Most of my mastering clients also go through me for replication. I work through Polar Bear Productions, the Central Canadian sales office for Cinram, the largest replicator in the world. I know of no other company that can match their prices, service, and quality. Cinram manufactures CDs and DVDs for Disney, Universal, Columbia, Warner Brothers, Paramount, and many others. If you take a look at the playing side of the discs in your collection, you'll probably find a number of them with "CINRAM" printed around the inner ring.

1. How many CDs do you want (minimum 500)?

2. Do you want us to do the graphic design?

3. How many pages is the insert (as an example, 4 pages means one sheet of paper folded in half)? For 8 pages or more, do you want it to be folded or stapled?

4. Do you want full color throughout (4/4), or is black & white okay for the inner pages (4/1)? You will save at least $100 by going with 4/1.

5. How many colors do you want on the disc itself? Most graphic designers opt for two or three. Full-color requires five (a white flood plus CMYK).

6. What is your ZIP code (to calculate shipping)?

E-mail your answers to brian@resonancemastering.com, and I'll reply with an exact quote ASAP.

Is 1000 CDs more than what you were looking for? Lower quantities aren't cost effective because 300 units costs nearly as much as 1000. We do offer short run CD-Rs, but I only recommend going that route for demos or DJ-only releases. Manufactured (replicated) CDs are more professional than copied (duplicated) CD-Rs. Since anyone can burn CD-Rs from their computer, they create an amateur impression. Even worse, CD-Rs do not play consistently in older players.

You may have noticed that replicators who cater to indie musicians offer a number of promotional extras. Many of them are genuinely free to anyone, and the most important ones are part of the CD Baby $35 signup fee. For most of my clients, the freebies don't add any value to the replication package.