Disc Makers
Encyclopedia
Disc Makers is primarily a CD and DVD
manufacturer that caters to independent musicians, filmmakers, and small businesses. Disc Makers competes with many established CD and DVD replicators in North America including ISOMEDIA, VSG, CD Video, WTS Media, OEM, and The ADS Group.
In addition to its manufacturing plant in Pennsauken, New Jersey, Disc Makers has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Nashville, Puerto Rico, Boston and Berkeley, CA.
Disc Makers was started in 1946 when Ivin Ballen began pressing 45s for record companies in Philadelphia and New York, at 1626 Federal Street. His son Morris Ballen joined the Company full time in 1959 at age 21. During the years leading up to 1982, the Company progressed through various formats such as vinyl LPs, 8-tracks, and audiocassettes. By 1982, Disc Makers made the two popular formats – vinyl LPs (66% of company sales at that time) and audiocassettes (33%).
From the 1940s to the mid-80s Disc Makers was a commodity supplier to the music industry, selling to record companies in New York, Philadelphia, and the Baltimore/DC area. With the popularization of home and project recording studios in the early 80's a new DIY record pressing market began to spring up. In 1983, Disc Makers began to actively target its marketing to smaller, independent clients (mostly musicians who needed runs of 500 or 1000) who required more service. In 1984, the company opened a branch in New York City
to better serve this market, and sales began to rise. In 1986, the compact disc was introduced (the first successful new audio format since 1969), and Disc Makers began selling that format in 1988 in small quantities – as few as 300 CDs. Disc Makers began by subcontracting the CDs from outside vendors.
In January 1995, Disc Makers moved to its present location in Pennsauken, going from a 40000 sq ft (3,716.1 m²). facility to 80000 sq ft (7,432.2 m²). Also in 1995, Disc Makers acquired Music Annex, a Fremont, CA cassette duplicator and CD broker, and got its presence in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles
. In 1996, Disc Makers entered the B-to-B market for CD-ROM, adding more printing capacity and in 1997, die cutting, folding, and gluing facilities were installed. Then in 1998, Disc Makers purchased Martin Audio, a Seattle CD broker. Disc Makers’ NJ building was expanded to its present size in late 1998, when the company began replicating CDs instead of subcontracting them from trade CD replicators, making it one of the few in the independent music business to fully handle all three basic components: the discs, the printing, and the assembly of the packaging.
In 2006 Disc Makers was purchased by Corinthian Capital Group and is no longer family owned although Morris Ballen remains involved in the role of Chairman.
In August 2008, Disc Makers acquired the online music sales company CD Baby
.
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
manufacturer that caters to independent musicians, filmmakers, and small businesses. Disc Makers competes with many established CD and DVD replicators in North America including ISOMEDIA, VSG, CD Video, WTS Media, OEM, and The ADS Group.
In addition to its manufacturing plant in Pennsauken, New Jersey, Disc Makers has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Nashville, Puerto Rico, Boston and Berkeley, CA.
Disc Makers was started in 1946 when Ivin Ballen began pressing 45s for record companies in Philadelphia and New York, at 1626 Federal Street. His son Morris Ballen joined the Company full time in 1959 at age 21. During the years leading up to 1982, the Company progressed through various formats such as vinyl LPs, 8-tracks, and audiocassettes. By 1982, Disc Makers made the two popular formats – vinyl LPs (66% of company sales at that time) and audiocassettes (33%).
From the 1940s to the mid-80s Disc Makers was a commodity supplier to the music industry, selling to record companies in New York, Philadelphia, and the Baltimore/DC area. With the popularization of home and project recording studios in the early 80's a new DIY record pressing market began to spring up. In 1983, Disc Makers began to actively target its marketing to smaller, independent clients (mostly musicians who needed runs of 500 or 1000) who required more service. In 1984, the company opened a branch in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to better serve this market, and sales began to rise. In 1986, the compact disc was introduced (the first successful new audio format since 1969), and Disc Makers began selling that format in 1988 in small quantities – as few as 300 CDs. Disc Makers began by subcontracting the CDs from outside vendors.
In January 1995, Disc Makers moved to its present location in Pennsauken, going from a 40000 sq ft (3,716.1 m²). facility to 80000 sq ft (7,432.2 m²). Also in 1995, Disc Makers acquired Music Annex, a Fremont, CA cassette duplicator and CD broker, and got its presence in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In 1996, Disc Makers entered the B-to-B market for CD-ROM, adding more printing capacity and in 1997, die cutting, folding, and gluing facilities were installed. Then in 1998, Disc Makers purchased Martin Audio, a Seattle CD broker. Disc Makers’ NJ building was expanded to its present size in late 1998, when the company began replicating CDs instead of subcontracting them from trade CD replicators, making it one of the few in the independent music business to fully handle all three basic components: the discs, the printing, and the assembly of the packaging.
In 2006 Disc Makers was purchased by Corinthian Capital Group and is no longer family owned although Morris Ballen remains involved in the role of Chairman.
In August 2008, Disc Makers acquired the online music sales company CD Baby
CD Baby
CD Baby is an online music store specializing in the sale of CDs and digital music downloads from independent musicians to consumers. The company is also a digital aggregator of independent music recordings, distributing content to several online digital music retailers.CD Baby has achieved recent...
.