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Post by Vincent R. on Sept 12, 2017 8:42:15 GMT -6
Hey Everyone, I've mentioned it a few times, but I'm currently pricing out a Christmas Album I've been planning for a while now. I've got my arranger putting costs together, my orchestra contractor etc. My plan was to use Disc Makers to run off the CDs.... yes, I still make CDs and for my audience, which is a little older, they sell really well at our concerts. I was hoping to also do a limited run of about 100 copies on vinyl. Disc Makers offers this service, but their minimum is a run of 200 and the cost is around 2K. I was wondering if anyone has pressed their album to Vinyl and if they had a company they could recommend that produced a good product and that might be better priced. I also don't mind hearing about alternatives to Disc Makers that could handle the whole thing. Thanks.
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Post by stormymondays on Sept 12, 2017 9:19:42 GMT -6
There was a recommendation in this forum about a month ago or two. Maybe try the search? I remember it was very interesting!
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Post by jcoutu1 on Sept 12, 2017 10:30:24 GMT -6
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Post by stormymondays on Sept 12, 2017 11:03:36 GMT -6
Thanks! If I was in the US I'd be ordering some already!!! |
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Post by johneppstein on Sept 12, 2017 12:04:11 GMT -6
There was a recommendation in this forum about a month ago or two. Maybe try the search? I remember it was very interesting! If it's the one I'm thinking of I contacted them and it's probably a non-starter. They cut each individual copy by hand and they're VERY expensive - base price is about $35/disk IIRC (that would be $7000 for 200 copies), and because it's all hand work doing a quantity order would likely be slow. Their business orientation is to do do VERY small amounts (under 20 copies) or individual disks for special purposes - think prizes for a contest or crowd funding campaign or a custom cut one off record for your mom's birthday. The nice representative (probably the cutting erngineer) who (promptly) answered my email recomended that for the run of 100-200 that I was inquiiring about I should contact a commercial pressing plant. |
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Post by johneppstein on Sept 12, 2017 12:05:41 GMT -6
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Post by Vincent R. on Sept 12, 2017 12:19:32 GMT -6
I didn't see the other thread. Thanks guys.
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Post by Vincent R. on Sept 12, 2017 12:22:24 GMT -6
That looks very cool, but that's way more that I can spend. I just need a regular black vinyl pressing.
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Post by notneeson on Sept 12, 2017 13:11:08 GMT -6
Last one I did the client used Furnace and was quite happy. I actually haven't even had time to listen to it yet and it's been a while now.
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Post by rocinante on Sept 12, 2017 23:32:28 GMT -6
Pirate Press does affordable pressing (maybe a tad less than discmakers) and has a good roster of bands to boot.
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Post by keymod on Sept 13, 2017 3:37:08 GMT -6
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Post by jazznoise on Sept 13, 2017 5:42:46 GMT -6
Personally when I looked into it I didn't see it being financially viable for a run under 300. Seems like the cost per disc vs. the return would be pretty slim.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,919 
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Post by ericn on Sept 13, 2017 7:15:06 GMT -6
Most of the true vinyl fans I know, not the turntable come lately hipsters, have been less than thrilled with the majority of modern pressings so proceed with caution!
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Post by EmRR on Sept 13, 2017 10:10:12 GMT -6
It seems the move to get a higher overall quality usually involves going a la carte, pick the cutting engineer you want, then the pressing plant you want. I've heard good things about Furnace for pressing in the last few years, one being they took toluene out of the process and surface noise was at least at one time lower than anyone else's because of it. That may be wildly wrong, that may be more widespread.
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Post by john on Sept 13, 2017 10:23:21 GMT -6
check out www.gottagrooverecords.com/from my own window shopping this is where I would go. they have a 'retail ready' 300 count that amounts to about $6 a unit minus shipping. pretty decent considering it includes everything. I read and heard about many quality control issues/ arrogance from the larger US plants. Also plan for months of waiting no matter where you go. Might already be too late for this coming Christmas for your project. some places that offer pressing without boasting about their own machines/staff are farming that out to Russia or other countries. Maybe they say its a small family business, maybe its child labor, maybe environmental factors are lax... who knows. I found them to be less revealing in the details which made me weary. some say the quality of sound went down when the lead was removed. luckily, many folks just enjoy having a piece of the art and vinyl has been outselling cds in the independent world for some time now. trouble is its a bit of a luxury for those who use the term independent as a budget rather than a genre. |
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Post by Vincent R. on Sept 13, 2017 10:53:50 GMT -6
Yeah, I saw them. The Package isn't that bad.
