There is nothing that can make you feel like a waste of life like a closet full of unsold CD’s staring at you every time you go to put on your skinny leg jeans. Like the day your daddy retired his 8-track and you threw out your CD Walkman for an iPod, the days of staring at the pile of unsold CD’s are over. CreateSpace is a website you may have heard of that now allows you to press your CD’s on demand. What the hell does that mean? It means all you do is point to a link in Amazon’s store and your fans can buy your CD and each time someone orders them they will print them one at a time or ten at a time depending on your orders! You can also order CD’s wholesale and sell them yourself through any means and get them to stores. They offer non-exclusive terms for sales and allow an artist to get a professional looking product for a very cheap price. To see what their product is like take a look at the above video and watch me open and take a look at the quality of their product (which was very impressive). What about having CD’s to sell on tour? How fast does this take to turn around? We answer those questions after the jump.
I recently wrote CreateSpace and asked a few questions I felt all of our readers would like to know. If there is anything else you would like answered let us know in the comments and we will add it to future articles.
If bands wanted to exclusively press their CD with CreateSpace are
they able to order CDs to take on tour with them at a discounted price?
At
CreateSpace, members set their own list prices and earn royalties
through retail channels based on the price they set. For wholesale
orders, a flat $4.95 manufacturing fee per unit applies for orders of
up to 49 discs. Members get a volume discount for orders of 50 and
greater. For additional information on order pricing, please visit
https://www.createspace.com/Products/CD/ and click on “Pricing &
Royalties.” Also, I wanted to add that CreateSpace’s agreement is
non-exclusive, so musicians are welcome to take advantage of any
opportunities that come their way.
What is your usual turnaround once all the materials are sent in?
After
we receive the materials, members are sent a proof copy within 10 days.
After the proof is approved, it takes 1-2 weeks for the disc to appear
on Amazon.com and other channels. Wholesale orders may also be placed
after the member approves the proof. Customer retail orders placed on
Amazon.com are eligible for Amazon’s shipping options, including Amazon
Prime and Free Super Saver Shipping. Shipping options are given at checkout, but the typical turnaround time for wholesale orders is 1-2 weeks.
Is there any success story from CreateSpace you can point me to?
Sure,
you may visit the “Showcase” section of the CreateSpace website for
information on some of our members. Also, I’ve included below a success
story about Band From TV that you may find interesting (I sent you a
review copy of this disc.)
Band From TV: CreateSpace On-Demand Technology Helps Celebrity Philanthropists Give More Back
Kurt
Benjamin, president and CEO of Generosity Records, is one of the
engineers behind celebrity musical group “Band From TV” – which
includes TV celebrities Hugh Laurie (“House”), Greg Grunberg
(“Heroes”), James Denton (“Desperate Housewives”), Bonnie Somerville
(“Cashmere Mafia”) and Bob Guiney (“The Bachelor”) – and their new
album, “Hoggin’ All The Covers.”
In 2008, Benjamin, an
entrepreneur known as much for his charitable efforts as his keen
business sense, worked with the band to develop “Hoggin’ All The
Covers,” their first CD/DVD combo album. Since the members of “Band
From TV” wanted to donate proceeds of the CD/DVD combo to charities
including Save the Children, The Epilepsy Foundation, Art of Elysium,
Donate Life and CAPP, Benjamin sought out the best distribution model
to enable the band to maximize donations for these organizations.
With that in mind, Benjamin and Band From TV turned to CreateSpace, part of the Amazon.com group of companies.
“The
reason I selected CreateSpace’s on-demand model for our project is
simple: we wanted to create a virtual company that would not saddle
itself with inventory, manufacturing and packaging responsibilities,”
said Benjamin. “Without knowing exactly what the customer demand would
be, CreateSpace gave us the opportunity to execute our business plan
with the Disc on Demand platform, which conformed to our needs
perfectly.”
Using the latest Disc on Demand technology via
CreateSpace, Band From TV’s CDs and DVDs are only manufactured after
customers place an order, resulting in low cost and low risk for
Generosity Records. By avoiding the costs of creating and storing
inventory, Band From TV is able to donate 100% of their profits from
the sale of the album to their causes. Additionally, the on-demand
model means the group makes more money in royalties for charity.
Through
CreateSpace, “Hoggin’ All The Covers” was made available to the
millions of customers visiting Amazon.com. The on-demand nature of the
title means that it’s always in stock, translating to greater retail
sales, which spiked after Band From TV’s performance on “The Tonight
Show with Jay Leno.”
“I found the CreateSpace team to be
phenomenal, responsive and exceptional at meeting demands of volume
spikes that are associated with my project because of national
television performances and other events that create sales,” said
Benjamin.
Since its release on Amazon.com, the “Hoggin’ All
The Covers” CD and DVD combo reached #1 in a variety of music
categories on Amazon.com’s bestseller lists.
“CreateSpace gives
producers the opportunity to get product out, promoted and seen, which
would otherwise be sitting in their minds or on their computer, not on
a shelf – CreateSpace is a virtual shelf,” said Benjamin. “I definitely
plan to use CreateSpace again. I recommend it to many people and will
continue to do so.”