DiskFaktory
Get your music out there the smart way
By Park James

Making CDs is a great way to put your music into the hands and ears of your adoring public. But how many musicians do you know who have ended up with a garage full of boxes of unsold CDs taking up space? The boxes full of CDs make good doorstops, and the discs work well as coasters or mini-frisbees, but why get so many made in the first place? The answer is that until recently there was no good way to get a relatively limited number of CDs made efficiently and cost-effectively. The folks at DiskFaktory have changed all that.

  A whole new world
The whole process of recording, marketing, and distributing a record has been changing fast in the last decade or so. Not long ago, the only real shot an artist or band had in making a record and having it played on the air was to get that elusive record deal. If a record company found your music compelling enough, they would front you a considerable sum of money to go into the studio and record your masterpiece - often under the direction of a producer saddled with the task of turning your sound into a commercially viable product. Then you toured in support of your record, and if you were fortunate, you recouped enough of your investment to repay the record company for their investment. If you were extremely lucky you would make enough to finance a second record. For a few artists this would turn out to be a positive relationship, but the vast majority of bands didn't benefit much from being forced into artistic and financial corners that were difficult to escape.

The financial realities of the early '90s combined with advances in recording technology led many musicians to sidestep the major label record industry by exploring home studio and independent label options. Until relatively recently, however, the costs of recording, copying, and distributing one's own album were fairly high. Often the only cost-effective way to produce CDs was to get them in quantities of 1,000 or more, which was overkill for many artists. This led to the after-fore-mentioned situation in which many musician's ending up with a large number of CDs by their favorite artist, themselves, taking up space in their garage. Selling CDs, T-shirts, etc. at gigs is a great way to market your music - now DiskFaktory has made this process practical for anyone who wants to do it.

Disk duplication for dummies
The DiskFaktory specializes in packaging their disc-making service into bite-sized packages that are tailored specifically to the CD needs of most real-world musicians. This means you're not paying for vast quantities of discs and services that you don't need or fretting over a mind-boggling array of different options. DiskFaktory has made the choices bone-head simple!

  The SuperPropak is the most popular package offered by Diskfaktory, giving you 100 music CD copies for $299. This includes 4-panel color single-fold front inserts that are laser printed, 2-sided color tray cards for the back of the jewel case, thermal color disc printing, clear jewel cases, and shrinkwrap.

The Propak is a budget version of the SuperPropak that gives you 100 CDs for just $199 with 2-sided color front inserts, and one-sided laser-printed color tray cards. If you don't need to include a whole lot of graphic art and text, this is an incredibly economic way to prepare your masterpiece for the world.

Even more economical is the Bulkpack, which will give you 100 CDs for a paltry $79. Discs are labeled in thermal black text on the disc face. You can even enter your text online with Diskfaktory's Label Editor online!

  Diskfaktory's ultra-budget Fastpak service will get you 50 CDs for a mere $49. Discs come with free jewel cases and thermal black printing on the discs, and shrink wrap is optional. As a special incentive, if you purchase two or more FastPaks you'll receive an additional 10 CDs free!

All the various package options give you the choice of uploading your songs Online or mailing in your master disc. DiskFaktory utilizes state-of-the-art technology to produce the highest quality CD duplication services at the lowest prices in the industry. Your tunes are burned to premium quality CD-R media on top-of-the-line professional-grade disc duplication systems. All disc faces are printed with a thermal black or color process. Inserts and artwork are printed with color laser output. The resulting product looks fantastic and the cost is as low as you'll find anywhere in the industry.

It's important to remember that your output from the Diskfaktory can only be as good as your input. With attention to detail and quality control on the audio master and artwork you submit, the final product will rival any 100,000-run CD to come out of the recording industry. And you will have only as many as you need - sell 'em off the bandstand, and when they're gone, have another 100, or whatever, printed up. It's just that simple to make the jump from working musician to recording artist.

Disc must be the place
DiskFaktory was started in 2001 as a division of Innovative Diversified Technologies. The aim was to take advantage of IDT's vast knowledge and resources in the CD and DVD arena. The mission statement of DiskFaktory is to provide easy access through innovative Web applications for short-run, professional quality disc duplication in industry-leading turn-around times.

DiskFaktory is owned and managed by music industry veterans from the CD-R. DVD-R, software, disc duplication, music business, and interactive Web development sectors. They know their stuff, and go the extra mile to make sure their customers are getting a state-of-the-art result when it comes to audio or visual CD media.

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