How Spotify Saved the CD
You may be asking yourself: Weren’t CDs supposed to be dead by now? It’s true that for the last fifteen years, we’ve all been told the CD is dead. When […]
Author: Tony van Veen
Which Vinyl Colors Sound Best?
The RIAA recently shared that 60% of all records sold last year were pressed on colored vinyl. And, an artist recently asked me this related question: Does black vinyl actually […]
10 Things Independent Artists Should Know About Vinyl Records
I just got back from a trip to the Making Vinyl conference. There, I was joined by 450 professionals representing the whole vinyl record supply chain, starting from PVC manufacturers […]
Your Music Is Already Training AI
There’s an artist I love named Ximena Castro. The artist has a great voice and amazing protest lyrics about injustice in Iran, Gaza, ICE, and immigration. It’s very current, emotionally […]
How I Sold My Limited Vinyl Run in 2 Days
I want to show you exactly what I did to sell out of a very limited colored vinyl run for one of my old bands. But first, here are two […]
CDs Aren’t a Commodity Anymore
Here’s a news flash: CDs are no longer a commodity. And that’s a big shift from where we were some 20 years ago. Back then, if you were an artist, […]
Why Vinyl’s Next Growth Wave Will Be Sparked by Emerging Artists
For nearly two decades, the vinyl revival has been driven from the top down: collectors rediscovering old classics, audiophiles rebuilding collections, major labels mining their catalogs, and — in recent […]
The Hidden Problem With Vinyl on Demand
If you’re a musician, you may have seen ads about way to put your music on vinyl with no upfront investment. Vinyl on demand. Make records one at a time. […]
How Disc Makers Stacks Up Against Other CD Manufacturers: A “Secret Shopper” Experience
Every now and then, I hear an artist say something like, “Disc Makers’ CDs are expensive. Why would I pay more?” It’s a fair question. I’ll readily admit that our […]
4 Tips to Triple Your Merch Sales
If you’re playing live shows and not maximizing your merch, you’re leaving real money on the table. And by band merch, I don’t just mean t-shirts. I mean CDs, vinyl, […]
The Truth About CD Turn Times: What We Found When We Secret-Shopped the Competition
If you’ve got a CD release coming up, the turn time of your order is critical. Maybe you have a release event planned or a tour that’s starting next week, […]
G7 Printing: The Secret to Great-Looking CD & LP Covers
If you’re releasing a CD or vinyl record, the packaging is something most artists may not think about until it’s too late. Your music might sound amazing, but does your […]
Why Quality Merch is Worth the Investment
If you’ve been to a concert recently, you’ve probably noticed a shift — fans and artists alike now view merch differently. Gone are the days of burning a few CDs […]
The Disappearance of the Mainstream
What was the song of summer this year? Oh, don’t worry if you can’t name it. Nobody seems to know what it was or can agree on. Billboard says it […]
Why Our Short-Run Vinyl Sounds Better
Here’s something most artists don’t realize: our small-run vinyl pressings don’t just cost less — they can also sound a little better than if you do your record pressing elsewhere. […]