Jumping CD services

[illusionofjoy]

Among the other headaches I've had to deal with when putting together a string of live shows - a "tour," if you will - duplicating CDs with a company I've been using for years should not be one of them. However, Discmakers decided to change their short-run services so that the templates I used for previous projects with them were no longer any good. This struck me as odd, but I poked around the reconfigured site to see if I could work with what they were now offering.

To surmise: no.

I'd actually been considering leaving Discmakers for a while. I just really had no concrete reason to do so aside from the unsubstantiated thought that there had to be a duplication service that better suites my needs as an independent musician. Sire Press added me on MySpace several months back, so in light of my plight with Discmakers, I decided to give them a serious look.

As of an hour ago, they will be the company manufacturing copies of my CDs which, hopefully, you lovely people who come out to my shows will be purchasing. While they are slightly more expensive than Discmakers, the company seems to have a more personal touch when it comes to projects - always a good thing for musicians who don't have major label handlers. Also, I find myself feeling good that I'm sending my money to a company head-quartered in Pennsylvania, rather than all the way out in California. This state's economy probably needs all the help it can get, right?

So, there it is. A behind-the-scenes look at who is actually making those little plastic circles that nobody buys any more in the age of iTunes.

Comments

[derekcfpegritz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, dude...CDs are utterly superfluous these days. High-quality mp3 and lossless (FLAC or otherwise) downloads are prettymuch the only way to get music out to people these days.

HOWEVER, if you wish to offer people who want to purchase a CD a real premium item, then by all means, printing up actual CDs is a great idea! I love purchasing limited, signed, or otherwise "special" CDs--especially when they come with extra art, lyrics, band interviews, or even videos--but...producing them costs a LOT. A LOT. That's where, for example, working with other artists to form either your own independent label or signing up with a reputable indie label comes in.

But still...unless you've got web-presence today, you effectively don't exist. I'd advise putting up ALL of your previous work as high-quality digital files ASAP. Then literally just start assaulting every single music forum, indie artist site (I highly recommend both SoundCloud and Jamendo--ESPECIALLY Jamendo), and message board you can think of with links to your stuff.