Guide: The 5 Steps of Your First Project

So you’re pressing a record. Congrats!! There’s nothing quite like pressing your first vinyl record project and we’re excited that you’ve chosen to do it with us.

Here are the five keys steps involved from requesting a quote to the final delivery of your project:

Step 1 – Concept & Quote

If you’re confident with your concept, use our website’s interactive quoting tool located here to request an official quote, or for projects with any bespoke items use our contact form to outline what you’re looking for in as much detail as possible. Within 1 business day an account manager will be in touch and will act as your point of contact for the remainder of the project. If you have any concerns about your design or a specific deadline that you’d like to hit, please let them know and they’ll communicate that to our production team. In Q1 and Q2 of 2019, 90% of our projects were delivered on time or early.

If you have something more ambitious planned for your artwork or you have a particularly bespoke vinyl effect in mind then speak to one of our team before proceeding with your quote to ensure that this is achievable. Our expert team will be able to advise you if your planned double-width die-cut window will compromise the structural integrity of the jacket, or if the 4 colors you plan to blend together may result in some unintended consequences.

Step 2 – Artwork & Audio Submission

The next step is to send your artwork and audio assets to our production team. These can be uploaded here, remember to include the catalog number of your release and a description of the assets that are included.

For vinyl projects digital audio should be supplied as high-resolution WAV or AIFFs, although we also accept DDP files. For CD orders please supply audio as DDP files only. If you have chosen to supply Lacquers, your account manager will provide you with the address and necessary information to ship them to our plating facility.

Step 3 – Artwork Proof & Test Pressing Approval

Approximately two weeks after submitting your audio assets, you will receive a small batch of vinyl test pressings (TPs). TPs enable you to listen to your recording on vinyl for the first time, flag any concerns in the unlikely event of an issue or give the go-ahead for the production run. You will also receive a set of digital artwork proofs within one week of submitting your artwork. Our team will flag any issues which may compromise the integrity of your art, but we do not proofread text for spelling or grammatical errors. Please check your artwork for any spelling or liner note errors one last time, before sending approval of the artwork proofs.

Once we receive full approval of artwork proofs and test pressings your project will be queued for production. Please note that whilst we endeavor to remind clients about outstanding approvals, it is your responsibility to notify us of your approval or concerns. Failing to do so within one week of receipt may delay your project.

Step 4 – Invoicing & Payment

All vinyl orders are subject to a plus or minus 10% tolerance. For example: on a run of 300, it’s possible for the final quantity to be between 270 and 330 units. This is known as the over/under rule and is an industry-wide practice. For this reason we won’t be able to invoice your project until it has been completely finished.

Once your order is completed a member of our invoicing team will email you with a request for the balance of your project. Once this has been received and confirmed your order will be shipped. Account details required for e-payments and wire transfers are available from your account manager.

Step 5 – Shipping & Delivery

Our team will carefully assemble your finished records into strong shipping boxes before passing them over to one of our industry leading couriers. Your account manager will supply you with tracking codes once the order has left the pressing plant.