Placing Your cd Order

For DMS to complete your CD order, we require the following:

1. Audio Master
2. Graphics/Art Files
3. Completed Copyright Declaration Form
4. Payment

To place your order, please determine your requirements and then click 'Place an Order.'

For audio CDs, 74 mins is the recommended maximum length for universal playback. However up to 79 minutes is possible using a system called overburn, although some CD players could be unable to play these types of CD. Alternatively, if you are producing a data disc such as a CD-ROM, the maximum recommended capacity should be 700MB.

If supplying any other format such as Mixed Mode, Enhanced Music CD etc. which contains both data and audio, you need to ensure there is a compromise on each side depending on the others required capacity, for example half and half would be 37 minutes of music and 350MB of data.

It is recommended that all audio is mastered for CD to industry standard commercial levels. Your Compact Disc Digital audio (CDDA)/Audio CD should be compiled to Red Book standards (or one of the other Rainbow book standards). These standards comply to technical specifications for all CD formats.

We offer full Audio Mastering services at £60 ex. VAT (£72 incl. VAT) per hour. We will always estimate how long we think it will take (after analysis of the audio), prior to any work being undertaken or charged. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

If you would like DMS to compile a production ready (red book standard) audio master from your individually supplied mastered audio files, this is charged at £50 ex. VAT (£60 inc. VAT).

If DMS are mastering your audio, we will compile your master to red book standard free of any additional charges other than the mastering itself.

For replication of CDs from a glassmaster or CD duplication; you can supply a production ready audio master as a physical disc, a DDP image file set or a CD Disc Image File (.img), in the post or via the Internet. Please be aware that supplying individual audio files such as separate WAV files will incur additional charges for us to compile a production ready CD Master.

You can forward digital files via a number of free online services including WeTransfer, Filemail, Dropbox (in a .ZIP or .RAR folder) or via your own FTP site.

We recommend you check your physical master all the way through before sending on to DMS, and that all discs free of defects such as scratches. In all instances it is recommended to supply DMS with a track list or PQ sheet detailing the name of each track, track lengths and any metadata you would like included.

Your physical CD or CDR should be compiled with tracks in the correct order, and with the correct number of tracks/data content. All metadata (CD Text, ISRC, disc title, MCN etc.) should be embedded to your master prior to supplying to DMS. We will then make exact replica and or duplicate copies.

Please send all physical formats to DMS at:

DMS Vinyl
1 Russell Court
St. Andrew Street
Plymouth, PL1 2AX
United Kingdom

Alternatively, you can supply a DDP image file set as a DVD data disc, USB Stick or Flash Drive. Please find more details on supplying a digital master below.

To supply a production ready audio master digitally, please provide a DDP image file set.

When supplying your DDP data electronically, please ensure you do so in an archived folder such as .RAR or .ZIP. If you are unsure how to do this, please contact us. We prefer that files are supplied to us via Wetransfer.com, Hightail.com, Dropbox.com or your own FTP site. These sites are generally free of advertising and ensure there are no delays imposed upon individual IP addresses. We have found that following these steps is best practice for transferring audio electronically.

Please ensure all files are compressed to a .ZIP/.RAR folder prior to uploading.

Absolutely.

If you would like DMS to compile a production ready (red book standard) audio master from your individually supplied mastered audio files, it is charged at £50 ex. VAT (£60 inc. VAT). This will include the embedding of CD-Text and ISRC codes if requested.

DMS masters comply with all rainbow book standards for CD duplication and replication.

If DMS are mastering your audio, we will compile your master to red book standard free of any additional charges other than the mastering itself.

When supplying your individual tracks or data electronically, please ensure you do so in an archived folder such as .RAR or .ZIP. If you are unsure how to do this, please contact us. We prefer that files are supplied to us via Wetransfer.com, Hightail.com, Dropbox.com or your own FTP site.

When supplying individual audio files for DMS to compile your production-ready master, there are several formats that we accept.

