Tag: cd
How to release a CD on a Tight Budget
by Chris Reitz on Aug.13, 2009, under Chris Reitz's Music HowTo's
Aaaaaaannnnnnnd, Part 3. Releasing a CD. I’ve done 5 CDs for different people so far. Works pretty well.
All right, you finally have enough songs to make a CD! Now what?
First, you’ll need a name for the CD. If it’s your first, you might self-title it. That saves the work of coming up with a good name for the CD. Otherwise, a song name, recurring idea, song lyric, etc., might work.
Set a release date. If you have all your songs recorded, two months from now might be good. Three months would be even better. No rush that way. Don’t even think about releasing the CD until you have at least 3/4 of your songs recorded.
Next get permission for any songs you will have on the CD which aren’t yours. This can sometimes take some time and a bit of money. Usually, you’ll pay 9 cents per song per copy. You’ll have to decide how many CDs you will make. Make it reasonable. If you are Auntie Dot and the Comfortable Chair, it won’t be smart for you to make a run of 10 000 CDs. If you are the Black Eyed Peas, a run of a hundred won’t be too smart.
Either do your artwork yourself or get someone else to do it. Make sure that all the artwork has some sort of common theme. Our CD uses a photo of some neat clouds.
look at where to sell your CD. I highly recommend CDBaby. You’ll probably need a UPC code for your CD as well. CDBaby sells you one for about $60.
Get your CD manufactured. We used DiskFaktory, but there are many other manufacturers out there. If you followed these instructions, you will already know how many CDs you will be making, so I’ll skip explaining it here. However, here is one clarification. If you are getting a hundred CDs made, duplicate them. This means you will get CD-Rs from the factory which will run on 99% of CD players. If you are making a lot of CDs (1000 or more), replicate them. That way, you’ll get real audio CDs which will work in all CD players. Don’t replicate small runs. It’s too expensive. You’ll end up paying more than $5 per CD, when a duplicated CD would cost you about $3. A replicated CD from a large run will cost you about $1.