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12. Choosing the right manufacturing options

The manufacturing of the compact discs (and other formats if appropriate) represents the final stage in the production process. The chances are that this aspect will be arranged for you by the recording company you're working with - but it will be helpful if you're aware of some of the options available to you.

Firstly, you'll need to decide what formats and quantities you want produced on the initial manufacturing run. While CD is still predominant and is the main subject of this article, some projects are still released on cassette and some even on LP, while new formats such DVD-Audio and Super-Audio CD (SACD) are becoming more common.

The choice of format can be affected by the market you're targeting and by the content and theme of your album. For example, if you're targeting musical connoisseurs or audiophiles you may want to seriously consider one of the new high resolution formats (although this can significantly increase costs throughout the recording and production process, as well as during manufacture). On the other hand, an album which is likely to be popular with senior citizens or car drivers might still sell more cassettes than CDs!

At the moment CD is typically the first and only choice of format for most projects and they are now fairly economical to produce. Cassettes are still sometimes slightly cheaper to produce than CDs but costs can vary considerably depending on the run quantities and the running time of the album. If you're considering cassettes (or any other format) in addition to CDs, remember that you'll need to allow for reworking of the artwork, new films, cromalins and printing, and possibly some remastering costs to prepare a suitable master tapes for manufacture.

There are many manufacturing options which you may wish to consider to enhance the presentation of your album, though many involve extra cost. These include:

• Labelling: most factories will print CD labels in any two colours without extra cost. Picture disks (full colour) can be more striking but may involve extra cost at the design stage as well as during manufacture.
• Cases: numerous packaging options are available for CDs, including coloured or transparent trays and various styles of multipack for packages of two or more CDs.
• Individual shrink wrapping: a practical measure which may add a little to the cost but also adds a lot to the perceived value because the buyer can be certain they're getting a brand new, untouched copy!

For the majority of albums the traditional CD packaging and presentation is perfectly satisfactory. However it is worth considering some of the alternatives because one or more of the options could make your album more original or attractive to potential buyers and help you gain extra sales.

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