Digger: Can you tell us how Band CDs came about?
Paul:
Band CDs is a site that we have created specifically
to cater for small run CD duplication for musicians,
DJs and bands, who form a major part of our client
base at the parent company site of Wizbit Internet
Services Ltd (www.wizbit.net).
The Band CDs site is designed to make it much easier
to find the relevant information for the key types
of disc and packaging that are ordered by our
musician clients, namely vinyl effect CDs, CDs in
printed card wallets and CDs in printed card
digipaks.
Digger:
What are the key benefits of using Vinyl-effect CDS
for a band or promotion?
Paul:
The vinyl effect CDs look fantastic and are a very
cost-effective and eye catching way of getting your
music distributed. We have different colour wallets
available from stock, will print your own artwork
onto the central 'label' of the record and can then
either add your music to the discs ourselves or can
leave them blank for you to burn in any standard CD
writer drive.
They
are also more environmentally friendly than a CD in
a digipak or jewel case as the packaging used is
much less, saving on both material costs and
delivery costs. We can produce any quantity for a
client from 50 discs upwards and the orders all come
with free courier delivery.
Digger:
What sort of feedback and responses do you get from
bands & customers and their end-users?
Paul:
The feedback has been extremely positive, with
compliments on the look of the discs and wallets,
the quality of the label print and the turnaround
times that we can achieve. From receipt of the
contents and artwork we normally get a proof to the
client the next working day and then deliver the
full order within 1-2 working days from confirmation
that the customer is happy with the proof.
Digger:
What technical requirements should somebody consider
when planning to use these Vinyl-effect CDS?
Paul:
The maximum capacity of the discs is the same as
standard CDs, so this works out at a 700MB capacity
or 80 minutes of high quality audio. They will burn
and play on any standard CD/DVD drive whether in a
stereo or on a PC or Mac. We have downloadable
artwork templates on our site for either Photoshop
or Fireworks and the best way of getting us the
contents is to post us an actual CD that we will
just make exact copies from.
Digger:
Who are your typical customers and what are the
typical runs they do?
Paul:
In general we deal directly with unsigned bands,
although do produce these discs for a number of
record companies as well. Typical order quantities
are small runs of either 100 or 250 discs.
Digger:
Why is Retro and Vintage, such as vinyl, so
enduringly popular? And is it here to stay?
Paul:
We have only found these discs becoming more and
more popular over the past three years, particularly
as awareness of these discs increases. Retro style
never seems to go out of fashion, although I guess
at some point in the future hardly anyone will know
what traditional vinyl records used to be, although
by that time CDs will also be a relic of the past!
Digger:
Where is the Band CDs business developing in the
future?
Paul:
We are continuing to produce custom products for our
clients to give us a unique position in the market.
We already have our vinyl discs custom made for us
in the Far East to be completely black all over and
we will continue to add new colours of record-style
wallets to our range to help match the customer's
artwork. We will also continue to roll out new,
innovative and environmentally friendly packaging
options for our customers and continue to focus on
our customers in the music industry who require
small quantities of discs copied as it is an
exciting, varied and popular market.
Vinyl style
CDs at Band CDs
