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

[Antiques]

Ok guys, music time is almost over. Time to pay for those little fucking plastic discs.

The thing is... I'm torn. Call me a sentimental candyass, but I want a nice digipack with some creative self-painted/drawn artwork and maybe some nice creative photos on the inside... and I want quality replication by a good company with a quick turnaround.

I was thinking a short-run, like 300... Discmakers has a new 300 Digipack for $990 deal... might do it.

However, it seems like the benchmark is to get 1,000 CDs made... I don't know, I'm not sure why I would need that many. i got 1,000 copies of my last band's EP made and in the four years I've had them, I've used like 150...

So here's my plan... get 300 digipacks and then if I start using a lot, it either means I might be successful enough to get financial backing on a distribution deal and a new run or that I should make a new short-run of more ghetto packaged/self-packaged and duplicated CDs for press-package purposes and other nonsense.

What do you guys think?

[xhavepatiencex]

well, since the 1000 cd has a lower price per cd to you, that would mean if you are selling them, you could pay yourself back quicker, and then all the extra cds would be all profit and it wouldnt matter what happened to them. thats what i would do personally.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

if you're an active band...i.e. playing shows regularly, touring to some extent, you have some sort of fan base, etc. i'd say get 1000. you'll go through them quick enough. if you're totally just starting out and nobody knows who you are (i mean that matter of factly...not trying to diss you at all) then maybe go with the 300 and if you roll through those quickly and people dig it then go for the 1000 for the next pressing. i dunno. i totally lose all interest in the records once they're done selling the things is about the last thing on my mind at that point...quite the recipe for success there....

[philbo]

If you play a lot, get 1000.

When you play live, start offering them for sale for cheap in the middle of the show (like $5 or $6).

Make a release press pack of maybe 150 or 200 copies, and send them out to college radio stations across the country. They are more likely to play it than almost anywhere else you send it. If you have your band's website URL on the CD, and they read it over the air, you are gonna get a serious amount of visitors to your site. One college radio airing can equal a couple thousand hits. Offer the CD for sale on your site for cost plus shipping. (With the goal not so much to make money as it is to get your name spread out to as many places as possible.)

Give the rest away, like maybe 10 or 15 or so at the end of each live show.

The more copies of your music out there, the more it is likely to find it's way to people who dig it.

With great quantities of CDs comes great quantities of work, with the payoff being your work reaching lots more people.
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[philbo]

Oh, yeah, I forgot the catch... If your music sucks, doing all that stuff will make a lot more people aware of the fact.
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[Antiques]

Oh, yeah, I forgot the catch... If your music sucks, doing all that stuff will make a lot more people aware of the fact.

Then I think I better stick with the 300!

All good reasons and ones I've been considering... however we are definitely a brand new project (only a few months old) and have no gigs, buzz, or fanbase under our belt for this project. We have other related projects which are semi-successful which may place us in a realm of more intermediate status or whatever, but I'm not really sure that's worth 1,000 CDs.

[MT]

Dude, if you're in that sort of infancy, then get the 300. They'll be super sweet, and if you have to print again, you can get 1000 and talk about all those "collectors items" circulating out there.

[scott macdonald]

One thing to be sure of is whether you're getting your CDs duplicated or replicated. Replication is when an optical master is made and the CDs are stamped out, duplication is the same as burning a CD on your computer. Some CD manufacturers will only replicate your order if it's more than 1000 CDs -- if you order any number below that, you're getting duplication. My understanding is that duplicated CDs have a higher chance of errors.

I can't tell whether Discmakers is replicating or duplicating on their 300-CDs-in-Digipaks offer, but I would make sure you know what you're getting before you spend the money.

Oh, and when my band put out our CD about a year ago, we made 1,000. We've got rid of about 200 and we play all the time. Sigh.

-scott

[Antiques]

One thing to be sure of is whether you're getting your CDs duplicated or replicated. Replication is when an optical master is made and the CDs are stamped out, duplication is the same as burning a CD on your computer. Some CD manufacturers will only replicate your order if it's more than 1000 CDs -- if you order any number below that, you're getting duplication. My understanding is that duplicated CDs have a higher chance of errors.

I can't tell whether Discmakers is replicating or duplicating on their 300-CDs-in-Digipaks offer, but I would make sure you know what you're getting before you spend the money.

Oh, and when my band put out our CD about a year ago, we made 1,000. We've got rid of about 200 and we play all the time. Sigh.

-scott

I did check and yes, even though it's a short-run, it's replicated... I feel your pain on the 1,000 CDs.

[darkhorseporter]

Here's the way I see it

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*

So it all depends on how many you think you can sell. And how much you're going to charge. I'd also figure in whether I'm going to want, as noted in another post, to send a bunch out to radio stations, labels, zines, give away, etc...

Anyways if you look at it (realistically) as a business, you'll do fine with whatever choice you make.


*of course this doesn't factor in the cost of recording/mixing/mastering

[darjama]

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.

[mjl]

Another option is to order 500 or 1000 CDs on a spindle (no packaging), then come up with an affordable-but-cool way to hand-package them as needed. CDs-on-a-spindle are cheap, shipping/handling from the manufacturer to your door will be less, and since you're packaging-as-you-go you won't have boxes and boxes of CDs taking up space in your closet...

[bluesman]

CRT in Nashville is a short run replication house. They recently did 1000 cd's for some friends...nice job & reasonable price with shrink wrap & bar code. About the same as your 300 disc price. Check them out. 800-453-2533. Whoever you use, be sure to get the barcode, without it your cd's cannot be carried by any distributor, with it you can be sold by Amazon etc.
Barcodes used to cost $700.00 or so, but can now be "rented" from CD BABY for $35.00.
Good Luck!

[Barry Jive]

I would just like to put in a good word for cd forge in portland. Really cheap, you can do the artwork all digital (no dealing with film and other annoying printing related shit) and really nice guys to deal with. I was completely happy and will be using them indefinitely.

I personally think that digipacks are sort of stupid. They look cool but add TONS of cost for very little concrete benefit. I got 1000 jewel cased cds with a free barcode, shrink wrapped, cdbaby fees paid, sticks on the top, etc, for $1,200. Doesn't get alot better than that.

www.cdforge.com

-Eric

[Antiques]

I would just like to put in a good word for cd forge in portland. Really cheap, you can do the artwork all digital (no dealing with film and other annoying printing related shit) and really nice guys to deal with. I was completely happy and will be using them indefinitely.

I personally think that digipacks are sort of stupid. They look cool but add TONS of cost for very little concrete benefit. I got 1000 jewel cased cds with a free barcode, shrink wrapped, cdbaby fees paid, sticks on the top, etc, for $1,200. Doesn't get alot better than that.

www.cdforge.com

-Eric

I don't know, actually I found cdforge to be one of the most expensive of the companies I've researched. And I like digipacks.