WAMi Festival for 2012

WAMi Festival RTRfm Outside Broadcast and 
Music Film Showcase Program Announcement

The WAMi Festival kicks off on Saturday 26 May and culminates on Saturday 2 June with the Northbridge Saturday Spectacular, Awards Ceremony and Closing Party. As in previous years, RTRfm will broadcast live throughout the Saturday Spectacular from Northbridge, bringing listeners WA music and interviews live from the event. The WAMi Music Film Showcase will also be playing at the Northbridge Piazza during WAMi week, with the full film program released today.

The WAMi Music Film Showcase celebrates the West Australian music scene as captured on film through the lens of local filmmakers. 33 music videos and nine short films and documentaries will feature on the Northbridge Piazza Screen with free daily screenings during the WAMi week. 

We are proud to say that one of our longtime customers  will be featured in a  film program, the highly anticipated documentary Hunter about the late WA rapper Robert Hunter who was a pioneer of hip hop in Australia, a young father, a former drug and alcohol abuser, and, finally, a terminal cancer patient. Directed by Sam Bodhi Field and produced by Alice Ross, Hunter follows his physical, emotional and musical journey, with the full documentary planned for release in August. You can also catch a behind the scenes look at Perth neo-bluegrass band The Seals in A Good Hustle, the documentary Discovering Notes about the contemporary music of the Noongar people, and the story of a legendary WA air guitar champion in Airway to Heaven. The full Showcase program is available at wam.asn.au/musicfilm

The Northbridge Saturday Spectacular, supported by the City of Perth, will feature 56 local acts playing eight stages from midday to 6:00pm on Saturday 2 June. RTRfm will be broadcasting live throughout the day from the Northbridge Piazza, weather permitting, where listeners will be entertained by The Autumn Isles, Simon Kelly and The Big Bamboo, Seams, The Brow Horn Orchestra, Runner, James Teague and The Stoops.

RTR's Peter Barr and other presenters will be chatting to bands, crowd members and industry faces through out the day, so pop down and say hi to the RTRfm team at the event. 

For the full Saturday Spectacular line up and times, head to wam.asn.au/wamifestival

Winners announced for 2011 International Songwriters Comp

Once again Australia shows what a fantastic number of world class songwriters that we have with the winners announced for the ISC 2011 Songwriters awards

Here's the Press Release from ISC's Candace Avery

Aussies Rock US-Based International Songwriting Competition (ISC)

ISC Grand Prize Is Awarded To New Zealand Native Kimbra
For The Song "Cameo Lover"

For Immediate Release - May 1, 2012 - The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), the world's foremost global songwriting event, is pleased to announce its 2011 winners. Over 16,000 songs were submitted and of those, Australian songwriters have come away with five First Place wins, five Second Place wins, four Third Place wins, and an astounding forty-two Honorable Mentions over the 22 categories spanning all genres of popular music. In the 2007 competition, Australia became the first country to make a clean sweep within a single category--and now they've done it again; rock artists Jebediah, Eskimo Joe, and The Living End shut out their international competition and received First, Second, and Third Place showings, respectively. In 2007 and again this year, the sweep was made in the Rock category, and makes a statement as to the superiority of Australian rock music on an international playing field.

Called "the songwriting competition to take note of" by the New York Times, ISC was
established in 2002 and awards more than $150,000 in cash and prizes to amateur and
professional songwriters around the globe. This year was the most competitive of any year
in terms of quantity and quality of entries, and winners were selected from over 16,000 songs
submitted from 112 countries worldwide. Judges included iconic artists Tom Waits, Jeff Beck,
McCoy Tyner, Kelly Clarkson, Janelle Monae, Ozzy Osbourne, Lucinda Williams, Tori Amos,
Wynonna, Keane, and many more. In addition to the high-profile artists, the roster of judges
also included five record label presidents as well as other industry leaders, offering songwriters
the unprecedented opportunity to have their music heard by influential decision-makers. See
below for the complete list of judges.

For a complete list of 2011 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners

Winning ISC's highest honor is New Zealand's latest export and Melbourne resident, the quirky and wonderfully eclectic artist Kimbra. Kimbra has recently exploded onto the international music charts as the featured singer on Australian artist Gotye's current #1 hit song, "Somebody That I Used To Know." Her recent TV performances with Gotye on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Saturday Night Live were electrifying and introduced her to the US public, fortifying her meteoric rise to fame.

