If you’re serious about your craft, you should only work with the best company that does custom CD printing and packaging. Your album or DVD reflects so much of what kind of band or filmmaker you are, very essential if you’re trying to build your brand as an artist.
The # 1 tip, of course, is to pick us! But in case you just want shop around for a CD/DVD manufacturing company in LA, here are the 10 things you should look for:
#1 CHECK THE COMPANY’S PORTFOLIO.
The best way to check if a job applicant is good is to check his or her portfolio. Same applies when you’re looking for a custom CD printing and packaging company. Simply check their portfolio on their website. If you can’t find any, check out their Facebook page first. Who knows they are just low profile and don’t want to impress you too much. If you still can’t find any previous work and they don’t even have reviews on their social media pages, don’t bother. They probably are a new company and although you want to support new businesses, you don’t want to risk your project. Go for a company that at least have been around for a decade. Once you find ones with portfolio, check if they’re any good. Look for the type of CD or DVD manufacturing project that you’re aiming for. If they make the type of CD or DVD that you want, then you found a good candidate.
#2 DO A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH FOR REVIEWS.
For the same reason as above, but just to check if they have bad reviews. If they have a lot of bad reviews, look for other other companies that do custom CD printing and packaging.
#3 CONSIDER YOUR LOCATION.
If you are in LA, look for a CD manufacturing company in LA like Unified Manufacturing. This seems like a no-brainer but it helps a lot if you live close to your manufacturer. Anytime you want to know something, need something, all you need to do is drive or walk to their office and knock on their door. Less miscommunication, less stress, less shipping fee.
#3 WORD OF MOUTH.
If they’re referred by a friend (or two…or three!), especially if they’re very enthusiastic about it, then you’ll be in good hands, fam! As with any other business, nothing beats word of mouth because a friend is willing to risk your trust on them. That means the CD/DVD replication company must be really good.
#4 CONTACT PAST CLIENTS
If you only have three to five candidates and you want to make the right choice, you gotta investigate. Go ahead find their past clients and give them a quick email or call. Find out their experience. This is probably one of the best ways to know if you’re dealing with a good company or not…but don’t expect instant replies from past clients. They’re busy people!
#5 THEY MUST HAVE AN EASY ONLINE ORDERING FORM
Try placing an order or a quote. If their order processing is smooth, it’s added points because you want to do everything online, right?
#6 BUT MORE THAN THAT: FIND ONE WITH GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE
Shoot them an email, give them a call…are you happy with how they respond? This is basic and could be applied to almost any service but more important with CD and DVD manufacturing since they’ll be handling your baby! You’ve put so much hard work on your craft for it to be just handled by careless noobs. Do your research…and it starts with this single email/call/DM/PM.
#7 THEY CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT & THE WORLD
Where is their CD manufacturing plant located? Are you sure they aren’t just sourcing their CDs from China? What papers and inks do they use? Do they have efforts on how to care for the environment and give back? A good custom CD printing and packaging cares for the environment and the world and most of all, the QUALITY.
#8 THEY CARE ABOUT YOUR BUDGET
Be wary of CD manufacturing companies that keep upselling and making you spend more and more. Look for a company that cares about your savings. These companies still exist!
#9 THEY DO FULFILMENT DROP SHIPPING
Nowadays, band (and many artists) get their sales from their websites. That is why it’s good to find a CD manufacturing company that stores your items and delivers your CDs one order at a time. This will save you a lot of time and a lot of space (in your home) so you can focus on your music without worrying about shipping.
#10 THEY GIVE DISCOUNTS FOR INDIES
We do.
Here, get your quote!
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James Hill is a veteran of the music industry. He first worked at Warner Reprise Records then later joined Interscope/ Geffen Records where he managed producers and songwriters and got his first platinum record for Keyshia Cole’s The Way It Is. He is now helping indie artists with branding and manufacturing through his company Unified Manufacturing, a CD/DVD/vinyl and merch company in LA.
