Category Archives: digipak

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!

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

janis ian autobiography.png

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

Micah Solomon

President and Founder
Oasis Disc Manufacturing