Only 22 years old, Kimbra began writing songs and performing at the age of 10. Spending her early years gigging around her native New Zealand, it was only once Kimbra borrowed a small eight-track recorder from her school's music department that her songwriting blossomed in earnest. Since then, she has made enormous strides in her career. Her debut album, Vows, was released in 2011 in New Zealand and Australia, and in its first week of release the album charted at #3 in New Zealand and #5 in Australia (peaking at #4 on the ARIA Charts). The album will be released in the US and Canada on May 22.

Accolades include winning the 2011 NZ Critics' Choice awards and also the Best Female Artist for "Cameo Lover" at the 2011 ARIA awards.

Even at such a young age, Kimbra already possesses great maturity and musical sophistication. Candace Avery, the Founder and Director of ISC, says this of Kimbra:

"We first became aware of Kimbra in 2010 when she entered ISC and won First Place in the Pop/Top 40 category with her song 'Settle Down.' At that time we knew she was one of those artists who had it. As a songwriter, her eclectic and somewhat quirky songwriting made her stand out. As an artist, she brings her songs to life with her unique vocal styling and compelling stage presence. Kimbra is rapidly establishing herself as a significant talent and a fresh and exciting new voice on the international music scene. We are proud to have her as our 2011 Grand Prize winner."

To download photos of winners, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners
ISC 2011 judges included:

Recording Artists: Tom Waits; Tori Amos; Jeff Beck; Lucinda Williams; My Morning Jacket; Kelly Clarkson; Ozzy Osbourne; Keane; McCoy Tyner; Wynonna; Francesca Battistelli; Janelle Monae; Billy Currington; Tegan and Sara; Massive Attack; Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor (Duran Duran); Michael W. Smith; Alejandro Sanz; Johnny Clegg; Jeremy Camp; Ray Wylie Hubbard; John Mayall; Craig Morgan; Basement Jaxx; James Cotton; Sandra Bernhard; Trombone Shorty; Robert Earl Keen; Black Francis (The Pixies); Mose Allison; Robert Smith (The Cure); Amadou & Mariam; Darryl McDaniels (Run D.M.C.); Toots Hibbert (Toots & The Maytals); and Matt Thiessen (Relient K)

Industry Executives: Monte Lipman (President, Universal Republic Records); David Massey (President, Mercury Records); Brian Malouf (VP A&R, Walt Disney Records); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Angel Carrasco (Sr. VP A&R, Latin America, Sony/BMG); Ric Arboit (President, Nettwerk Music Group); Anastasia Brown (Music Supervisor, FORMAT); Dr. Demento (Radio Host, The Dr. Demento Show); Allison Jones (VP of A&R, Big Machine Label Group); Steve Lillywhite (Producer); Dan Storper (President, Putamayo World Music Records and Putumayo Kids); Kim Buie (A&R and Artist Manager, Thirty Tigers); Douglas C. Cohn (Sr. VP, Music Marketing & Talent, Nickelodeon); Trevor Jerideau (VP of A&R, RCA Records); Antony Bland (Co-Owner, CandyShop Management); Steve Smith (VP of A&R, Aware Records); Leib Ostrow (Founder/CEO, Music For Little People); and Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment)

Sponsors included: Presonus, Lowden Guitars, Sennheiser, Posse, Mrs. Fields Cookies, ASCAP, Berklee College Of Music, D'Addario, Thayers, Onlinegigs, SongU.com, The Music Business Registry, SongTrust, Independent Mastering, Indie Venue Bible, George Stein, Esq., Sonicbids, Taxi, and music Submit.

ISC is now accepting entries for 2012. Go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com for more information and an entry form.

Co-writer Don Walker, of Australian band Cold Chisel, is currently gearing up for the bands first studio album since 1998, No Plans. Don is credited with all but three songs on the album, which was released on April 6 in Australia.


Australian Winners Include:


First Place Winners

Kevin Mitchell, Vanessa Thornton, Brett Mitchell, Chris Daymond (Jebediah)
Rock - "She's Like A Comet"

First Place winners in the Rock category this year are band members Kevin Mitchell, Vanessa Thornton, Brett Mitchell, and Chris Daymond of Jebediah for their song, "She's Like A Comet." Jebediah have won eight WAMi (Western Australian Music Industry) Awards since 1996--most recently, the 2011 Most Popular Single for "She's Like A Comet." Their first studio album Slightly Odway went two-times platinum in Australia, and although the band took a four-year hiatus beginning in 2006, they returned to the studio in 2010 and have since continued to thrive in the Australian rock music scene.