• WAV - uncompressed audio

• AIF, AIFF - uncompressed audio

• APE (Monkey's Audio) - lossless compression, including error detection

• FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) - lossless compression, including error detection

Please supply your tracks at 16 bit / 44.1 kHz. Supplying in any other resolution will require your audio to be dithered/converted to 16 bit / 44.1 kHz, which could incur additional charges. In all instances it is recommended to supply DMS with a track list or PQ sheet detailing the name of each track, track lengths and all embedded metadata.

Please supply topped and tailed audio files with unwanted silences already trimmed. Any required audio editing may be charged at £60 ex. VAT (£72 incl. VAT) per hour.

We advise against this, as MP3 is generally inferior to CD quality. However, it is your project and if you are happy with the quality of your MP3 recordings, DMS are able to use them. Please be aware that we will encourage you to source or output your audio to the CD standard of 44.1 KHz/16 BIT, but if MP3 is really all you have available then it is possible to supply this format.

The higher the bit rate of your MP3 the better the quality. We would advise 320kbps which is a much better match to CD audio quality, than 160kbps or 80kbps which are much more highly compressed. In all instances it is recommended to supply DMS with a track list or PQ sheet detailing the name of each track, track lengths and all embedded metadata.

Please ensure all files are compressed to a .ZIP/.RAR folder prior to uploading.

The ISRC is the international system for the identification of sound recordings and music videos. Each ISRC is a unique identifier which can be permanently encoded into a sound recording or music video. Encoded ISRCs can provide the means to automatically identify recordings, to ensure that you get paid any royalty payments due. PPL is the appointed sole agency for ISRC in the UK, please contact them to assign codes to your tracks. DMS are unable to generate ISRCs for you, but once you have them we are able to add to your masters. For more information please visit the PPL website.

Once you have received your ISRCs from PPL, we would be happy to embed them onto your master.

Embedding of CD-Text and/or ISRCs is charged at £50 ex. VAT (£60 incl. VAT)

CD-Text allows for storage of additional information (album name, song name, and performer etc.) on standard audio CDs. This information is embedded into the lead-in area of the CD itself.

This is exclusively for the LCD display window of a CD player, such as a car stereo or hifi unit. This is not to be confused with the recognition of tracks on internet enabled devices such as a computer.

iTunes, Windows Media Player etc. do not read the CD text information stored on the actual CD's but use online databases such as Gracenote (CDDB). To ensure that iTunes, Windows Media Player etc. displays information similar to CD text you need to insert the disc and add the details yourself to the online databases that these media players use.

We would be happy to embed CD-Text onto your master should you require that services.

Embedding of CD-Text and/or ISRCs is charged at £50 ex. VAT (£60 incl. VAT)

Inner Ring refers to the ID ring on the underside of the CD itself. As standard that will read Disc Manufacturing Services. This can be amended, so if you wish to display your own message here, just let us know. It is also possible to include a logo for an additional fee.

Yes you can, and we are more than happy to advise you in this regard. A few ideas are to include a hidden track before the first track on the album or after the last track on the album. It is also possible to include added messages in your CD text, compile a “mixed mode” CD which plays like a normal CD in a CD player but also has other media such as video, photos, PDFs etc. accessible from a computer.

Please let us know if you are interested in any of these options, or if you have other specific ideas about this aspect of CD creation, and we can discuss what will be achievable for your release.

Please send us unflattened, high quality PDF files with any imagery at 300dpi. To attain the highest quality print results and reduce any risk of your orders being delayed, please read through our Artwork Specifications. We recommend speaking to our graphics department before starting your designs, often a five-minute chat over the phone can give you all the information required to make your task much easier and your final files much sharper.

Print-ready art files can be emailed to your DMS contact either as an attachment or as a link to download (for example WeTransfer, Dropbox or your own FTP site). You may prefer to supply a data disc containing your artwork in the post, in which case please post to the address below. We recommend a tracked delivery to ensure you know when this is delivered/received.

