When you receive a quote for a CD duplication package, you’re going to notice these numbers describing the printed insert: 4/4, 4/1, or in some cases, 4/0.
These numbers refer to the color print on each side of your paper insert. When an insert is printed four over one (4/1), the four means full color and the one means black and white. A 4/1 insert is full color on one side with black and white printing on the other side.
When ordering a CD replication package with jewel cases, you have a choice between using a clear or black tray. If you opt for the clear tray, you can also print on the inside of your tray card. Actually, you can print on the inside of your tray card if you opt for a black tray, but it won’t be visible.
Sales rep Adam Wachter shows some examples:
For more informational videos, please visit our YouTube page.
COPYCATS Media is now releasing a series of video blogs made by the Sales Reps themselves to explain various tricky or hard to understand aspects of your CD Duplication project.
The first video blog in our series is by Zac Boyd, explaining the different inserts available for jewel cases.
Check out our YouTube Page for more instructional videos.
There was an interesting little article over at Billboard today the problems of on-demand CD manufacturing. On-demand CD manufacturing is the process of duplicating, printing, and packaging a individual CDs as they are ordered. The article mentions that customers do not like the lower quality print and packaging that come with these duplicated CDRs. But there are ways that you could improve the product quality with this distribution method. Below is a real-life example:
At COPYCATS Media, we had a client who was in the business of recording live concerts and selling freshly recorded, mastered, and printed CDs within an hour or two after the show. They had some big name clients and were hired to record a summer tour for the Black Crowes. So how did we provide CDs, print, and packaging for a customer who needed a 2-hour turnaround time?
We printed up blank CDRs and empty packaging for each show. The client that recorded the shows would have a big truck with all their equipment outside the concert venue. Once the show was finished, they’d start mastering the recorded concert inside the truck. When the mastering was finished, they would start burning copies using the printed CDRs we made for them in advance. Then they’d take the duplicated copy of the CD and package it in the pre-printed digipaks we provided for each show. This was how they got their products to the fans almost immediately after the performance. They would then duplicate and package the rest of the CDRs and sell them through their online store.
The only downside to this method is the packaging did not contain the tracklisting because most touring artists don’t play the exact same setlist at every show. However, we did print seperate packaging for each date, so they would have a different color scheme along with the date, city, and venue printed on it.
In order to make this on-demand CD selling model work, this is what these companies would have to do to improve their product. But this would negate the reason retailers are interested in on-demand CDs in the first place (larger selection, less shelf space). The next best option is getting better printing technology to produce single high-quality prints at a reasonable price. This solution is also a dead-end, as a single high quality print might cost more than the CD, and reasonably priced print is going to be of lower quality.
Here’s an idea that might work for both brick-and-mortar retailers and online retailers: mail a commercial quality printed CD whenever a customer purchases a digital download of an album. If they purchase the downloads at a store kiosk, they can just dock their MP3 player or USB flash drive to the system and get their music on-demand. Then they can have the option to enter their address and have a physical copy of the CD mailed to them. The same would work if you buy from an online retailer like Amazon. You download the tracks on your home computer and receive the CD a few days later in the mail. Again, this satisfies the need for on-demand music as well as having a physical copy complete with the packaging and artwork. They would still need to store these CDs in a warehouse somewhere, but it will save valueable space inside stores.
Just my two cents. Has anybody ever purchased an on-demand CD from a kiosk? What did you think of the quality?
Hypebot is pushing a headline that reads “Pandora Forces $29.95 Payments From Indie Bands.” The title is somewhat misleading because the $29.95 does not go to Pandora; it goes to Amazon.com. Pandora now requires submitting artists to have a CD available for purchase on Amazon. Amazon charges the annual fee to make your titles available for distribution.
* a CD of your music
* a unique UPC code for that CD
* your CD to be available through Amazon (must be a physical CD, not just MP3s for download)
* the legal rights to your music
* MP3 files for two of the songs from your CD
* a free Pandora account, based on a valid email address, which can be associated with your music
While some artists are focusing on the digital realm for music distribution, this is an example of why you shouldn’t abandon physical formats just yet. The CD still has plenty of life left to it. If you only sell digital downloads, then you’ll miss out on lots of opportunities to sell your music. The same goes if you haven’t gotten on board with selling MP3’s yet and are only selling CDs. It’s best to have a mixed media distribution strategy.
If you get your CD duplication services provided by COPYCATS Media, you’ll be all set to submit your album to Amazon and Pandora. We provide a free bar code with our projects along with all the packaging and print.
A significant portion of our projects here at COPYCATS Media are CD or DVD replication projects. This means that they are made from a glass master. Typically, the minimum quantity for a replication order is 1000 units. But what if you do not need 1000 copies of your CD or DVD? That’s when you order a CD or DVD duplication services.
The words duplication and replication may seem interchangeable, but they are not. As mentioned above, replication is the process of creating a glass master and pressing CDs or DVDs from scratch. Duplication is the process of taking blank, recordable media (CDRs or DVDRs) and writing the information on these discs with a laser. This is the exact process that occurs when you burn a CD or DVD on your computer.