Michael Paynter, Gary Clark, David Mead
Unsigned Only - "Are You Alive"

Winning the Unsigned Only category is Michael Paynter's "Are You Alive," co-written by Nashville based singer-songwriter David Mead and hit songwriter/producer Gary Clark. Paynter recently opened for Seal in Melbourne, and he is currently preparing for the release of his newest studio album, Money On Your Tongue, which is due within the next few months.

Missy Higgins
Folk/Singer-Songwriter - "Where I Stood"

First Place in the Folk/Singer-Songwriter category goes to Missy Higgins for her song, "Where I Stood." After touring the globe with her undeniable songs and unforgettable live performances, Missy's highly acclaimed albums The Sound Of White (Album Of The Year featuring the hit singles "Scar" and "Ten Days") and On A Clear Night (featuring North American Top 20 airplay hit "Where I Stood" and "Steer") have sold over two million albums and singles. Missy has just finished recording a new album in the US with Nashville-based producer, Brad Jones, who co-produced the album with Australian musician, Butterfly Boucher.  The new album is scheduled for release in June 2012.

Natasha Duarte
Teen - "The Worst Part (Leave You Again)"

17-year old Natasha Duarte receives First Place in the Teen category for her song "The Worst Part (Leave You Again)" from her debut EP release Wanted To Feel due out May 30, 2012 with Empire Records. Her current single "Wanted To Feel" peaked at No. 14 on the ARIA singles chart and No. 2 on the AIR independent singles chart. In 2008 Natasha won first place in the Nationwide Kool Skools JB-HI-FI Competition, receiving a full album recording package through the Kool Skools Project, and has since been on the rise in the Australian pop scene.

Shane Nicholson
Americana - "The Broken Things"

A native of Brisbane, First Place in the Americana category is awarded to Shane Nicholson for his song "The Broken Things." Husband to ISC's 2010 Grand Prize recipient Kasey Chambers, Nicholson is a familiar name in the Australian music scene. Nicholson won Best Country Album at the 2008 ARIA Awards, scored five Golden Guitar Awards in 2009, won the 2009 APRA Award for Country Work of the Year, and has already received nominations for the 2012 CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia including APRA Song of the Year and Male Artist of the Year.



Second Place Winners


Catherine Britt, Rory Feek
Americana - "Sweet Emmylou"

The Second Place winners in the Americana category are Catherine Britt and Rory Feek for the song "Sweet Emmylou." The self-titled album produced three #1 singles, including "Sweet Emmylou" which won the 2011 CMAA Award for Single of the Year. Catherine has toured, performed, and recorded with artists such as Kasey Chambers, Paul Kelly, Shane Nicholson, and Kenny Chesney and recently appeared at the 2011 Americana Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee.

Emma Louise
Pop/Top 40 - "Jungle" (see also - Third Place in Folk/Singer-Songwriter with "1000 Sundowns")

Emma Louise is the Second Place winner in the Pop/Top 40 category for her debut single "Jungle," and the Third Place winner in the Folk/Singer-Songwriter category for "1000 Sundowns," her second single. "Jungle" topped the AIR Independent music charts for an astounding 26 weeks, and she signed last year with a joint venture of Universal Music Germany and B1M1 Recordings for Continental Europe. Her debut EP release Full Hearts & Empty Rooms earned her three Queensland Music Awards in 2011 including Best Pop Song and Song of The Year for "Jungle," Best Folk Song for "1000 Sundowns," and was also awarded Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year at the 2011 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards (JIMAs).

Johnny Mackay, Heath Crawley (Children Collide)
Music Video - "Loveless"

Second Place winners in the Music Video category are Johnny Mackay and Heath Crawley of Children Collide for their music video, "Loveless," directed by lauded Animal Kingdom director David Michod; the song also received Honorable Mention status in the Rock category this year. The band's second album Theory Of Everything was nominated for Best Rock Album, and "Loveless" was also nominated for Best Music Video at the 2011 ARIA Awards. Children Collide just released their third studio album Monument this month, and are looking forward to continued success.

Kav Temperley, Stuart MacLeod, Joel Quartermain (Eskimo Joe)
Rock - "Love Is A Drug"

Western Australian trio Eskimo Joe takes Second Place in the Rock category for their hit song, "Love Is A Drug." Band members Kav Temperley, Stuart MacLeod, and Joel Quartermain have experienced nothing but continued success since their start in 2001, including multi platinum sales, #1 albums and singles, as well as eight ARIA Music Awards. Ghosts Of The Past, the band's fifth studio album, was released through Warner Music in August of 2011, and the first single and winning song "Love Is A Drug" became Australia's most added song to radio in its first week.