DMS Vinyl
1 Russell Court
St. Andrew Street
Plymouth, PL1 2AX
United Kingdom

At DMS we are great believers in preparing your graphics to the highest quality before going to print. We have a full range of templates available for all CD products including disc onbodies, booklets, digipacks, digifiles, slipcases and box sets. If you don't see what you are looking for, please contact us and we will send the relevant templates to you.

We also offer a full Graphic Design service at £40 per hour ex. VAT (£48 inc. VAT) if you require assistance with your artwork.

The standard and default finish on our printed products is a subtle Gloss Machine Varnish. This is a liquid gloss varnish layer that seals the ink and adds impact to your print as the coating reflects back the light, making colours appear richer and vivid. The finish is more of a soft sheen than a high gloss, think of a cereal box rather than a car magazine.

We also offer matt machine varnish, matt and gloss lamination, matt and gloss UV and reverse board (uncoated) finishes with a matt varnish. Please refer to our glossary for a more detailed explanation of the various print finish options available.

Unless specified, all of our printed parts are generally lithographically/offset printed. This is a four-colour print process of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black and is the industry standard method and colour model for large scale full colour commercial printing.

The four-colour print process relates to the number of colour plates required to print to each side of the stock. For example, 4/1 would print full colour CMYK; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black), on the front with Black only (K) on the rear.

For orders with smaller quantities we might produce digitally printed parts. This is the method of printing from a digital-based image directly to a variety of media using laser or inkjet printers, allowing for short turnaround times and printing of variable data sets.

There are other printing processes available (silk screen printing, UV printing, metallic and neon Pantone inks), please check our glossary for more details on this.

DMS offer a comprehensive barcode service for all your media packaging needs. If you supply the number, we will generate and add the barcode to your packaging free of charge for you. Barcodes can usually be obtained via your distributor or record label.

Alternatively, we can offer EAN-13 barcodes for £30 ex. VAT (£36 incl. VAT).

We are more than happy to advise on everything from generating your barcode image, incorporating it tastefully into your packaging design and ensuring the barcode complies with guidelines for optimum scanning results. Any barcode supplied by DMS must be accompanied by the wording “Manufactured by DMS Ltd.”

To ensure optimum scanning of the barcode we recommend all images to be vector and set to single black (k) only on a white background. Barcodes must be printed so that darker bars appear against a paler background. Scanners read using red light, so red bars should not be used.

We recommend that your barcodes are produced at 100% magnification (37.29mm wide by 25.91mm high), although this can be reduced to a minimum of 80% if required.It is advised that barcodes be located on the rear of the product in the bottom right-hand corner, but this is not mandatory.

We recommend the majority of images to be saved at 300dpi to ensure a good print resolution. Black and white line art should be saved at 800dpi, and bitmap images should be a minimum of 1200 dpi. When our in-house design team are processing your artwork, you will have digital jpeg proofs sent to you via email for approval. If the designer is concerned about the image quality of your artwork, then they will send you a screen shot of the images taken at print resolution.

We prefer templates to be left on the artwork, but please ensure that it is sitting beneath your artwork, not over the top of it. If you aren’t working directly into our templates, crop marks are helpful but please ensure they sit outside of the artwork (not overlapping). The easiest way to think of this is, if you see it, we will need to remove it or print it. Due to this, it is always best to remove any part of the template from the actual design areas of your submitted artwork. One of our design team will supply you with digital jpeg proofs via email for you to check over and approve, these will have the templates added for you to check the layout is as intended.

All artwork should be completed and saved in CMYK or PMS (spot colours) if applicable. If you need to use a colour profile, we advise the closest match to be 'U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2' however if you require an exact colour match then we would recommend getting a printed proof to ensure colour matching.

