how to do affordable 7" single releases

jrdamien · Post by **jrdamien** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:32 am

I know this is the wrong forum but I don't know which would be the right forum, so I'm asking here.

I see bands doing 7" single releases and would like to do some myself. But how is this affordable? Is there anyplace that does short run vinyl that isn't 1k no matter the quantity or isn't lathe cut?

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:49 am

You should be able to press 300 copies of 7" vinyl, in white paper sleeves, including lacquers and metal parts, for around $600.

United Record Pressing seems to have the best prices I've found. I usually do lacquers with Chicago Mastering Service and metal parts with Mastercraft.

When you factor in packaging, you're usually looking at a cost of $3 to $3.50 per record for short run. And, with a selling price that averages around $5 depending on the packaging, it's usually not very affordable to press vinyl.

jrdamien · Post by **jrdamien** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:12 pm

chris harris wrote:You should be able to press 300 copies of 7" vinyl, in white paper sleeves, including lacquers and metal parts, for around $600.

United Record Pressing seems to have the best prices I've found. I usually do lacquers with Chicago Mastering Service and metal parts with Mastercraft.

When you factor in packaging, you're usually looking at a cost of $3 to $3.50 per record for short run. And, with a selling price that averages around $5 depending on the packaging, it's usually not very affordable to press vinyl.

Thanks Chris. Not really affordable at all.

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 10:15 am

Aardvark Mastering here in Denver has the most competitive, but competent lacquer cutting prices. Don't be fooled by the cheesy website. The dude has cut records for some well known artists and I've enjoyed being in the room to watch him cut mine.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:08 pm

My band had a recent 7" that the label had cut at Aardvark. It came out great!

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 4:05 pm

Re: "Not affordable..."

Well, it definitely isn't cheap at over $1,000 for a short run, and making money back on them is a dicey proposition at best, but it depends on your goals and your definition of "affordable."

$1,000 is less than a lot of people were paying just a few years back on CD runs before the big "CD crash," and vinyl is still in resurgent mode, and to many people is simply cooler. Add to that that you can make your own CD's and bundle them for a lot less than you used to pay for a CD short run, and you could have a nice marketing/promotional package that back in the day was out-of-reach for a lot of folks. How much is it worth to you to have your music out on quality vinyl? With all of the important quality control steps and labor intensive processes, $1,000 seems almost like rock-bottom pricing...

GJ

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 4:13 pm

I assumed to OP to mean "affordable" in relation to ROI.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 4:44 pm

Yes, and you're spot-on Chris, because he said it himself (if in not-so-many specific words). I'm just thinking about a different perspective-- as far as the "physical product" market in music today, vinyl seems to be it.

GJ

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:18 pm

chris harris wrote:I assumed to OP to mean "affordable" in relation to ROI.

i just joined a band recently (after mastering their record), they got a few hundred records pressed. we were talking affordability of vinyl vs cds and the main dude said "i would rather spend X dollars pressing records, knowing that i have to sell them at cost, than spend X dollars on cds that i know no one is going to buy."

not that this helps the OP any, i just thought it was interesting.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:19 pm

That's how I've been doing it. I've pressed a lot of vinyl. I'm doing some cassette releases now and people seem to be interested in them. We'll see! But, yeah, my band and the bands on my label are all doing this for audiences that aren't interested in CDs anymore.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 8:18 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
chris harris wrote:I assumed to OP to mean "affordable" in relation to ROI.
i just joined a band recently (after mastering their record), they got a few hundred records pressed. we were talking affordability of vinyl vs cds and the main dude said "i would rather spend X dollars pressing records, knowing that i have to sell them at cost, than spend X dollars on cds that i know no one is going to buy."

not that this helps the OP any, i just thought it was interesting.

It is interesting, and a pretty valid perspective I think.

LowG · Post by **LowG** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:02 pm

Yes, vinyl is certainly not for great ROI. How could anything beat digital distribution in that category?
Downloads are for selling your music to people who aren't crazy about music. Vinyl is for sharing your music with people who are.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:41 am

Wow, a very quote-worthy quote, LowG! If you open a record pressing plant, I suggest you go with that as your slogan.

GJ

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:08 am

LowG wrote:Yes, vinyl is certainly not for great ROI. How could anything beat digital distribution in that category?
Downloads are for selling your music to people who aren't crazy about music. Vinyl is for sharing your music with people who are.

I need to make a sign that says this for the bands that come in to my studio.

eh91311 · Post by **eh91311** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 3:17 pm

Palomino Record Pressing seems like an affordable solution.

http://www.dosado.com/pressing/pressingcontact.htm

The electricalaudio.com forum's PRF/Lake of Fake series of 7" are pressed by Palomino.

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how to do affordable 7" single releases

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