1066 · #7 01-13-2008, 08:42 PM

You can design everything yourself they even take stuff sent via the web to them, provided its in a format thay can work with..

Artwork wise they will accept:

Adobe Photoshop-.PSD
Adobe Illustrator-.AI
Adobe InDesign-.INDD
Encapsulated Post Script-.EPS (exported from Illustrator, Photoshop or Quark)
Printed Document Format-. PDF (exported from Illustrator, Photoshop or InDesign)
Quark-.QXP (version 6.0 or earlier)

Yep just send them a master (You would have to check and see what formats they are accepting these days) and they do replication and duplication both, silk screens or just simple printing..... heck they even do IRMA anti-piracy coding...however the more you do yourself the cheaper it is on you...

Honestly i don't want to do their advertising for them but i can pass on a contact number if you PM me...or just look them up on the web under the name Bison Optical Disc

I think 1,000 disc is a minimum order for replication, but then again i don't usually handle these kinds of details i just write music and play bass...lol

I'm fairly sure they have templates available online

Geddyfleaharris · #8 01-14-2008, 07:04 AM

Thanks for the info Snakeman!

Phrogie · #9 01-15-2008, 03:04 AM

I've done work with DiscMakers (artwork on two different projects/groups)... and they're a dream to work with (at least from the art-end of it... since neither projects were ones I was involved with musically, I couldn't tell you how -that- worked out... but my clients seemed happy enough with them)

They -do- have templates online, and if you're not artistically inclined (visually, speaking, of course

), they also offer graphic design as a service (typical rates, which might be a tad high for a band just starting out tho)

I recommend just checking the website... with the inserts, you have all kinds of options, from one panel inserts, to multi-page booklets, to fold-out posters, to just designed cardstock folders. It all really depends on your budget. Same with the printing of the CDs themselves.

Good luck with it

---Phrogie
Images by: Phrogie
http://www.phrogie.net

Dave Muscato · #10 01-15-2008, 03:11 AM

Discmakers is good. Make sure you have a market for your CDs before you press 1,000 of them... $1.27/ea sounds great until you realize that's $1300 (plus shipping - and presuming that they're not doing the mastering or artwork, too). In these days of digital distribution, if you can record a decent sound, and this is your first record, I would consider getting 100 of the CDRs in jewel cases of 3-5 songs for promotional purposes (and the people who want hard copies), and spending $40 to get some notecards printed from Vistaprint with a web address where people can go to download the songs, instead. Once you have a healthy demand for those downloads, go back to the studio, record a full-length album, press 1000, and go to town.

Phrogie · #11 01-15-2008, 03:40 AM

An alternative is this (which is an option my own band is seriously considering): have DiscMakers (or whatever other place you choose... I've been told there are less expensive options out there) do on-disc printing on blank CDs. Make sure the cover "art" is generic (band name, contact infomation, website and such... no album title tho, that's important), and then burn your own as needed. Yes, it takes time, but it's a lot less expensive. Get your inserts done at a local printshop, one that'll run smaller quantities, and you can have those run as needed.

If you think you're going to sell 50 of them per gig, then you burn 50... less if you need less. And if it turns out you still have several hundred blank CDs left over when you're ready to cut your second, then all you have to worry about is just new inserts, and burning from the new master. You've already paid for the CDs themselves.

And, of course, what Dave said: work the digital downloads angle. Let the fans burn their own copies, dangit

---Phrogie
Ain't nothing wrong with DIY

kaputsport · #12 01-15-2008, 08:54 AM

I did a 100 disc run from disc makers, with printed disc, inserts and 1/2 cases. It cost us $300 for mastering and printing/shipping...

We are selling them for $5 each, and are almost out... Best investment ever...

www.discmakers.com

You cannot go wrong with them.

Dave Muscato · #13 01-15-2008, 09:52 PM

I agree with the above... Fewer people are willing to buy CDs for $15, 12, even $10 anymore. If you can save on pressing and sell for $5, do it. A hard-copy CD is a good promotional tool, but IMHO/IME, most fans are okay with (and prefer) digital files, anyway. The expensive part is the recording and mastering, which is a 1-time expense, and doesn't change whether you distribute digitally or physically.

