Masterdisk is an audio mastering

Audio mastering

Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...

 and multimedia

Multimedia

Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...

 company 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...

, located on West 45th Street in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. They provide production services such as audio mastering

Audio mastering

Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...

, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD

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....

 production.

Their clients include such notable acts as Sting, Jay-Z

Jay-Z

Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

, Spoon

Spoon (band)

Spoon is an American rock band formed in Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Britt Daniel ; Jim Eno ; Rob Pope and Eric Harvey .-History:...

, Gorillaz

Gorillaz

Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...

, Nirvana

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

, Lou Reed

Lou Reed

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...

, U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

, John Zorn

John Zorn

John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...

, DMX

DMX (rapper)

Earl Simmons , better known by his stage name DMX, is a multiplatinum American rapper and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s. His stage name pays tribute to the Oberheim DMX drum machine, an instrument he used when he made his own rap beats in the 80's...

, The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

, Steely Dan

Steely Dan

Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...

 and Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

.

Masterdisk was founded in 1973 as a spin-off of the recording, editing and mastering arm of Mercury Records

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

. Among the company's early mastering engineers were Gilbert Kong, who worked on early 1970s album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

s by such artists as Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 and Bachman–Turner Overdrive, and who also mastered single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

s including "Ain't Understanding Mellow" by Jerry Butler

Jerry Butler (singer)

Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...

 and Brenda Lee Eager

Brenda Lee Eager

Brenda Lee Eager is an American soul singer, songwriter and musical theatre performer who has written and performed several hits, including "Ain't Understanding Mellow", "Close to You", and "Somebody's Somebody".-Life and career:...

, and "The Night Chicago Died

The Night Chicago Died

"The Night Chicago Died" is a song by the British group Paper Lace, written by Peter Callander and Mitch Murray. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in 1974, reached number 3 in the UK charts, and number 2 in Canada. It is about a fictional shoot-out in Chicago...

" by Paper Lace

Paper Lace

Paper Lace are a Nottingham based pop group, formed in 1969. They are known to Americans as a one-hit wonder; however, in the UK they were a "classic two and a half hit wonder".-History:...

; and Phil Austin, who mastered most of the singles including Stewart's "Maggie May

Maggie May

"Maggie May" is a song written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton and recorded by Stewart in 1971 for his album Every Picture Tells a Story....

" and "You Wear It Well

You Wear It Well

"You Wear It Well" is a song written by Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, performed by Stewart. It utilizes an arrangement markedly similar to that of "Maggie May", one of Stewart's hits from the previous year....

," "Beautiful Sunday" by Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone (singer)

Daniel Boone is an English pop musician who became a one-hit wonder in the U.S. with the single "Beautiful Sunday" in 1972. The song was written by Boone and Rod McQueen and racked up millions in singles sales worldwide. It peaked at No...

, "I Love

I Love

"I Love" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music artist Tom T. Hall. It was released in October 1973 as the only single from the album, For the People in the Last Hard Town. The song would be Hall's most successful single becoming his fourth number one on the U.S....

" by Tom T. Hall

Tom T. Hall

Thomas "Tom T." Hall is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has written 11 #1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the pop crossover hit "I Love", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100...

, "How Do You Do" by Mouth & MacNeal

Mouth & MacNeal

Mouth & MacNeal was a pop duo from the Netherlands. They are best known for their million selling recording of "How Do You Do".-Career:They were formed in 1971 when record producer Hans van Hemert brought together the solo talent of Mouth and Maggie MacNeal...

, and "I Gotcha

I Gotcha (Joe Tex song)

"I Gotcha" is a song by Joe Tex. Tex originally intended for the song to be recorded by King Floyd, but Floyd never recorded a version of it. Instead, Tex went ahead and recorded it himself in the late 1960s, but ended up not releasing it...

" by Joe Tex

Joe Tex

Joseph Arrington, Jr. , better known as "Joe Tex", was an American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s...

.

Masterdisk is currently owned and operated by Scott Hull

Scott Hull (mastering engineer)

Scott E. Hull is a mastering engineer based in New York City, and the owner of Masterdisk.Hull began his career as an intern at Masterdisk in 1983. He became Bob Ludwig's assistant in 1984, and was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1994...

, who was the assistant to Bob Ludwig

Bob Ludwig

Bob Ludwig is an American mastering engineer.He is a well known and respected figure within the music industry. His name is credited on the covers of albums released across the world, and he has won numerous awards....

 in 1984-1993, then chief engineer until 1999. In 2008 Hull purchased the business from then-CEO, Doug Levine.

Current mastering engineers include Scott Hull, Vlado Meller, Tony Dawsey, Andy VanDette, Roger Lian, Randy Merrill, Matt Agoglia, Alex DeTurk, Jeff Reeves, Mark Santangelo, Tim Boyce, Matt Shane, Graham Goldman, Marcos Sueiro Bal, Michael Tucci, Drew Cappotto and Andy Wilson. Former Masterdisk engineers include Bob Ludwig

Bob Ludwig

Bob Ludwig is an American mastering engineer.He is a well known and respected figure within the music industry. His name is credited on the covers of albums released across the world, and he has won numerous awards....

, Leon Zervos, Greg Calbi, Don Grossinger, Greg Fulginiti

Greg Fulginiti

Gregory Fulginiti is an American recording and mastering engineer.In a career spanning three decades, Fulginiti was nominated for the TEC Awards by Mix magazine 6 times, earned 175 Gold and Platinum Awards, 25 Multi-Platinum Awards, 100 Number One recordings, 135 Grammy nominees, including the...

, Howie Weinberg

Howie Weinberg

Howie Weinberg is a music mastering engineer who has worked with numerous bands.- Career :He has worked at Masterdisk, New York City, since 1977...

and Dave McNair.