Keep your CD production costs low with the new Watunes Amazon CD On Demand Service & Amazon MP3

We received news today from online digital aggregator Watunes that they have just partnered with Amazon to provide CD on Demand for artists using their service.

The service provides an excellent opportunity for artists to sell physical CDs through Amazon directly to the public, without any upfront pressing costs. Only when the customer buys the product is the CD produced and shipped directly to the customer, removing the need for artists to invest in CD stock themselves.

Customers who are using the Watunes free digital distribution service will be able to access the CD on Demand for a one time $10 sign up fee per album, but Watunes VIP members will be able to access the service for free. Seeing how it only costs thirty dollars a year to sign up to the VIP service, if you are expecting to deliver three releases or more to online stores it would probably make sense to join the VIP program.

By using the CD on Demand service, you'll also have your releases placed into the Amazon MP3 store, so you'll have a complete prescence to millions of Amazon customers instantly. Finally the Watunes / Amazon link up will offer free proof copies of your CD on Demand forever, which also helps artists lower the cost of entry into CD manafacture.

So why even bother with physical CD when download sales are booming?

Well quite a lot of people still actually like to own the product they are buying. You can create your own cover art with Watunes CD on Demand, so there is an opportunity to add value if you can offer superb cover art on your product. Also as you have little or no cost of entry into this service, it makes sense to maximise the income streams from every source, let the customers decide how they want to buy your music, CD or download - now your customers can have a choice.

Many artists are currently using CD companies like CDBaby to deliver physical stock to customers, and whilst there is no doubt that over the last 5 to 6 years CDBaby has been a market leader in independent CD distribution, their service is looking a little out of date. At $35 per album, thats a big chunk of money for the average independent artist, and it can take sometime to recoup that investment for small bands.

Whilst you can use their discmakers service to produce stock for the CDBaby store, you still have to pay upfront to press the stock. As a micro business it just doesnt make sense for most independent artists to invest upfront. Businesses big or small all work on the basis of keeping costs low and profits high, and as an independent artist, that should be your priority too to make sure you actually make some money from your music at the end of the day.

I know artists who have invested hundreds of dollars in pressing up a few hundred CDs and still have stock sitting in their basement. It's money that could be in their pocket right now, especially in the current economic climate.

The Watunes CD On Demand service pays you 40% of each CD sold, and that may seem a huge chunk that is paid for using the service, but looking at the reality, if you had to press the CD upfront you may save some money in the long term, but it's your cash at risk if the CD doesnt sell. It's economies of scale, individual CDs cost more to print up per unit than 1000, however if you think of it this way, if you sell no CDs theres no loss to be incurred, if you do sell a CD, you get 40% of a sale you would have otherwise never made. Really it's a no brainer, and in the long run will bring a better return than investing in stock.

If you want to put out physical CDs of your music with no investment or upfront fees, I can't think of a better risk free method than using this new service from Watunes.

Visit their website at http://www.watunes.com for more information.