Wes Carr, Don Walker
Performance - "Lost"

The Second Place winners in the Performance category are Wes Carr and Don Walker, for the song "Lost." After winning the sixth series of Australian Idol in 2008, Wes stormed the ARIA charts; his 2009 Gold album The Way The World Looks peaked at #2 on the album charts after his #1 single, "You." Carr's third studio album will be released in 2012. Co-writer Don Walker of Australia's legendary rock band Cold Chisel is considered to be one Australia's best songwriters. The band's first studio album since 1998, No Plans, was released on April 6 in Australia. Don is credited with writing all but three songs on the album.




Third Place Winners


Alexander Gow, Thomas Savage (Oh Mercy)
Adult Contemporary (AC) - "Stay, Please Stay"

Winning Third Place in the Adult Contemporary (AC) category for their song "Stay, Please Stay" is Melbourne indie rock band, Oh Mercy. Headed by songwriter Alexander Gow, their newest album Great Barrier Grief, was recorded by Mitchel Froom (Crowded House, Elvis Costello), debuted at #13 on the ARIA album charts and was nominated for two ARIA awards.

Chris Cheney (The Living End)
Rock - "Song For The Lonely"

Front man of one of Australia's most well-known rock bands, Chris Cheney of The Living End is the Third Place winner in the Rock category for his song, "Song For The Lonely." The band has won a total of six ARIA awards and eight gongs at the Jack Awards (for Australian live music), and and hold the record for the most consecutive entries in Triple J's Hottest 100; the band made the chart every year between 1997 and 2006. Released in July 2011, The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating is their sixth studio album and features "Song For The Lonely" and the ISC Honorable Mention, "Universe," also in the Rock category.

Dallas Frasca
AAA (Adult Album Alternative) - "All My Love Is Gone"

Third Place in the AAA (Adult Album Alternative) category goes to Melbourne native, Dallas Frasca. "All My Love Is Gone" is the first single from Frasca's second album, Sound Painter. Her career began to explode after winning JJJ's Light Your Fuse competition in 2006, and she has since received multiple accolades including a Top 10 JJJ roots release album in 2009 and "Artist Of The Year" at the 2010 Musicoz Awards. The band's tribal and stomping roots performances have earned them a large, loyal fan base that is still growing today.

Emma Louise
Folk/Singer-Songwriter - "1000 Sundowns"

For bio information, see above Second Place entry for Emma Louise's, "Jungle."



