Need just a hundred Digipaks? Buy just a hundred Digipaks.

I’m really pleased to announce the  availability – online, 24 hours a day – of CDs and DVDs packaged in Oasis Disc Manufacturing’s famous line of Green Forestry packaging, in quantities as small as 100. Check it out on Oasis Express! Micah Solomon President & Founder Oasis Disc Manufacturing P.S. Please note that Oasis short run orders do not include Micah’s Tools of Promotion. If you’re looking to launch a national campaign, we will still do it for you – and 100% free, with a purchase of as few as 300 replicated discs. Ready to learn more or order discs with a real-live human being? Click here to chat with us live or call 1-866-409-8170 to speak with someone immediately.

Clean up your Act with Bill Harley — and Oasis CDs

Multiple Grammy-award-winning musician and storyteller Bill Harley has teamed up with Oasis to help teach kids healthy habits this flu season. His latest effort is a singalong/public service announcement titled “Wash Your Hands (lávate las manos).” Bill first wrote the song for the Paul Cuffee School in Providence, R.I. The neighboring Massachusetts Department of Health then worked the (ahem) infectious tune into school programs around their state. At that point Oasis got involved, donating 1,000 CDs in our Green Forestry Practices packaging to help get the music and story to media outlets and schools nationwide. Happily, NPR picked up the story and the coverage has been excellent (including a feature on “All Things Considered”) — and timely. As the parenting site Common Sense Media writes: What parent isn’t sick and tired of hearing the phrase “H1N1” at every turn? Just imagine how your kids feel about constant reminders at home and school to “Wash your hands!” Well, now you can just push play on the CD player and let singer, songwriter, and storyteller extraordinaire Bill Harley do the reminding this time. In his latest single, “Wash Your Hands,” Harley works his usual stroke of story-singing genius to help kids fight the bug this flu season and all year-round. Have something you want to get out to the world, in a beautiful eco-friendly package? Click here to get a sample pack of all of Oasis’ eco-packages in the mail. From the classic Digipak to our handsome wallets, from the simplicity of CDs in sleeves to the revolutionary Potato Tray (a natural farm product that is biodegradable and compostable) and BottleTray (each order of 1,000 saves 400 discarded water bottles from ending up in a landfill or incinerator) – Oasis continues to be a pioneer in our industry, particularly when it comes to environmental practices and packaging. Remember, lávate las manos, and have a healthy holiday season!

Micah Solomon President and Founder Oasis Disc Manufacturing

P.S. Did you know that many of the leading-edge environmental packages in the market originated here at Oasis? See them for yourself! Click here for our complete eco-packaging “care package” — FREE.

Best-selling author supports his brand — and his bottom line — with DVDs from Oasis

Best-selling author and entrepreneur Rajesh Setty has a knack for making complex business concepts seem simple. His pioneering book Beyond Code was graced by a foreword from none other than “the business guru who created the field,” Tom Peters. His eighth and most recent book, Upbeat!, argues that entrepreneurs can thrive in very down markets.

Rajesh is also a sought-after speaker. But this year, when he realized he was booked tightly with other consulting, start-up, and writing commitments, Rajesh decided that the time was right to release his first training DVD.

“I needed something that could travel in my stead,” he explains. “Something that could get my message out while I am working on other projects. With a DVD, the people who book speaking engagements and events can actually see a preview of my talk. That gives them a lot of comfort to hire me.”

Rajesh settled on an affordable Oasis DVD case for packaging. He enhanced it with full color printing on the disc – just in case the disc and packaging are ever viewed separately from each other. “I want each piece to provide a sense of the project,” he explains. “On the other hand, I wanted to keep the packaging affordable, to permit mass reorders as the need arises.”

He engaged our in-house authoring team to put the finishing touches on the production and bring it together as a cohesive whole.

“Oasis served as a real partner to my team, rather than just a vendor, making everything so simple! I couldn’t be more pleased with the process, or with the result.”

Looking forward now, Rajesh is quite excited about the “whole new set of possibilities” that DVD projects represent – for projecting his personal brand and for enhancing his bottom line as a speaker, author, and entrepreneur.

Complement your CD sales with Download Cards

Oasis has recently introduced a new way to sell your music: Digital Download Cards – and it is catching on far beyond our expectations.  With an Oasis Download Card,  fans purchase a beautifully designed “music credit card” at your event that features your custom artwork, take the card home, and use its code to download your tracks.

