Making CDs and cassettes

We’re busy making CDs and tapes in preparation for our label showcase on Thursday (in two days). Here are some photos of us putting together the cases. We’re waiting for a shipment of 200 blank printable CDs (from a company that, turns out, has bad customer reviews and may have taken our money and run. we’ll report on that if it happens to be true). The CDs should have arrived by mail (from Laval) a week or two ago, but if we’re lucky, they’ll come in tomorrow and we’ll party all day and night burning and printing and testing the albums in time for the show.

Use less crap to make your art

We printed the cases on recycled paper this time. They actually look nicer; more matte, a tiny bit textured, and otherwise exactly the same as on unrecycled paper. We’re still looking for ways to make our packaging more sustainable which, for us, means a) using as little plastic, ink, and unrecycled paper as possible, b) having really nice packages that won’t get thrown out, and c) always thinking about what’s essential for people receiving our music. A 40 page booklet? How about a link to a 40 page pdf posted on our website. Jewel cases? (yes, we advocated them for radio send-outs where we consider them to be necessary), but digipaks are becoming a standard, and they’re really much nicer looking. Instead of ordering digipaks pre-assembled, try buying recycled plastic CD trays and gluing them yourself using safer glues, into cases made of recycled paper, with low paper waste and printed with better inks.

Even better, there are lots of exciting ways to fold a sheet of paper that remove the need for gluing and will minimize paper waste. Do some research. And while there are companies using all the latest enviro-garb in every step of their production, if you’re doing small runs (under 500 copies), doing it yourself is still cheaper if you look hard enough, and don’t count your time assembling packages as money.

Here are some downloadable CD templates to try:
www.duplication.ca/printspecs/digipack.htm

Ordering online

If you’re looking to order materials online, your first search results will likely be in the states or the UK, but if you order locally the shipping will be less, and you won’t be contributing to the environmental damage done by transporting goods long distances by plane, truck, etc. There are plenty of companies in most countries, so search for your area specifically. And make sure to investigate the company’s practices. It doesn’t take much digging to find things you might disagree with ethically.

It’s still a debate though. Artmaking can often be wasteful in terms of its materials. Or it can be a conscious response to gross production in capitalist culture. Musician and writer, Ian Goodman wrote a post about sustainable art practices that’s worth reading if you have a sec. Check it out here.

What we think

Fixture likes material goods. We want our music to be held and exchanged through hands. And the packaging is part of the music. So for now, we’re making CDs and cassettes out of plastic and packaging them in paper. But if you don’t feel the same way, there are lots of great web options for releasing albums. We like Umor Rex who released several albums by Les Enfant Bastard (we also featured him on our first podcast). You can download tons of albums from Umor Rex as zip files complete with package art on their releases page.