Honorable Mentions

"Everybody's Lost Someone" - Matt Joe Gow (The Dead Leaves) - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - AAA (Adult Album Alternative)
"Steer" - Missy Higgins - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - AAA (Adult Album Alternative)
"A Small Boat" - Michael Maher (Worldfly) - Darwin, NT, Australia - Adult Contemporary (AC)
"All Turn To Love" - Nicholas Deegan (Galleon) - Adelaide, SA, Australia - Adult Contemporary (AC)
"Been A Long Time" - Wes Carr, David Walsh - Sydney, NSW, Australia - Adult Contemporary (AC)
"I Forgot How To Love" - Michael Paynter - Langwarrin, VIC, Australia - Adult Contemporary (AC)
"Jimmie Rodgers Was A Vampire" - Shane Nicholson - Copacabana, NSW, Australia - Americana
"Nothin' Takes You Off My Mind" - Neville Anderson - Newcastle, NSW, Australia - Americana
"Where The Water Goes" - Shane Nicholson - Copacabana, NSW, Australia - Americana
"Elvis Jesus And The Devil" - Tom McEwan (Louis King) - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Blues
"Imaginary Friend" - Jamie Saxe (The Mighty Buzzniks) - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Children's Music
"Shake It Down" - Nadia Sunde - Gold Coast, QLD, Australia - Children's Music
"How Can I Love You?" - Jonathan Lee Jones, Mick Meradith (Ride the Wombat) - Sydney, NSW, Australia - Comedy/Novelty
"Sort Of Dunno Nothin'" - Peter Denahy - Yackandandah, VIC, Australia - Comedy/Novelty
"Borrowed Time" - Carolyn Tariq, Shehab Tariq (Audego) - Fitzroy North, VIC, Australia - Dance/Electronica
"Don't Clone Me" - Tommaso Parisi (Tom Ugly) - Sydney, NSW, Australia - Dance/Electronica
"Bleeders" - Thomas Calder (The Trouble With Templeton) - Brisbane, QLD, Australia - Folk/Singer-Songwriter
"My Love To Be" - Daniel Lee Kendall - Wamberal, NSW, Australia - Folk/Singer-Songwriter
"The Morning Sun" - Nolan Angell (The Genes) - Cabarita Beach, NSW, Australia - Folk/Singer-Songwriter
"Nothing Without Me" - Stephanie Small, Ben Gebert (Sandel) - Sydney, NSW, Australia - Gospel/Christian
"Release the Sound" - Roma Waterman - Ringwood North, VIC, Australia - Gospel/Christian
"6 Feet Under" - Rosie Grayson - Sydney, NSW, Australia - Lyrics Only
"Gastown Serenade" - Steve Seaton (Seaton) - Brendale, QLD, Australia - Lyrics Only
"Like No Other" - Anna Neradilkova (Anikiko) - Sydney, NSW, Australia - Music Video
"Man Walks Into A Bar" - Brett Every - Sydney, NSW, Australia - Music Video
"River Too Wide" - Matt Ellis - Sydney, NSW, Australia - Music Video
"Control" - Aimee Francis - Sydney, NSW, Australia - Performance
"Heatwave" - Chris Cheney (The Living End) - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Performance
"Can't Afford This Way Of Life" - Nicholas Owen, Alex Vaughan (The Brow Horn Orchestra) - Perth, WA, Australia - Pop/Top 40
"Kitchen On Fire" - Caterina Torres, Jarrod Rogers, Si Connelly - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Pop/Top 40
"A Thousand Lives" - Kenny Sabir, Tim Levinson, Shannon Kennedy, Dale Harrison (The Herd) - Sydney, NSW, Australia - R&B/Hip-Hop
"Eleven" - Fantine Pritoula, Marcello Maio (Fantine) - Sydney, VIC, Australia - R&B/Hip-Hop
"I Was Somebody Else (Feat. Pez)" - Tommaso Parisi (Tom Ugly) - Sydney, NSW, Australia - R&B/Hip-Hop
"Thinking About U" - Patrick Mwamba Mwilambwe, Nkulu Eric Mwilambwe (K9SLANG) - Brisbane, QLD, Australia - R&B/Hip-Hop
"Loveless" - Johnny Mackay, Heath Crawley (Children Collide) - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Rock
"One Step" - Kimberley Benzie, Rob Maric, Stewart Hill, Luke Williams, Forrester Savell (Dead Letter Circus) - Brisbane, QLD, Australia - Rock
"Universe" - Chris Cheney (The Living End) - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Rock
"Heart On Fire" - D'Arcy Spiller - Smeaton, VIC, Australia - Teen
"In Colour" - Michael Belsar (Hunting Grounds) - Ballarat, VIC, Australia - Unsigned Only
"Kitchen On Fire" - Caterina Torres, Jarrod Rogers, Si Connelly - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Unsigned Only
"The Duet" - Andrew Redford - Maroochydore, QLD, Australia - Unsigned Only
"Wanna Run" - Kate Vigo - Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Unsigned Only



For a complete list of 2011 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners

ProCopy - Artist Revenue Calculator

Have you wondered if the music industry will pay for your families lifestyle?

What format gives the best return for the Artist...  CDs, Downloads, Streaming audio?

We've worked out the ProCopy Artist Revenue Calculator for your interest.

The figures are rough guides and you can pump in some of your own data to see how it affects the returns and necessary sales to earn an "average income".

The Gross income figures don't take in to account recording/production costs, Tax or splitting the income with other band members. Of course this also is proposed income from recorded product and doesnt take in to account other income such as merchandise, gigs, licensing arrangements or royalties.

Have fun with the chart and give any feedback to us at [email protected] or join us at Facebook.com/ProCopyAus

Online Artist Revenue Calculator

Internet Connection Speed Survey for Perth Metro Area

As we are aware the NBNCo roll out of Australia's Fibre Network has been recently announced and it's seen by many to be an excellent idea. However many areas of current internet services appear to be have left to flounder while this upgrade takes place over the next 10 years.

I will be making a submission of information I've gathered on behalf of the Central Eastern Business Association ( www.ceba.com.au )  over the last 3 years to a Government department in the coming weeks and need to collate some more data to give an idea of current services around the Perth Metro area.

Your help in collating this information will be anonymous and highly appreciated.

Here are some basic guidelines for the attached Excel spreadsheet:

Identification by Suburb and Postcode only is required. It is loosely based on the Perth Metro Area but outlying areas are also encouraged. 

