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CD Manufacturing - Replication or Duplication
Hi Folks,
I am working on a solo celtic guitar cd. I have one more session in the studio to get the initial recording done, then its mixing and mastering. I am hoping to have it all done by the end of the year.
I trying to make a decision about what to do for the manufacturing process, replication or duplication. Replication is usually only available in units of a 1000, and generally runs about a $1000. From what i understand its where they make all the cd's from a glass master copy. It seems to be the way cd's are made.
Duplication is essentially burning a cd-r, as one would on a computer. They run about $350 or a 100 units. So more per unit, but up front cost is lower. Downside seems to be that the media is a bit less stable than a replicated cd, and its not 100% that they are playable in every cd player. Though a "slow burn", which means not running the drive at maximal speed when burning the cd, i think that is changing.
I am debating which one to do. I am putting alot of effort into this cd, and would like to send it to places to hopefully get reviewed. But i have my doubts of being able to sell a 1000 units. If i got 100 duplicated ones and sold them all, i would have enough money to go the replicated route if i wanted. Or i could just get another batch of duplicated cd's. Besides with these days with iTunes, MP3 players, etc i am thinking alot of folks just rip their cd's to computer and then put the disc on the shelf. I know i do.
Interested in hearing others thoughts.
Anton
I am working on a solo celtic guitar cd. I have one more session in the studio to get the initial recording done, then its mixing and mastering. I am hoping to have it all done by the end of the year.
I trying to make a decision about what to do for the manufacturing process, replication or duplication. Replication is usually only available in units of a 1000, and generally runs about a $1000. From what i understand its where they make all the cd's from a glass master copy. It seems to be the way cd's are made.
Duplication is essentially burning a cd-r, as one would on a computer. They run about $350 or a 100 units. So more per unit, but up front cost is lower. Downside seems to be that the media is a bit less stable than a replicated cd, and its not 100% that they are playable in every cd player. Though a "slow burn", which means not running the drive at maximal speed when burning the cd, i think that is changing.
I am debating which one to do. I am putting alot of effort into this cd, and would like to send it to places to hopefully get reviewed. But i have my doubts of being able to sell a 1000 units. If i got 100 duplicated ones and sold them all, i would have enough money to go the replicated route if i wanted. Or i could just get another batch of duplicated cd's. Besides with these days with iTunes, MP3 players, etc i am thinking alot of folks just rip their cd's to computer and then put the disc on the shelf. I know i do.
Interested in hearing others thoughts.
Anton
Views: 2
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dano & Trish Franco on -
Anton, sounds like you've answered your own question....do the dup cds..see how it goes..and if well, go the rep route.
Dano -
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Permalink Reply by hue on -
Diskmakers gives you a disc as well as an online link at CD Baby. I think it's well worth looking into. CDs are ok but I think downloadable tracks are more accessible. .They are also instantly gratifying.
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Permalink Reply by Ed Rhoades on -
I just used this company for our Cd and for our local music collective Cd
They're great. http://www.discmakers.com/selfservicequoter/ -
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Permalink Reply by Anton Emery on -
Little Brother over on the Acoustic Player Magazine forum reccomended CopyCats media to me. He just had a cd project replicated by them and liked it alot. I got a quote for my project and it looks like 500 regular cds will run me about $600. I may go with that, i think i would like regular cd's as oppossed to cd-r's, i just dont want to buy a 1000.
Anton -
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Permalink Reply by Rob Machado on -
Hello, and I realize this thread ended about 6 months ago.
Discmakers just sent out an email that they have cut their prices. One of the things that happened to me over the past 2 years when my guitar spending went down to only purchasing the proverbial picks and strings is that I have amassed two CDs worth of material, both very different form each other, neither worthy of the Replication process but worthy the duplication process. Best thing about disc #3 is that I've finally gotten to the point of writing my own stuff, so I don't have to worry about purchasing copyrights (whatever the appropriate term is).
Disc #2 will be in those cardboard sleeves. 100 copies for $200 plus $20 shipping.
Disc #3 will be in the slim cases with a 2-sided front cover, no back cover, and that should be 100 copies for @ $200 plus shipping. The price is actually a bit lower on these right now than the cardboard sleeves.
Now on to the hardest part of the whole process: Designing covers. I dread this portion.
Rob -
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Permalink Reply by Rob Machado on
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Hi again,
The website says I still have 12 minutes to edit my original post, but danged if I can figure out how ot do that.
A point of clarification on what I wrote above.
CD #1: Self published in May 2008
CD #2: Finished in Summer 2009, never printed because of a lack of funds.
CD #3: Finished Feb 2010, all originals, will be printed within a few months.
CD #4: Have been working on this Xmas CD for 2 years, wife now willing to sing, will be ready to print in October 2010, and this one will probably go replication instead of duplication.
Sometimes, motivation and initiative are as important as talent (but only sometimes).
Rob -
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Permalink Reply by Anton Emery on
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Cool stuff, nice to hear about your experiences.
Just got my 500 cds from Copycat Media, and i am happy with them. Came out to $600, then shipping was $115. Everything turned out great, artwork, printing, and the entire package.
So not as good a deal as getting a 1000 for a $1000 bucks from some of the bigger outfits, but i didnt want to spend that much. I got a jewel case, four panel insert, plus tray art and a back cover. Copycat was easy to do business with.
Best of luck with your project.
Anton
www.celticfingerstyleguitar.com -
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Permalink Reply by Patrick Michael Alaggio on -
I've now done two project with Disc Makers and both have turned out beautifully. The last one I did was a little over a year ago and I was able to design the entire CD using their tools and my photos. The short run of 100 CDs was a little under $300 and came shrink wrapped with bar code, etc. professional quality. I would recommend them in a heartbeat. They also offer a final master editing function if you need it at an additional cost. Good luck with your project.
Another good service is "CD Baby" Both of my CDs may be seen (and sampled) there:
Here's the link: http://www.cdbaby.com/Search/QWxhZ2dpbw%3d%3d/0 -
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Permalink Reply by Rob Machado on
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Patrick, I did the same kind of short run with Discmakers that you did, and I also did my artwork on their site and used my pictures.
When you got your CDs back and you put the CD into a computer, did the names of your songs appear or did they come out as Track 1, Track 2, etc?
Mine came out the latter, and that's the only thing I was dis-satisfied with on my run. Maybe the name appears only when a "Replicated" CD is made?
Rob -
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Permalink Reply by Anton Emery on
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Hi Rob,
iTunes uses the Gracenote CDDB database for album information. That album is not actually encoded on the disc. So what you do is put your cd in the drive, open up iTunes, and highlight all the tracks on your cd. Then right click and say "Get Info" There you will have the option to fill in the artist, genre, track name, album name, etc. Once you have done that cick on "Advanced" in the top menu bar, (if you are on a Mac), then Submit CD Track Names. It then sends in the information off to Gracenote. I think the process is the same for iTunes on Windows, though the menu may be a bit different.
Hope that helps.
Anton
http://www.celticfingerstyleguitar.com -
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Permalink Reply by Anton Emery on
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That sounds good. Was that short run CD-R's or CD's pressed from a glass master?
Anton -
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Permalink Reply by Rob Machado on
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Hi, I don't know if this was directed towards me, but mine short run with Discmakers was CD-R. If I'm not mistaken, Discmakers won't do a glass master for under 300 copies.
To be honest, I don't know what a glass master means, but I think that it pertains to Replication whereas CD-R is Duplication. I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm mistaken.
Rob -
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