You still need some physical copies for all sorts of reasons (promotional, some folks still want hard copy, etc), but proportionally speaking, very very few indie bands will need 1,000 full-length copies of their latest record, doubly so if this is your first record. Your money is better spent on some professional promotion or even just an emergency fund for gas $ etc when you're playing shows that don't pay well (take it from someone who still has $3k left to pay on his last CD, which came out in March '07!)

Set up iTunes, Snocap, etc accounts and promote the hell out of 'em. "Releasing an album" doesn't mean "releasing a CD" anymore. Save your money for touring and promoting yourselves. A hard-copy CD used to be an art form in and of itself; nowadays it's more of a promotional tool, not unlike posters or a website. The recordings themselves are still an art form, but don't confuse a CD with a recording, which is intangible (but can still be sold!!). Making this distinction is an important part of staying ahead of the majors, IMO... and in this competitive world, we indies need all the help we can get!

sleep together · #14 01-16-2008, 01:51 AM

ty for the help. We are already planning on setting up a snocap and itunes, and we are only planning on pressing 100 so far, and selling them at gigs for $7 each ( we plan to sell 15 to 20 per gig, I dont think we will do better than that, but if we do it will be cool ).

I will check out all of those sites.

We want to do a professional looking release for our first effort because the other bands in my area do really cheap recordings, sound and packaging. We also want to use this as a tool to get us noticed more and remembered more by people from gigs. And anyways, if we dont sell well, its still cool. In the end we will have a really good album that we know we put a lot of energy into.

jomahu · #15 01-16-2008, 04:30 AM

+1 on discmakers. i like the plaque they send with the cds.

Dave Muscato · #16 01-16-2008, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakeman1066

um the little booklet that comes with most CD's that has the song titles, Lyrics, artwork, thank yous etc. that is an insert and each page of the booklet counts as a panel

Our label uses Bison Disc

this month they have a special running

1,000 CD's with up to 5 ink colors packaged in jewel cases w/ full color 4 page insert, and back splash panel includes high gloss UV coating for $1.27 each.

Four-*panel,* or four page? Four panel usually means no pages in the middle... just front, inside front, inside back, and back... basically, a single piece of paper folded in half.

Dave Muscato · #17 01-16-2008, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleep together

ty for the help. We are already planning on setting up a snocap and itunes, and we are only planning on pressing 100 so far, and selling them at gigs for $7 each ( we plan to sell 15 to 20 per gig, I dont think we will do better than that, but if we do it will be cool ).

I will check out all of those sites.

We want to do a professional looking release for our first effort because the other bands in my area do really cheap recordings, sound and packaging. We also want to use this as a tool to get us noticed more and remembered more by people from gigs. And anyways, if we dont sell well, its still cool. In the end we will have a really good album that we know we put a lot of energy into.

If you want to use this as a tool to get noticed and remembered, more than to make money, consider selling for $5. The difference between having to come up with a single $5-bill and a $5-bill+$1 bill+$1 bill is a lot more than $2, in my experience.

Geddyfleaharris · #18 01-16-2008, 01:00 PM

My experience with our 3 song demo CD has been that they have basically turned into a promotional item i.e. lots are given away free. We do try to sell them for $5 when we can or put them together with a T-shirt for $20. You have to decide if you are trying to get the name of the band out to as many people as possible or are you actually trying to make money? We decided it was more important to get the name of the band out rather than worry about making money. Hopefully it leads to bigger and better things down the road.

Caca de Kick · #19 01-16-2008, 01:27 PM

My band uses Discmakers. They have shop here in south Seattle, so for us, it's all we do is drop off our masters and artwork, and the turn around time is pretty quick.
They have artists too that can do your artwork if you can't do it yourself.

We sell em at gigs for $5. Bar patrons have a hard time spending anywhere near $10 for a local band.