Oasis Digital Download Cards

500 of these little gems will only set you back $195 (sell them all at a standard $10 a pop and that’s $5,000 worth). That includes free hosting of your music and all the maintenance involved.  Click here for more info

State of the Indie CD Business

Listening to recent media chatter, you’d get the impression that most music is downloaded these days. Think again. Compact discs make up a full 80% of U.S. retail music sales (Wall Street Journal Tuesday, April 7, 2009, Page B4) and are the basic calling card and selling tool for every musician.

Why is the CD still dominant? One reason pointed out by Jupiter Research is that music lovers have noticed that compact discs remain “forward compatible” with whatever the latest music file format might be. Buy a CD from your favorite band and not only can you rip the music to your iPod, but you can also keep the disc as an archival backup.

Another reason, often commented on in psychological research, is that humans are gatherers by nature: we get a special thrill from collecting beautiful physical objects –books, magazines, stamps, antique china, paintings… the gorgeous artwork and packaging of a well-designed CD make it collectable, too. (To get a visual sense of how enthusiastic CD collectors can be, search Google images on the keywords “cd collection.”)

At Oasis, we’re constantly working to make our CDs and DVDs as attractive and collectable as possible. If you haven’t yet, please look through our catalog and check out the beautiful options we have to offer. If you don’t see your preferred look pictured, just call (888) 296-2747 and ask for Oasis Custom™. We’ll review dozens of unique packaging options with you, and cook up something that suits you perfectly!

Legendary Songwriter Cheryl Wheeler Goes Indie with Oasis

An Oasis Disc Manufacturing Case In Point:  Cheryl Wheeler’s Premium Digipak Marks Indie Debut of Legendary Songwriter

After a lifetime recording for labels, Cheryl Wheeler’s new premium Oasis Digipak marks her moment joining the rising tide of Indie musicians. As one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of a generation, and the only person we know of whose songs have been covered by such a spectrum of performers that it includes both Bette Midler and Garth Brooks (among many others), I’m grateful that she chose to bring the project to Oasis. Cheryl explains: “My partner Cathleen Joyce did her initial research for this project on the Oasis website, where all of our questions were addressed in short order. Once we began working with your staff we were confident in our choice. There were also friends in common: knowing you had worked with Janis Ian, I asked her how she felt about Oasis and she replied with a stellar, glowing review.” How Cheryl’s eye-catching premium package come about? “Cathleen already had a good idea of what she wanted for the package design. Ultimately, with the help of your templates, we settled on a Digipak, with a 12-page booklet and a recycled clear plastic tray. We were particularly happy with the green options Oasis offered. This is my first independent release, and I’m loving it. Oasis really makes it easy.” Click here for a free, complete sample pack of Oasis eco-packaging options, including samples of some of the many unusual Oasis Digipak options we can put together for you – such as the Digipak and booklet option we used on Cheryl’s Pointing at the Sun project. RECYCLED TRAYS ARE STANDARD WITH ALL DIGIPAKS AT OASIS Oasis Digipaks include – at no extra charge – 100% recycled hard plastic clear trays that feature a lightly-etched inscription that indicates recycled content. 100% post-consumer, flexible BottleTrays™ are also available at no additional charge. A sample of each will be included in your free eco sample pack! Recycled black trays, and conventional white trays, also available. Micah Solomon President and Founder Oasis Disc Manufacturing

P.S. For information and expert assistance with any Oasis packaging format — including our Green Forestry Digipaks with 100% recycled trays — click here to chat live immediately with one of our client advisors, or call us at 1-866-409-8170. Click here to get your free copy of our latest (award-winning!) catalog along with samples of our environmental packaging.

Janis Ian chooses Oasis Green Forestry Digipaks — Now available with 100% recycled trays

When Grammy winning singer and songwriter Janis Ian’s autobiography was due to come out on Penguin Books, she called me up because she wanted to release a companion greatest hits CD collection. And she wanted to go over her best packaging options.

The two of us zeroed in quickly on something other than the plastic jewel cases she had used earlier in her career. “This time around, I really wanted the packaging to be special — it’s not every year you get to release an autobiography and a CD that goes with it! I was also trying to keep it eco-friendly, but still affordable.”

Considering several options, we ended up with a double-CD Digipak. Because, really, what a Digipak says is “premium.” That you have invested in what it takes to give your audience a top-quality product. Janis’ other interest — environmental friendliness — is also addressed in Oasis Digipaks. We have 100% Green Forestry Practices certification for the board stock we use, and use 100% recycled plastic for the trays (up to 100% post-consumer, depending on the tray option you chose).

