Before beginning your search to find the best company to purchase your CDs from, it is very important to understand the business of CD manufacturing.

Many companies start off their sales pitch by telling you that their products are "major label" quality. In most cases, they are right because almost all manufactured CDs that are made in Canada are pressed by the same two plants, Cinram and Americ Disc. The printing is generally done at one of three plants, Shorwood, Ross-Ellis and Grenville. These companies collectively are responsible for the production of about 90% of the CDs manufactured in Canada. This includes major label and independent product.

So now your question may be "...why are there so many CD sellers?".

In Canada, CD production is mostly facilitated by brokers, or agents. The complicated technical processes, including glass-mastering, pressing, silk-screening and off-set printing, are done at the manufacturing plant.

The major plants have "brokers" so they don't have to deal with so many customers and relatively small runs. Good brokers are excellent at organizing and facilitating your job through the very large manufacturing and printing plants.

The quality of most manufactured product is usually very good, no matter where you go. So why should you chose one broker over another?

Customer service, graphic design service and price are usually the main reasons. Often price is initially very important but if your job doesn't make in on time or is done incorrectly, suddenly customer service becomes more important. At that point, you may wish you had checked the broker's references as well as price.

Like recording at home, many artists and friends are trying their hand at designing the CD graphics. If you don't have a deadline and your broker's policy is to help their clients realize their ideas, this can often work out. If you have a deadline and/or want a well-crafted, professional design job, use your broker's graphic designer but first check their price, work and experience. Often the work is out-sourced (more expensive) or if they have an in-house designer, he/she may be just out of school and without the experience necessary to offer you all the available choices so that you can have the most effective design at the best price. The graphic design charges from broker to broker tend to have wider swings than the manufacturing prices.

So, instead of telling you that Silverbirch has the best quality CDs and printing, we are telling you that almost all CD sellers have good quality products. We do keep our "street" prices (the ones that you get with a "cold call") very competitive and we will match, or beat, any of our competitor's written quotes. By the way, always get a written quote as some brokers do not include all the possible charges. When comparing prices, check the bottom line. In other words, don't get confused by the prices of individual items. For example, if broker A charges $1.25 per disc and broker B charges $1.20. Most likely, broker B charges more for the printing.

At Silverbirch, our strength is customer service and "value-added" service. For instance, if you chose to design your own graphics, we will give you unlimited support and answering the inevitable questions you will have; and we don't charge a penny for it. That even includes a "file check" or two, a chargeable item you will see on many broker's contracts. We pledge to return your calls promptly and keep on top of your job, whether you are ordering 300 CDs or 5,000 and whether you have done 12 titles with us or whether you are a first timer.

Other value-added item can be found in our mastering department. Obviously if you do you mastering here, and a plant related problem comes up, it is easy to fix because we try to keep all the files until the CDs are delivered. However, if you've mastered eleswhere and the plant finds some flaw in your master, or perhaps you decide to make an order change at the last minute, we can usually help you quickly if you can't get the work done in a timely manner at your original studio.

IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN OUR POLICY TO STRIVE FOR THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SERVICE