Where possible use Speedtest.net in one session to collate all the information needed. 

As noted in the excel spreadsheet, Tests currently required include; Perth (likely to be your ISP's main server) Sydney, Singapore, San Francisco, New York and London. This will give a variety of results using both interstate and international connections. 

If you regularly visit another city such as Tokyo, Dubai or Paris, please include test results for that.

The final information is your "Subjective" evaluation of the quality of your internet service from 1 to 5.

1 is poor and problematical through to 5 - I'm happy with the service "it does everything I need"

Comments on your service will also be helpful.

Please download the Excel Spreadsheet Perth Metro Internet Survey here: 

Completed forms should be returned to [email protected]  asap

or complete the Online version below and click then Submit 

COMPLETE ONLINE FORM HERE:

Please ensure you test to multipleCity  locations so we gather some meaningful information,

So in summary we need you to:

1/ Go to Speedtest.net select cities to test.

2/ Write down the results for Download, Upload & Ping speeds

3/ COMPLETE ONLINE FORM: with the results and click SUBMIT for each destination City that you have tested. 

Thank you for helping with this information gathering I'm hoping that this information will help improve the quality of service for everyone before the planned completion time of the NBN!

I'll post some results  as soon as possible.

regards

Mark Whitehouse

Manager

What is the correct CD master format?

As technology changes it opens up a whole world of posibilities with various format issues. This is no more evident than when you are creating a CD master for your next audio CD project.  Whether it be a bands latest CD or EP or an educational product there are some important considerations to take in to account when making your final production master.

So how do your know which format to supply for manufacture of your discs? CD Audio? Aiff? Mp3? Flac? .Wav? and what should the parameters be? 

The first question that has to be asked is where do expect customers to play the CD? If your answer is "at the least a regular cd audio player, portable CD walkman or car player" then your only reliable and highest quality option is .cda or CD audio format. 

CD Audio format is:  Stereo, 16bit and 44.1Khz sampling rate.  No other format can be directly used to make your CD copies apart from a DDP image. (This is usually done by higher end Mastering Engineers for replicated discs).  Find out the difference between Replicated and Duplicated CDs here

If you supply other formats such as a disc with Mp3, Wav files, Aiff, Itunes M4a files or upload/download of files via our FTP server or on a thumb drive, this will require time to make a new master and also need to be approved before the production process begins.

The CD audio master can then be analysed by us prior to sending to production to ensure it meets quality standards.

As mentioned previously some audio masters are now provided by Mastering houses in DDP format. Often these are uploaded to our server as an image file with a MD5 Checksum file. This checksum is used to double check the integrity of the file when your audio discs are replicated. 

When your engineer is sending DDP files you should request a normal CD master made from the same image to verify and check for errors prior to production. Currently we cannot analyse DDP images for quality issues as they are not strictly an audio disc. It is therefore important for you to know what you are sending to production is ok and is your responsibility.

DDP images are generally not used for production of duplicated discs, that is, runs typically under 500 copies. 

There are many compressed audio file types available now and these should not be used for your audio masters. They do not represent the hours of work that you have done in the studio and are best used for streaming audio playback or portable digital devices such as computers, Ipods and Mp3 Players. 

Files that are not suitable for high quality CD masters include MP3 (of any sample rate) Ogg Vorbis, WMA, Flac, .Wav files, AIFF, M4a and Mp4s.  Although often a CD master will be made directly from Wav files, this format itself (a MS computer based audio file) is not directly suitable for a replicated or duplicated run of CDs. 

It is possible to re-master these compressed audio formats to a CD master suitable for production, For example if the original masters have been lost. However there will be losses of quality compared to the original recordings and the results will depend on the time taken in the re mastering process.  We can create new production masters in our editing suite from a variety of different formats. More information on CD Mastering is available here

If you are producing talking books or educational programmes then often both CD Audio and Mp3 versions are created. Mp3 versions will save multiple discs being used in the production process as you will be able to put considerably more audio on a disc than and normal audio CD. The number of discs used will be determined by the amount of compression used on the audio files.  Playback of the Mp3 discs will require a player that can play that specific format, such as in a computer, laptop, some newer portable players and car players.

Finally using high quality discs and mastering at the lowest practical speed will provide higher quality masters, We have a mastering pack available with tips and master grade discs here:

If you are unsure if your master disc is the correct format for producing your next CD project give us a call on 08 9375 3902 or 1300 4 PROCOPY and we'll advise you on it's suitability.