kunaki (was: What does it mean to you, to "release a record"?)

["Rainer Straschill" <moinsound@googlemail.com>]

Mark said:
"whats this Kunaki.com thing.. gonna check after this..."

Kunaki is a service which makes CDs and DVDs (I'll only focus on the
CD part here). There is no initial setup cost, and there is a fixed
price of $1.75 per CD, independently of the number of units ordered in
one go or over lifetime.
There are some downsides - to qoute their website's FAQ: "Kunaki
operates more like a machine than a business and does not offer a
personalized service. [...] Because Kunaki is highly automated and
focused on quality, low price, and fast production, we offer a minimal
range of options."

That's the biggest downside. The only option is a jewel case with
black tray and 2-page booklet (everything printed in coulor).
Another downside (for some) is that there are very specific rules and
a very specific flow for supplying your CD content. You use their
custom configuration software. It reads the data from a CD in your
computer, then you select several image documents (TIFF 8bit RGB, NOT
16bit like it says on their website), also within the software, and
the software handles uploading data to their site. Want to give them a
WAV file and replication report instead? Doesn't work. Want to use
prepress PDFs? Doesn't work. Want a transparent jewel case, four-page
booklet, slim case or digipak? Doesn't work.

On the other side, everything they do (including handling your orders
and providing a web shop where your fans can order your CDs at a price
set by you) is free except for the cost to you of $1.75 per CD.

Basically, if you can live with the limitations (and the most
challenging ones for me are the package limitations), it allows for a
really extremely simple business plan. The only pre production costs
you have are the time you spend to compile your album and its artwork,
put it into the format they like and use their software to transfer
it. Starting from that point, your total income per CD is the
difference of price you set in their webshop minus $1.75 for the sales
you do from their webshop, or your selling price minus 1.75$ and
pro-rata shipping costs (for those you sell e.g. at concerts).

They also dropship to amazon and CDbaby at no additional cost.

            Rainer