Great timely communication from support staff. I had a massive project involving a run of CD's, 7" vinyl, 12" double vinyl, and a 20 page graphic booklet. As a first timer, the learning curve was pretty large from a self-made graphic-design standpoint, but support staff (William) helped me immensely with multiple formatting issues I encountered and with configuring all tracks and images. The main issue I experienced involved being originally sent the "A to Z Media VINYL templates" that I spent a considerable time formatting all artwork files to, to realize, when trying to upload, that nothing would upload due to this discrepancy. Not sure why that happened, but it was a massive time-suck to re-format all images to the proper "Solid Merch" VINYL templates.
I would recommend the company overhaul its website to include recommending users NOT TO try and cram LP side play times past 22 minutes even though Solid Merch advertises that it can, for additional charge. -This was the selling point that made me go with Solid Merch... they were the only company I could find that offered to accommodate 25min LP playtimes per side. But in nearly pulling the trigger on this format, I was advised against it by Solid Merch, AND by other vetted vinyl audio engineers warning me that the sound quality would likely suffer if too much audio is squeezed onto a side. I had initially formatted my product as one 12" 33rpm disc, but had to split everything onto two 12" 45rpms to avoid any sonic downgrading, programming and tracking issues. Knowing this ahead of time would've saved me months of back and forth, and the additional graphic production and design to accommodate another disc, and would've helped me budget properly instead of having to reformat everything (including my bank account) in the bottom of the ninth.
Additionally, I would recommend Solid Merch provide the option to receive printed proofs of the album sleeve (would gladly pay extra), because all of my images look flat and kind of lousy in-print compared to the CMYK uploaded images I sent. My personal printed proof mock-up I got done locally looks WAY crisper, sharper, and the colors match and are much more vibrant. I'm slightly deflated about all the images on the sleeve and the booklet, but there's nothing I can do about it now, just $9K tied up in a product that doesn't look quite right in-print, even though the mock-up I had done, looks like a carbon copy of the image files. So, to summarize, test pressings of the vinyl AND test prints of the sleeve and label art are into, essential for my next vinyl order. I will probably not go with Solid Merch again unless this can be offered (and for short runs of 100).
Lastly, I know test pressings are only offered for runs of 250 copies and more, but I really only needed 100 copies of everything. Given I didn't want to risk any audio issues I went with 250 minimums just so I could get the test pressings. The extra shipping costs for freight that doubled in weight also sank me financially. Thus, I highly recommend just letting clients pay for test pressings no matter the quantity of their order. I realize that there're work-flow issues to consider for the manufacturer, but for independent artists, the cost difference between 100 vs 250 copies is massive, and it is also an inflated task to sell 250 copies vs 100 (when you're a small, independent artist).
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Need merch for an upcoming tour, gig or other event? Solid Merch is your online stop for custom produced, great quality apparel and promotional and media items, including tees, hoodies, bags and made to order vinyl records and CDs. We offer online ordering for many popular items and offline pricing and concierge sourcing and production for your other custom band merchandise and apparel needs. We'll work closely with you from concept to production to help you get the best product that you and your fans will love.See more
