Carpenters "Manufactured on Demand"

[Mike Blakesley]

As most of you probably know, I used to be in the music business. I still peruse our supplier's website from time to time to "keep up" a bit. I just noticed they have a section called "Manufactured on Demand" that has about 13,000 titles available, two of which are Carpenters' Lovelines and Singles 1969-1973. They are available on Amazon for $12.98 (Singles) or $9.92 (Lovelines).

Supposedly these are good quality items, but I've never seen one in the flesh. Just thought it was interesting that they're still available despite being "out of print."

http://www.amazon.com/Singles-1969-...68553&sr=1-2&keywords=carpenters,+the+singles

 

[Eyewire]

These are burned onto CD-R if memory serves me correct. I would much prefer a pressed CD whenever possible. I've had CD-Rs go bad on me in just a matter of months.

 

[Dave]

I've had a three record set pressed on CD-R's--and one disc for each slab o' vinyl! Two played perfect, but one repeated five out of the ten songs on it; the remaining "5" were lost, in other words...


-- Dave

 

[ScottyB]

I have seen these "Manufactured On Demand"s also. I have also seen that they are burned onto CD-R's. I have been skeptical about purchasing these because I am weary about the quality, and wondered if these purchases would include respectable packaging. I will stay away from these until I am more "educated" on these products. There was something I had heard about, very many years ago, that something like this was going to happen with many records that have been long out of print. I had heard that you were going to be able to go to a store, choose an album that you would like to have in CD format (sort of like selecting on a jukebox), select the album and it would be transferred to disc, and then you would get a print out for the packaging onto a CD jewel case. This would be a great idea. But, I heard about it once...a long time ago, but I have since to hear anymore about it.

 

[Eyewire]

I would also be concerned about what source they're using for these burned CDs. If you take a mp3 version of an album and use this to create a redbook audio CD, this does not make it the sonic equivalent of the commercially pressed CD of that same album. Amazon is a big company and I don't think they would do that, but you never know.

That said, if an album is extremely rare, out of print and the burned CD they supply is bit-for-bit identical to the original pressed CD, then I guess that might be acceptable. In that case, I would rip the CD-R onto my computer as soon as I receive it (using a lossless format of course), and then make several backup copies of this.

I wish Apple/Google/Amazon would sell downloadable lossless songs and albums from their respective music stores. For me, that would be ideal. But since most people cannot tell the difference between a lossless file from a commercially pressed CD and a 256 kbps AAC/mp3, I don't see this happening anytime soon. I know there are places that sell high-resolution downloads of albums and songs, but the selection is not that great.

But I understand now that music streaming is the future. Lots of people don't even care about owning their music anymore. Since I signed up for Netflix a few years ago, I haven't felt the urge to buy movies anymore. But music is too personal for me. I'd rather own my music than rent it.

 

[Dave]

I've had a three record set pressed on CD-R's--and one disc for each slab o' vinyl! Two played perfect, but one repeated five out of the ten songs on it; the remaining "5" were lost, in other words...


-- Dave

Luckily I wisely kept the vinyl, cover, all three records (which played good enough--great!, in fact--that I didn't need CD-R transfers) & all... Own, rather than rent & play in my personal space, for me, too! (No, not here in the den...)


-- Dave

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I wondered about the artwork and packaging too, and in the catalog it says:

(me again)
It doesn't say anything about what sources are used for the audio but since they are working direct with the labels (and the fact that Alliance is a highly respected distribution company) I am sure they're using the most recently-approved versions of the songs.

One thing I'm sure it does NOT include is the full booklets from when these titles were mainstream. Probably just a one-sheet of the cover, or maybe a one-page folder.

These are obviously not necessarily designed for the super-fans, but just for people who would like to get the music on CD and have missed getting it when the titles were in general release.

As far as reliability -- for what it's worth, I still have most every CD-R I've ever burned for my own use and I've never had one deteriorate on me, and I've got a few cheapos in the mix.

I had heard that you were going to be able to go to a store, choose an album that you would like to have in CD format (sort of like selecting on a jukebox), select the album and it would be transferred to disc, and then you would get a print out for the packaging onto a CD jewel case. This would be a great idea. But, I heard about it once...a long time ago, but I have since to hear anymore about it.

That's exactly what this is, except it isn't transferred right in front of you. Lots of the nation's record stores buy their product from this particular distributor so if you have a store locally, check with them. It's possible they might not even know about this option -- I didn't, until yesterday.

 

[Harry]

I've known about various studios offering MOD DVDs of titles that are out of the mainstream and have bought a few: a couple of Gene Roddenberry failed pilots from the '70s - stuff like that. The DVD-R's play like any other DVD except that they usually are not encoded with regular, content-sensitive chapter breaks. Instead, the chapter breaks are at rigid 10-minute intervals. And the opening menus are usually rather generic.

These were early releases in the MOD realm and I believe they have improved at least the menu designs to be a little more title-specific.

As for CD's, I don't believe I've ever gotten a MOD CD-R, but have noticed them appearing in Amazon's description for some of the less-mainstream, out-of-print titles.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I own one MOD DVD - the Lee Marvin movie "The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday" and outside of it being a slightly different color, you'd never know it wasn't a pressed DVD. No quality issues and it plays fine. The case looks like any other older-movie DVD package you might see. I've had it about 4 years or so.

 

[tomswift2002]

With MOD releases just watch out if you are playing them on older equipment or if your player is wearing out. The discs are not as reflective as pressed discs, so some early DVD and CD. players do not have lasers that are strong enough to reflect back to the pickup, as they are trying to reflect off a chemical, rather than a piece of aluminium. Also if your player is wearing out , even if it says the player can play CD-R and DVD-R's , the laser may've weakened to the point where it won't read the disc correctly.

But a while ago I bought a couple of Shaun Cassidy album's that have never been released on a pressed CD, and I found the packaging looked extremely rushed. Colours were off and it looked like Cassidy had either extremely high blood pressure issues or a terrible sunburn. And these were reproductions of the original vinyl covers from the 70's. Also other colours appeared to be over-saturated.

 

[tomswift2002]

Also another issue is the brand of disc used. I find the Verbatim AZO discs work the best, however there are only a few manufacturerers in the world, and Verbatim even has a line, called "Life" where the source the discs from the same manufacturerers as Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Spin-X, Durabrand and other private labels. These tend to be discs that only work if burnt at 16x or higher, and rot very easily.