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Post by Bender on Sept 13, 2017 11:16:30 GMT -6
Thanks for the suggestions, I'm researching pricing for my next 12" release too; looks about 2.5G's for 100 run once mastering and lacquers are involved YIKES
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Post by johneppstein on Sept 13, 2017 11:32:13 GMT -6
Thanks for the suggestions, I'm researching pricing for my next 12" release too; looks about 2.5G's for 100 run once mastering and lacquers are involved YIKES How can you turn even a small profit at those rates? Break even point would be $25/record without incidental expenses (art, photography, etc.). What do vinyl albums sell for these days? |
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Post by johneppstein on Sept 13, 2017 11:33:52 GMT -6
check out www.gottagrooverecords.com/from my own window shopping this is where I would go. they have a 'retail ready' 300 count that amounts to about $6 a unit minus shipping. pretty decent considering it includes everything. I read and heard about many quality control issues/ arrogance from the larger US plants. Also plan for months of waiting no matter where you go. Might already be too late for this coming Christmas for your project. is that for a single or an LP? |
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Post by Vincent R. on Sept 13, 2017 13:44:28 GMT -6
They sell for about $30 each. Sometimes $40. It can work if the costs are part of a larger project with a digital release and CDs (depending on the audience). One their own, it's more like breaking even.
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Post by jazznoise on Sept 13, 2017 18:05:50 GMT -6
If you can't sell a record for €20-30 ($25-30) and be making 50% back it's time to scrap the project in my view. There's cheaper forms of vanity than that. Just do CD's and T-shirts until the record becomes viable. ericn From anyone I know whose into vinyl from a technical as well as musical perspective the general the quality of modern pressings are very good - heavy weight, generally not recycled/reclaimed vinyl, clean machines. The finest may not be what they were in the 70's and 80's, but the worst is far above where it was back then. |
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Sept 13, 2017 18:38:33 GMT -6
I know people who get paid $50 for LPs sold off the stage. The problem is that 500 only cost a little more than 200.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Sept 13, 2017 18:41:20 GMT -6
Thanks for the suggestions, I'm researching pricing for my next 12" release too; looks about 2.5G's for 100 run once mastering and lacquers are involved YIKES How can you turn even a small profit at those rates? Break even point would be $25/record without incidental expenses (art, photography, etc.). What do vinyl albums sell for these days? Exactly right. Vinyl is a loser even for big name artists. I assume they do it to scratch an itch for some? I am one of those itchers. I buy vinyl all the time. I still love my records. Listen to them for enjoyment. But there are few like me I'm guessing. |
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Post by notneeson on Sept 13, 2017 19:31:00 GMT -6
How can you turn even a small profit at those rates? Break even point would be $25/record without incidental expenses (art, photography, etc.). What do vinyl albums sell for these days? Exactly right. Vinyl is a loser even for big name artists. I assume they do it to scratch an itch for some? I am one of those itchers. I buy vinyl all the time. I still love my records. Listen to them for enjoyment. But there are few like me I'm guessing. It's weird, because I know the owner of an independent distributor and from what I understand vinyl is their business now. |
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,919
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Post by ericn on Sept 13, 2017 21:05:38 GMT -6
If you can't sell a record for €20-30 ($25-30) and be making 50% back it's time to scrap the project in my view. There's cheaper forms of vanity than that. Just do CD's and T-shirts until the record becomes viable. ericn From anyone I know whose into vinyl from a technical as well as musical perspective the general the quality of modern pressings are very good - heavy weight, generally not recycled/reclaimed vinyl, clean machines. The finest may not be what they were in the 70's and 80's, but the worst is far above where it was back then. I haven't spent anytime listening to Vinyl since I lost the SOTA & Audio Reseach gear in IKE, personally I think vinyl is at its best where PT hasn't done its thing. That's hard to find in modern releases, I hear most 180 gram Audiophile blah blah blah releases just are not up to the sonic standards of the 70's - 80's they aren't bad just don't hold up to the standard of Mobile Fidelty Crime of the Century, or Beatles White Album. |
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