Name some good reasons why I should get 1,000 CDs instead...

[chris harris]

and, the "concrete benefit" of digipacks is that 99% of people in the world prefer them to shitty broken jewel cases. if you can't afford to put your record out in digipacks, that's cool... but, don't try to rationalize it by pretending that packaging doesn't matter.

[darkhorseporter]

you press 300 at ~$1000 = $3.33/cd
sell for $10 --> $6.67 profit/cd
need to sell about 150 cds to break even*

press 1000 at ~$1600 = $1.60/cd
sell for $10 --> $8.40 profit/cd
need to sell about 190 to break even*

Um, if you're paying $1000 and charging $10, you need to sell 100 to break even on the pressing costs, 160 for $1600. Your don't exclude the cost per CD when calculating a break even point.

For me, the 300 vs 1000 decision would come down to how much touring you do. The more you tour, the more CDs you'll need to send to bookers and local media, and hopefully sell. Some people are happy to book you or write about you based on MP3s, but others still want the physical package.

DUH!

Er, I mean, uh, stupid..calculator..piece.of.junk...

[Quest Poetics]

Kunaki.com

Check that link...They make CD's and you dont have to order 1000 at a time...You can order as little as you want at one time...Peace

[Barry Jive]

and, the "concrete benefit" of digipacks is that 99% of people in the world prefer them to shitty broken jewel cases. if you can't afford to put your record out in digipacks, that's cool... but, don't try to rationalize it by pretending that packaging doesn't matter.

If digipacks were free I'd use them, but I'd rather spend $500 (or so) on a better engineer, a nicer studio to mix in, a fun new guitar, etc, than on packaging. Today I think artwork is still extremely important, but packaging is increasingly irrelevant. It's a digital age and many, possibly most, folks will either rip your cd onto their computer and rarely see it again or download it. Physical cds still live in cars, but not almost anywhere else.

I mean, am I totally nuts here? With a finite budget wouldn't you rather want your record to sound better rather than be slightly more convenient? Pay a month of rent while you're on tour?

-Eric

[8th_note]

I mean, am I totally nuts here? With a finite budget wouldn't you rather want your record to sound better rather than be slightly more convenient? Pay a month of rent while you're on tour?

I agree completely. And one more point. Have you ever heard anyone say at a show, "Gosh, I really like this band but the CD isn't in a digipak so I guess I won't buy it."

[Antiques]

I mean, am I totally nuts here? With a finite budget wouldn't you rather want your record to sound better rather than be slightly more convenient? Pay a month of rent while you're on tour?

I agree completely. And one more point. Have you ever heard anyone say at a show, "Gosh, I really like this band but the CD isn't in a digipak so I guess I won't buy it."

hehe...

but they look pretty...

[Meriphew]

I like digipacks.

I like them alot better than regular cd cases as well. I don't see myself ever going back.

[Brett Siler]

Kunaki.com

Check that link...They make CD's and you dont have to order 1000 at a time...You can order as little as you want at one time...Peace

They look kinda sketchy. Have you gone through them? If so was the experience good?

[Johnny B]

and, the "concrete benefit" of digipacks is that 99% of people in the world prefer them to shitty broken jewel cases. if you can't afford to put your record out in digipacks, that's cool... but, don't try to rationalize it by pretending that packaging doesn't matter.

As someone who buys a lot of CDs (I have 1400 or 1500), I hate digipacks. Yeah, they look kind of cool at first, but eventually they get beat up and nasty looking. If a jewel case breaks, you buy a new one. If a tray on a jewel case breaks, you swap in a new one. If the tray breaks on a digipack, you're screwed.

That said, I'll buy a CD if I like the music, no matter how it's packaged: jewel case, digipack, cardboard sleeve, slim case, paper sleeve...

[trash180]

I like the idea of a limited run of digipacks. They do look sweet. In my experience (years of selling cds and records in a retail environment), the jewel case vs digipack is never a deal killer. You get the added bonus of someone taking a second look maybe, or you lure someone into buying sooner due to it's limited nature, etc. A person may buy the digipack over the jewel case given the option between the two, and perhaps for a few bucks more, but it's not much of a deciding factor given 2 different cds.

