cd duplication and packaging info?

[jrmy]

Just go straight to selling download codes and make some swankily packaged envelopes or art for the download cards... I believe you can do download cards through Bandcamp... And it's easy enough to get nice printing online. Heck, if you wanted to go all fancy, go to a fine art printer like io labs - http://iolabsinc.com/ - and have them print your art on aluminum or something, and then just glue the download card to the back side... the end user gets both displayable art and downloaded music in whatever format they want... then if they want a cd, they can burn it...

[Fuzzy Fred]

I WANT CDs THOUGHHHHH

I wanna be all 90s old school all over these bitches

[jrmy]

You could do what my friends at 75 or Less records do: buy blank cardboard sleeves and screenprint / artify them yourself. Mark from 75oL used to use a Gocco mini-screenprint setup, but I think he's got a full screenprinting rig now. But if you can't screenprint or don't have access to a rig, go for the printed stickers option with the cardboard, or just do something even more handmade. Spraypaint stencils, maybe? We did that for the CDs themself for my old band's first EP - my bandmate made a little cd-holder jig to keep the spraypaint from getting under onto the data side. Then he made a simple stencil of the band logo that was the size of the whole top of the CD... a couple of passes with matte silver spraypaint, and they looked pretty slick... same process could work for cardboard sleeves.

As for sourcing those sleeves... check here: http://www.groovehouse.com/shop/blank_sleeves_wallets

They'll also do printed digipaks if you do CD duplication through them... http://duplication.groovehouse.com/action/discAssembler

[Adoom]

Someday, I should figure out who my friend Michael uses. 100 CDs in jewel cases with a 1 page insert for $300. Makes selling them for $5 reasonable.

http://www.groovehouse.com/shop/blank_s ... iscs_stamp

I've been thinking about doing this... 2 bucks apiece isn't bad, and I don't mind the rougher look, idk.

Great post. That setup looks awesome. And affordable for what it is too.

As far as packaging goes, everyone needs to look into Auris Apocathary for how inventive you can be with packaging. They're the one of the only labels I approached thus far. That'll change, but I don't even know who to shop this nonsense to.

(No good news to report there. They responded, and were lovely, but distance and commitments are factors. They, however, said they dug the music and asked us to send stuff onto them when we release it for them to hear. Which to me, is a big deal. Seriously. That label is like, my dream home. And though I can't be on it, the fact that those dudes even liked my noise is solid gold to me.)