Recommend CD Replication?

[preemo]

Hello there,

Hope someone out there can help.
We have a new release coming soon and are looking for the best place to have our product replicated.

By this we want the following:

Glass master
Disc printing
Artwork printing
Jewel case
Barcode

Have any of you fine folks used or know of any company's that do this or a similar servce that you would recommend?

Any help you guys can be will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Graham Knight]

Originally Posted by preemo

Hello there,

Hope someone out there can help.
We have a new release coming soon and are looking for the best place to have our product replicated.

By this we want the following:

Glass master
Disc printing
Artwork printing
Jewel case
Barcode

Have any of you fine folks used or know of any company's that do this or a similar servce that you would recommend?

Any help you guys can be will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I would recommend either Thanes of Cupar in Fife or Media Sourcing of Shrewsbury.

Thanes is the best if you want to deal with someone who is Scottish and very friendly and helpful. David Cunningham is the person to contact and he is very good at creating and liasing with you re the art work for in-lays etc.

The cost is about £550 + vat for a thousand in jewel cases.

He is absolutely trustworthy and it is quite safe to leave your glass masters with this firm so they can quickly do another run for you.

Contact David Cunningham, the Warehouse, North Burnside, Cupar, Fife, KY15 4BH. 01334 657559. Tell him Kyle Esplin's webmaster recommended Thanes.
Thane Productions

You can see examples of Thanes work on the CD's on this site:
Scotland's No 1 boogie-woogie singer pianist entertainer - the great ball of fire himself - its Kyle Esplin!

Alternatively if you have the artwork as PDF files and the music is to be all your own compositions and creation the whole thing can be done on-line at the following site
CD and DVD replication, duplication, pressing, manufacture and manufacturing - Media Sourcing Ltd
A quick look at this site will guide you through the process.
Mr Adrian Brand will be helpful if you have any queries.
The price will work out much the same as Thanes but more expensive when artwork is required.

There are a number of things to consider before committing your cash:

Do you want a jewel case or a full colour cardboard sleeve? If you are travelling a lot - it is much easier and far less bulk to have cardboard sleeves. Against that the jewel cases look good and give you the opportunity to have text on the three sides or you can even put a small booklet in the jewel case type.

Do you want it cellophane wrapped or not? If you are going to be signing most of them after a show the cellophane wrapping is a pain to take off. Also if you are going to be signing most of them - consider where the signatures will actually go on the sleeve. Alternatively buy the special CD pens and sign on the actual CD.

Don't forget to put your website address on the sleeve. Every customer who contacts you can then be e-mailed promotional material for new releases, show dates etc.

If you are to be performing material that was composed by somebody else remember it is copyrighted and you will need to have composer and music publisher credits on the track listing.

Before anyone will create a CD of copyright material, the disk duplicator will need a licence from the UK's MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society). You can download all the MCPS information and the forms to fill in at this site
Application for Music Licence

To fill in this form you need to know the composer of the tune and the music publisher. usually this is easy to find but if you need help PM me and I will do my best to trace the details you need.

One last word: before commiting your money show the artwork to every member of your family and the dog! I know from personal experience it is very easy to work on a sleeve layout for a long time and not to spot a simple typing error. It will really glare out at you when it is on the CD.

It is also important to retain the copyright of the artwork and with some firms you will want the glass master returned to you (you paid for it) then you can take it to another company if you wish for the next run.

Much of the above will be familiar to Aberdeen Music members - but I hope this helps you Preemo on your way to fame and fortune.

Graham

[preemo]

Can't thank you enough sir, very much appreciated.
Going to check those avenues out.
Will let you know how we get on.

Thanks and a thousand more thanks to you

[Gemz]

This was what i was mainly wantin to do with Merkin Music.

I went an bought the duplicator for daft money an i aint used it once.

Really need to sit down an work out prices etc...

Cant get the thames link to work?

Cheers
Gemzzy

[Graham Knight]

Originally Posted by preemo

Can't thank you enough sir, very much appreciated.
Going to check those avenues out.
Will let you know how we get on.

Thanks and a thousand more thanks to you

Creating a good looking CD and getting everything right for duplication takes a lot of time - and that is after you have created the music!

I am pleased that you found the information helpful. The following link should work to Thane Productions - sorry about my dud link in the earlier post.

Thane Productions

I am going to send you the three PDF files that we used on Kyle's second CD. I will send them in a personal e-mail rather than take up space here. When you print the pages you will all the sizes, folds, colors and other information we used to instruct the print. You can simply delete our artwork but use the templates for the booklet, inlay, cover and the artwork for the CD itself and then you will have the correct format and sizes for the printer.

I note that Gemz has a duplicator - so check that out too.

I see that Eric Ewen has over 2000 friends on myspace. Here is a promotional idea for the band's CD release:

Make a special offer to all your "friends" - every "friend" gets the new CD for £1.

If they all order one you will have taken in enough money to order 3,000 copies (cost £1950) - make a £50 profit and still have 1,000 CDs to sell that are costing you nothing.

Think about it - the "friends" get a superb deal and you have financed your duplicating costs.

keep rockin'

Graham

[sonhenry]

Imusicstage is like 529 + VAT Delivered for all that for 1000 CDs. Takes about 2 weeks.

imusicstage.co.uk

They've done the last 3 of my CDs and done a great job every time. Check em out.

[Marsh]

Originally Posted by Graham Knight

Scotland's No 1 boogie-woogie singer pianist entertainer - the great ball of fire himself - its Kyle Esplin!

Don't wish to intrude, but that is the singularly most hideous website I've seen in years! Talk about selling the guy short! He's quite clearly a maestro and master of his trade, but he's being sold short with that frankly creepy website! Ah, and it's so annoying when you click on a page then go back to the main menu and that same music revs up EVERY TIME!

I'm asuming you're somehow involved with Kyle Esplin and you've been so kind to preemo in giving him all that detailed info - my kind advice to you (if indeed it has anything to do with you) is to get the dudes representative to sort out that shod of a site and give the guy a real website which is reflective of his professionalism. The website is his virtual front door - you wouldn't want someone walking into a shoddy office to book him so why should the website be anything different? I would certainly be put off by the state of the site!

100% constructive criticism, this - I'm not having a go but the guy is being criminally sold short. His website looks like something produced for a school project in Frontpage. Ten years ago. Get it sorted, as my advice is a professional looking website speaks volumes about the subject. 799882 people had visited the site when I last clicked - that's a shedload of people all over the world, probably that could have been even more impressed with him by means of a slick and zippy website. There's hundreds of ideas you could develop from a piano other than a blue background with yellow text and images all over the place. You have to scroll around to find anything!

Fair dinkum if you think I'm speaking complete bollocks and maybe he doesn't rely on the site for selling CDs that much, but I just thought I'd point it out from a graphics point of view and that of a stranger or potential customer!

Thread hijack over.

[DaveRowlands]

Key Production - Reccomended by Filthpact and also used by Fat Hippy too I believe:
Key Production, DVD and CD Manufactur

[Graham Knight]

Thanks for the constructive remarks re Kyle's website. It certainly does need further work!

As you say it has had plenty of traffic with 750,000 visitors and the CD's do sell to all over the world but it needs a more professional look.

Thanks

Graham

[fort max]

Originally Posted by Gemz

This was what i was mainly wantin to do with Merkin Music.

I went an bought the duplicator for daft money an i aint used it once.

Really need to sit down an work out prices etc...

Cant get the thames link to work?

Cheers
Gemzzy

if you dont mind me asking, what sort of duplicator was it?.. make an' that?.. if you dont mind me asking of course...