I like the idea of having extra "promos" around with the 1000 jewel cased cds. If you have only 300, you're really going to have to watch how many freebies you give away (review, retail promo, non-commercial radio etc.).

How about this?Find out how much the digipacks would be to print seperately. It shouldn't be too much, since you won't actually be manufacturing the cds. You could even cut a deal with someone local to print the packs? Then do the 1000 cd deal, stuff the digipacks from the stock of jewel cased cds and stuff the newly emptied jewel cases with cd-rs for giveaways, reviews, promo packs for booking etc. You could sell the digipacks for a couple of extra bucks(limited!) along side the jewel cased version at shows, and use the jewel cased for distro. Show exclusive! Limited Edition digipack! Hand printed locally!

whew...guess that coffee's kicking in.

[jmoose]

I like digipaks for the extra artwork & all, but some companies cut them large, bigger then a standard jewel case and those discs won't fit into CD racks 'cause they're like 1/16" bigger in all directions. That's pretty annoying!

If you want to push this project ahead as a career thing, then order the 1000 discs and do a college radio mailing off the top of 200-300 discs and do all the follow up stuff.

If you really only think you can move 200 copies or so then do the 300 deal.

Packing still IS important. Nobody wants to buy a disc that looks like you made it yourself.

[markmeat]

Packing still IS important. Nobody wants to buy a disc that looks like you made it yourself.

I HATE playing with bands on the road who are selling they're discs for like $8-10 and they're CDR's in paper sleeves with the band name written in marker... I'll trade our CD with anybody to get it out there, but I feel cheated when I hand over a nice professional-looking wrapped CD for a CDR in a paper case...

The kicker is, the charge $8 for essentially 40 cents of raw material, while we sell our "real" CD for only $5-6 (depends where we are and where the gas tank needle is)...

Oh yeah, by trade I'm a graphic designer so of course I have a vested interest in seeing more "real" CDs out there... the more "design" going on out there, the bigger chance I can pick up some of that action

[jmoose]

I HATE playing with bands on the road who are selling they're discs for like $8-10 and they're CDR's in paper sleeves with the band name written in marker... I'll trade our CD with anybody to get it out there, but I feel cheated when I hand over a nice professional-looking wrapped CD for a CDR in a paper case...

The kicker is, the charge $8 for essentially 40 cents of raw material, while we sell our "real" CD for only $5-6 (depends where we are and where the gas tank needle is)...

Well, there's WAAAAAAAAAY more then a dollars worth of material in a finished CD.

What about the thousands of dollars that went into the recording & production of the disc?

That's all gotta be recouped before you can approach "break even" status which means selling more then 200 copies no matter how it's sliced.

But yeah, I hear 'ya...when a band hands out a disc in a paper sleeve with a stick-on label or worse, just a Sharpie...that's so very "moist-pro" that I can't help but kinda write 'em off.

At one point I had a plie of CD's, must've been 40 or 50 that were like that. Never even listened to them. Most managers, booking agency's, lawyers, club managers, etc. simply toss out anything that's a total homebrew. I've watched 'em sort through the weeks pile in about 30 minutes countless times, all based on the packaging or lack thereof.

I dunno man, rather then selling CD's at $5 each, sell 'em for $10. Or have you found that people are more willing to buy a $5 disc then a $10 one?

I've never had a problem shelling out $10 for a full-length disc of some killer band I just saw. If it only has 5-6 tunes or is $15 I'd think twice about it, but that 10-12 LP for $10 works IMO.

As a studio owner & producer though, I've seen LOTS of bands spend all their money on recording, even pony up for "big name" mastering and then have nothing left for duplication or promotion.

Some bands can't even really grasp the concept of promotion which always makes it rougher. But those are almost always the same bands that are talking about "when we get signed..." from the second their weak-ass drummer walks into the studio...

How 'ya gonna get signed if you can't make it out of your hometown?

[curtiswyant]

My band got our CD inserts printed professionally and did the burning/packaging ourselves. No shrink wrap, but we're making CDs on-demand for about $1 apiece (LOTS of profit!).