With replicated CDs or DVDs, you have the benefit of a lower unit price and a slightly more durable disc than duplicatd CDRs and DVDRs. But there are good reasons why many customers choose the duplication process. Here are some of them:
Lower Quantities Available I mentioned earlier that replication projects often require a minimum order of 1000 units. This is because of the extensive pre-production work that takes place before the pressing begins. I won’t explain all of it here, but you can read the Wikipedia entry on CD manufacturing to learn more.With CD and DVD duplication, you don’t have all of that extensive set-up. Like I said, it’s just like burning a disc on your computer. You take a blank CDR or DVDR, place it in the drive, and click a button to begin the duplication process. This allows us to sell quantities as low as a single disc. Your print options may still be limited at lower quantities, but you’re able to get however many discs as you need.
Faster Turn Times Because duplication projects do not require the aforementioned glass mastering process, we are able to begin duplicating your discs as soon as you submit your master. CD and DVD duplication projects are generally completed a few days quicker than a replication project.This is good to know for rush projects. If you need CDs or DVDs in a matter of days (or just one day), than duplication is often the way to go, even if you are ordering 1000 units. While the replication process can be sped up to meet your deadline, it will cost you a lot more in rush fees.
Thermal Print Option While most of our CD and DVD disc faces are screen printed, you can also opt for a full-color thermal print option. This option produces vibrant, photo-quality images on the disc. We don’t typically offer this print option for replication projects, because this printer takes a lot longer than screen printing.
Those are just a few of the reasons to go with the duplication instead of replication. If you need a price quote for either, feel free to contact us.
We’ve been digging up some of our favorite artwork from all the CD duplication projects we’ve done over the years at COPYCATS Media. There’s a lot of good looking designs, but here a few that stuck out to sales rep Zac Boyd.
Zealous Bride, s/t EP
Jordan Rudess, Notes On A Dream
Jason and The Beast, Birth of the Beast
If you’d like to check out some other favorites, go to these other posts by Justin Kristal and Ed Bonach.
When shopping for the best price on a CD duplication project, customers often look for the lowest price they can find. It’s understandable. At this point in the production process, you’ve probably already spent a lot of money on recording, mastering, and graphic design. After paying for all that, you might be looking to pinch every penny you can. But when you are evaluating quotes from different companies, make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
When you see a quote that is drastically lower than the rest of the competition, there’s often a good reason why: it’s missing one or more important elements that the other quotes include. Companies will advertise that lowest price to get you in the door. When you request certain key features on your project, then your price gets jacked up.
Here are some common items that could be left off your low price quote:
Poly-wrap If you are going to be selling your CDs, you will most likely need poly-wrap to seal the package. Some CD duplication companies will advertise a really low price, but they won’t include this necessary element. When you add the price for the poly-wrap, it ends up being the same or more than the competition’s advertised price.
2-Sided Printing Most of our lower priced packages at COPYCATS Media include 4/1 printing. This means that your printed inserts are full color on one side and black & white on the other side. For a small increase in the unit price, you can get it printed 4/4 (full color on both sides). But some places will offer low prices that have less desirable print options, like 4/0 (full color print on one side, no print on the other side). They offer this low advertised price to draw in customers, knowing that most customers will want print on both sides of their inserts. That’s when they raise the price.
Standard Production Times Standard production time for a CD-DVD duplication project shouldn’t take more than two weeks (10 business days). Some places that offer the lowest prices will also have slower than usual production times, like 15-20 business days. Again, the tactic is to rope you in with the low advertised price, then raise it when you want a faster production time.
By now, you’ve probably recognized the pattern: 1) advertise prices lower prices than the competition to lure customers, 2) exclude key features that most customers will need, 3) raise the price when they request these features.
Every CD-DVD duplication company will aggressively advertise their lowest prices (including us), but make sure those low-priced packages include everything you need.
It’s Friday, so we’re posting some more of our favorite cover art from past CD duplication projects here at COPYCATS Media. Here are some of Ed Bonach’s favorite covers:
I came across this post on Twitter today and it made me happy:
@melodicart I think you should still get the physical cd sent to you when buying album downloads on iTunes. the artwork people! It matters! Missing out
As an employee at a CD duplication company, how can I not like that statement? It really makes the point that you should get some more value when buying an album. There’s really nothing to experience when just purchasing an MP3 download. It’s just a string of binary code (zeroes and ones). Of course, you get the music, but you can find many places online to simply stream (or illegally download) the music for free.
Most people who just buy the occasional single are OK with this. They only plunked down $0.99 for the single song download, and they don’t expect much else other than the song itself. But if you’re paying $10 for an entire album, I think you should get a little something extra. A physical CD would go great with your downloaded MP3s.
It’s getting harder to market recorded music to the masses when so many are enticed to illegally download music for free. That’s why it’s important to add value to the recording you are selling. Invest in good graphic design services that may end up on a list like this. Track your CD sales and give your buyers access to exlusive content like videos or bonus songs. The more value you can add to your products, the more people will be enticed to buy.
Comments (0) 
In order to make this on-demand CD selling model work, this is what these companies would have to do to improve their product. But this would negate the reason retailers are interested in on-demand CDs in the first place (larger selection, less shelf space). The next best option is getting better printing technology to produce single high-quality prints at a reasonable price. This solution is also a dead-end, as a single high quality print might cost more than the CD, and reasonably priced print is going to be of lower quality.
