Trends in Music Produciton Artists Turn to Short Run DVD Production

The life of a new music artist can be tough. First of all, one needs to be different and stand out from the crowd. And then there’s the issue of getting known in the community, playing endless gigs, self promotion, and building a following. Plus most musicians are on a tight budget, spending what little money they have in recording studios, buying equipment, and staying on top of their game. For many musicians that are not tied in with a major record label company, it has become more and more difficult to get noticed. The Internet has always held promise of being a new outlet for independent musicians, and today there are new technologies that can help musicians get ahead.

Social media platforms like YouTube and Google Video allow posting music clips online, while some independent musicians have started using something called On Demand Short Run CD/DVD Production, enabling them to order smaller batches of CDs and DVDs in real time online 24/7 and ship to customers, and even promoters. This platform allows artists to retain ownership of their music and all rights to any content. The on demand platform makes it possible for artists to sell their music without manufacturing a thousand discs, so a lack of financial resources is not a determining factor as to whether an artist's music is heard by the public. For instance, a musician can send a finished product to a radio station without having to produce thousands of CDs. Artists provide their graphics and the master and CD or DVD orders can be filled from a website on an as-needed basis.

Orders are filled for the artists themselves, distributors and the general public. This makes it possible for artists to put their music out to the public with little expense and no inventory. On demand technology offers multiple packaging choices, retail finish quality, quick turnaround and no minimum orders. The entire process of ordering, production, packaging and shipping is automated with an on demand engine, enabling the management of thousands of unique orders.

Jazz musician, Alaadeen said, "In order to get a good rate to manufacture CDs, I had to manufacture large quantities. This led to excessive inventory, and there was the distribution issue. CD On Demand is appealing for artists.” With traditional CD/DVD replication services, significant quantity orders are required at one time and customers need a method to distribute them to the end user. There are many situations when this does not work.

On demand production technology helps people avoid the hassle of inventory and fulfillment; delivers custom content how, when and where a customer wants it; and automates and tracks order processing.

Kristin Gabriel is the marketing communications director for Acutrack, Inc. (http://www.acutrack.com). The company enables customers to create, publish and deliver custom content for DVD and CD distribution worldwide. Acutrack's proprietary On Demand production gives customers the ability to produce and ship custom packaged CDs or DVDs one at a time. Ideal for customers who are selling downloadable content and are not sure how many units to produce; On Demand takes care of inventory, packaging and fulfillment.