Your supplied artwork files are placed in a production queue prior to being checked by one of our designers. The time this takes can depend on the volume of orders we are currently experiencing, but we will send you proofs as soon as the artwork has been processed, along with any notes or issues raised by the design team. This is usually within 24-72 hours, so if you have not received your proofs in the time, please check your spam folder/filters as sometimes emails can be directed here in error. If you still haven’t received them, please contact your account manager.

Yes, we offer a few different options for printed proofs. The designer who processes your artwork may recommend you consider getting these or you may want to request them for artwork checking. The options are:

Laser Printed Proofs
Laser printed proofs cannot be used for accurate colour matching. They do however give a good idea of how your final print will look, the size and scale of images/text and also an indication of any blurred/pixilated areas that may occur due to low resolution areas in the artwork.

Per A3, single sided sheet, including 1st class Royal Mail delivery to one Mainland UK address: £15.00 ex. VAT (£18.00 incl. VAT)

The average turnaround time on these will be 2 to 3 working days including 1st class postage. For non-UK addresses or guaranteed next day delivery, please ask for more details.

Digitally Calibrated Printed Proofs
Calibrated printed proofs are 95% colour accurate. They are provided on FOGRA approved paper and setup to mimic the lithographic press in terms of colour and quality. These will give you an idea of colour, size/scale of content, blur, pixilation and the majority of issues that may occur without checking. The only thing that these do not show are variations that may occur on different card-stocks and finishes.

£40.00 ex. VAT (£48.00 incl. VAT) for one A3 sheet including courier delivery to one Mainland UK address, and £15.00 ex. VAT (£18.00 incl. VAT) each per sheet thereafter

The average turnaround time on calibrated proofs will be 5 to 10 working days.

Match Printed Proofs
Match print proofs are the same as the Calibrated Printed proofs, with additional copies being produced and passed to production to ensure they match the main print run.

£90.00 ex. VAT (£108.00 incl. VAT) for one A3 sheet including courier delivery to one Mainland UK address, and £25 ex. VAT each per sheet thereafter.

The average turnaround time on calibrated proofs will be 10 to 15 working days.

Wet Proofs
A wet proof allows you to see a printed version of your product, exactly as the finished product will be. The cost can vary depending on the product you wish to see completed and due to the nature of litho print setup, these aren’t the cheapest option, then again, there’s no better way of checking the outcome of your product than by actually seeing it!

Per product*, including courier delivery to one Mainland UK address: priced on request, approx. £400.00 ex. VAT (£480.00 incl. VAT)

*please check with your sales contact/designer to confirm prices and availability on the product you wish to have a wet proof of.

You should allow for between 3 to 4 weeks for a wet proof but can be longer during peak seasons.

DMS will only manufacture your CDs if you are the copyright owner and fill in a copyright declaration form, or you can supply a valid manufacturing licence from MCPS or other relevant licensing organisations that apply in other countries. We will not consider manufacturing any product that infringes the rights of other artists or copyright owners.

Please visit the PRS for Music website and the MCPS section within it to see the kinds of licences available and the cost of obtaining them. If you need any help or advice with your application it's best to give MCPS a call direct, they're always very friendly and can help to shed valuable light on an otherwise complicated process.

For more information on this, please feel free to give us a call or drop us a line.

Due to the nature of CD manufacturing, once goods are produced they are unusable by anyone other than the client that ordered them. For that reason we ask for payment in full prior to CD manufacturing commencing. Alternatively UK registered companies and government agencies may apply for a credit account. Credit is not available to individuals or first time customers.

Please do not make a payment until you are sent a formal invoice.

You may pay for your goods and services by the following methods:

By card over the telephone. Please note that credit cards and all non-UK registered cards incur a processing surcharge of 3%.
By BACS transfer. Your sales contact will provide you with our bank details and they can be found at the bottom of your invoice.
Via PayPal (surcharges do apply).
By cheque payable to DMS Ltd to the address above, also stated on your invoice.

For further details on payment options please get in touch or telephone +44 (0) 1752 201275.