Disc Makers Hums Along By
EILEEN STILWELL
Courier-Post Staff
PENNSAUKEN,
NJ – Thursday March 23, 2006– Will Smith started here. So did rapper Eminem. And reggae star Burning
Spear is still a satisfied customer of Disc Makers, a niche business
that caters primarily to budding musicians and filmmakers in need
of ways to showcase their talents.
Sixty years ago, Disc Makers began pressing personal pizza-sized 78-rpm
records in Philadelphia. Eleven years ago it moved to Route 130 to
begin a period of rapid innovation and expansion. Today, its 400 employees
create and package 40 million CDs and DVDs a year for singers, drummers,
comedians, preachers, teachers, marketers and just about anybody who
wants a cheap, easy way to distribute information or entertainment.
In between, Disc Makers pumped out 7-inch 45 rpm records, 12-inch
LPs, 8-tracks and audio cassettes. Then in 1986 came the optical disc
revolution which allowed the transfer of information via reflected
light. Disc Makers led the charge.
High demand keeps the Pennsauken plant humming 24 hours a day. Last
year revenues exceeded $66 million.
Disc Makers' nimble style has kept it growing at double-digit rates
for the past 15 years.
"Our greatest strength has been our ability to migrate through
the format changes in the industry," said Tony van Veen, executive
vice president of sales and marketing and second in command of the
privately held company. Predictably, more change is brewing and the
company is closely watching the life span of HD-CD and Blu-Ray, two
warring formats that can hold four to seven times the content of existing
DVDs.
With the advent of MP3 technology and at-home CD burners, Disc Makers
made the risky decision to sell equipment capable of duplicating 10
CDs and now DVDs at a time, despite concerns about cannibalizing its
primary business. Today, duplicator sales constitute 25 percent of
the company's revenues.
"Churches are a big part of our business. Some record the sermon
and music program on CD then make copies on the spot for sale to the
congregation on their way out, or to take to shut-ins later in the
week," said van Veen.
Typically, customers of Disc Makers begin the process with their own
CD or DVD and some artwork. Disc Makers will incorporate the artwork,
or choose new artwork from a vast databank of stock art. It also can
remaster the sound to bring it up to broadcast quality, if necessary.
For $99, the company will print 300 posters identical to the CD cover.
The average customer orders 1,000 CDs for $1 to $3 each depending
on the level of assistance required, and sells them at shows or online
for $10 or more each. Two to three weeks after placing an order, the
customer receives stacks of professionally packaged discs, complete
with bar code.
"These independents are very demanding. If they find the slightest
imperfection, they want it fixed, or they think it will ruin their
careers," said van Veen.
Disc Makers is happy to dominate the indie market and leave the heavy
lifting of the music industry to giants like Sony Corp, said van Veen.
A look at the company's daily phone log posted prominently in the
customer service wing of the Pennsauken plant tells a tale. Most days
more than 2,000 calls come in, largely driven by the 5 million catalogs
the company mails each year, a 1,500-page Web site and referrals from
more than 12,000 recording studios in the country.
Terry Carr, who spearheads economic development in the township, called
Disc Makers a local secret.
"They've become a dominant player in the industry, yet they're
not well-known locally unless you need their services. The company
seems to take good care of its employees and property. Recently, they
bought a small building nearby, so I hope that means they're not going
anywhere. They make excellent neighbors," said Carr.
About Disc Makers
Disc Makers is the nation’s leading independent media manufacturer,
offering a wide variety of products and services, including complete
CD and DVD replication and custom packaging for independent musicians,
filmmakers, and businesses. The company also offers a variety of additional
products and services including the country’s most popular line
of tower CD and DVD duplicators, automated CD/DVD publishing systems,
disc printers, blank media, and promotional printing services for
artists and corporate clients. The company’s state-of-the-art
manufacturing facility houses full-scale CD and DVD replication lines
and in-house printing, as well as mastering and post production studio
suites, a DVD and CD-ROM multimedia authoring facility, and an award-winning
graphics design studio. Disc Makers’ main office and plant is
located near Philadelphia in Pennsauken, NJ, and the company has regional
offices in Los Angeles, New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area,
Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Puerto Rico, and now Nashville.
Media
Contacts:
Ted
Miller Director of Client Services
Max Borges Marketing Solutions
3550 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 501
Miami, FL 33137
(305) 576-1171 x12 tedmiller@maxborges.com
Matt
Shumate PR Specialist
Max Borges Marketing Solutions
3550 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 501
Miami, FL 33137
(305) 576-1171 x15 mattshumate@maxborges.com
Steven
Spatz Director of Marketing
Disc Makers
7905 N. Route 130
Pennsauken, NJ 08110
856-663-9030 sspatz@discmakers.com
