CDCentric

One of the most common questions for indie labels and musicians is, “how and where can I get my music onto CD?” There’s a billion options out there for manufacturing from burning your music yourself onto CD-R one by one, to going the full 4/4 color 8 page CD booklet with jewel box route.

For those who are interested in something inbetween, cost is always an issue. For doing basic replication of CDs ONLY with no jewel boxes or inserts, we’ve gone with CDCentric twice in the past with little complaints. Let me tell you this up front: as a CD manufacturer, CDCentric is a bit BORING. But that’s just what we wanted. No flashy ads, no extra doohickeys added on, no hidden fees. Just plain old cheap CD/DVD replication is what we go to them for.

The last CD we manufactured with them was in 2004(?) but the prices haven’t changed much. One thing that is rather nice is that unlike many other CD manufacturers, there’s no need to ask them for a quote. You go their website and all of their prices are laid out on the home page. Couldn’t be easier.

Most people go for the “Value Packages” which range from 1000 CDs in paper sleeves for $626 delivered, to the same number of CDs but with a 4/1 4-panel insert with jewel box for $1099. Note that in all cases, these refer to “replicated” CDs (manufactured using a real glass master, etc.) versus “duplicated” CDs (made using CD-R technology). There are a lot of other companies who seem to have cheaper prices, but that’s often because they are duplicating CDs as opposed to replicating them. Another item that is often left out of the prices are the films and outputs… I have seen a ton of other places that tack this onto the end of the bill, and it can be over 100 dollars just for that!

At the time we were looking around, CDCentric was actually the cheapest for Bulk replicated CDs that just come on a spindle. We were doing a project where the CD case was made by hand out of thick cardstock and we just wanted the CD itself to be manufactured. I believe their prices are nearly the same as back then: $459 for 500 Bulk CDs screenprinted with 1-3 Pantone colors. Interestingly, it’s only $30 more to get 1000 CDs! (It was actually only $20 more when we got them in order to get 1000).

We were pretty pleased with the CDs we ordered, they came just as expected on spindle and were packed in crushproof cardboard. As I said, we used them twice so far and have had no problems. If you are doing a “compilation” of bands, make sure to have the proper Intellectual Property Rights papers filled out, and you’ll also need a signed letter from each band saying they give you the right to put their song on your compilation.

But before you head over to their site to put your order in there’s something you should know about how they work. Their whole motto is “High Quality Without High Prices”. In order to be able to stick to their guns, THEY ASSUME YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. I can’t stress that enough. You need to have a CD-R master of the songs you are going to record and you need to have the artwork already in the required file format. It’s not a good idea to test them out if you haven’t dealt with all the aspects of manufacturing CDs before.

They WON’T hold your hand and walk you through the process if you need help editing your sound files, pre-mastering or with graphic design. Expect delays or worse if you don’t know what you are doing.

Assuming you know all your stuff, I believe their prices are going to be some of the best around. I forgot to mention they also include shipping (Free Ground Freight) with your order. And at 12 days turnaround time, they can be a good option if you need stuff in a hurry.

CDCentric Website

by Bryan