I hope you’ll let us send you an eco-packaging sample kit (click here or on the link below my signature) if you are planning a CD or DVD project.  Sample kits do not include CDs and are only shippable within the U.S. presently, for which I apologize.  Thanks so much for your interest!

Micah Solomon

President and Founder
Oasis Disc Manufacturing

Roadtrip Nation goes green with Oasis packaging

Are you up on the Roadtrip Nation phenomenon? It grew out of some friends working through a dilemma together that had stumped each of them: “What do I want to do with my life?” Fresh out of college and unsure about the career paths in front of them, they were determined to expose themselves to more than just traditional life roads. Painting an old RV green, they hit the road to talk with inspired people from all walks of life to find out how they came to do what they love for a living.

Today, Roadtrip Nation has evolved into a PBS series, three books, an online community, and more. And when Roadtrip Nation wants to spread the good word about their show, they do it with discs packaged in the Green Forestry line of disc packaging from Oasis. To date, they’ve used Green Forestry Sleeves (pictured), and the new 100% post-consumer-trayed Oasis Bottletray Digipak. These formats are lighter and lower-impact than other options, giving them the youthful, eco-friendly feel that suits them. If you’re interested, I’ll be happy to send you a free  Oasis Environmental Packaging Sample kit now which I believe you’ll find useful to help start planning out your new project.

I encourage you to catch Roadtrip Nation’s latest adventures on your local PBS affiliate, or check them out online at www.roadtripnation.com.

Micah Solomon
President and Founder
Oasis Disc Manufacturing

P.S. Like all complete Oasis packages, musical projects packaged in full-color Green Forestry Sleeves and Recycled Tray Digipaks include complete Oasis Tools of Promotion:  We send your music (the track of your choice) to 400 or more radio stations in your chosen genre, provide you with distribution at  iTunes, CD Baby, Brick & Mortar retailers (on demand), free web hosting and your own website, a full year of Sonicbids, and more.

If you want assistance with any Oasis packaging format, my team is happy to help you if you  click here to chat live immediately with one of our client advisors, or call us at 1-866-409-8170.

Get your copy of the latest Oasis CD catalog

A New Year’s Greeting from Oasis

I’m thankful that this has been the most productive year in our history – for Oasis and for our clients.  We’re extremely lucky to have such a creative, productive, and loyal group of customers, and I wish you the very best heading into the new year.

I also want to send out a heartfelt thank you to the more than 600 Oasis clients who requested we make contributions in their name to the Jazz Foundation of America. This is an overwhelming outpouring, and will help the Foundation to continue its important work. The Jazz Foundation of America is a national organization dedicated to saving and enhancing the lives of jazz and blues musicians in need. Every day the Jazz Foundation prevents homelessness and eviction by paying rents and mortgages, offering free medical care and operations, and creating employment through its programs.

Since Katrina, the Jazz Foundation has increased its caseload five times over by serving all ages of musicians who suffered from the disaster, including many with young children still at home. The Jazz Foundation now cares for approximately 1,000 musicians with 1,600 emergency cases a year.

Thank you again for sharing 2008 with Oasis. We have made many new friends and enjoyed doing great projects with our old ones. Best wishes for the start of 2009.

Sincerely,

Micah*

Micah Solomon
President, Oasis Disc Manufacturing

* if elink doesn’t work on your system, you can always reach me directly at micah@micahsolomon.com

Are you building your musical tribe?

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a marketing presentation from marketing guru Seth Godin, in conjunction with the launch of his latest bestseller: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (Portfolio, 2008).

In one of those worlds-converging moments, I found that Seth’s surprise musical guest — and musical marketing example — was Oasis client  Jen Chapin (accompanied by her inimitable bassist husband Stephan Crump).  I hope you have had the chance to hear Jen, perhaps at the grand opening of Oasis’ Manhattan office:  If you don’t know her yet, Jen’s a singer and songwriter and an advocate for the charity World Hunger Year, founded by her dad, the late Harry Chapin.

Here is the marketing lesson Seth drew in his talk from Jen’s lineage:

Jen Chapin performs at Seth Godin event, New York Times Center

The world has moved on from the career-building techniques that worked in Harry’s era: in those days you could hinge everything on just one single career-making advocate — in his case, DJ Jim Connors, later immortalized in Harry’s song W*O*L*D.  In Jen’s/our era, you need to build, fan by fan, your own supportive “tribe” for your musical career.

So, in this day of from-the-ground up, democratized musical career building, the question is: What are you doing to build your tribe?