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What artists need to know about making physical media

  • Writer: Toby Campen
    Toby Campen
  • Dec 19, 2024
  • 2 min read

Updated: Apr 27

As an artist when it comes to making physical Media there are some things you need to think about.

 

VINYL: You need to decide how many tracks you're going to have on each side.

Recommended timings per side:

7": 33 RPM / 6 mins || 45 RPM / 5 mins

8": 33 RPM / 7 mins || 45 RPM / 6 mins

10":  33 RPM / 13 mins || 45 RPM / 11 mins

12": 33 RPM / 18 mins || 45 RPM / 15 mins

 

There are frequency and dynamic limitations to what you can cut to vinyl (and the intensity of the music effects the amount of time) so it is a good idea to have dedicated vinyl masters made so that your record sounds good. If you can, get your mastering engineer to check a test pressing as well.

 


CASSETTE: Similar to vinyl, you need to decide how many songs are going to be on each side. C15: 15 mins in total, 7.5 mins per side

C30: 30 mins in total, 15 mins per side

C45: 45 mins in total, 22.5 mins per side

C60: 60 mins in total, 30 mins per side

C90: 90 mins in total, 45 mins per side



The files you should send to have vinyl and cassettes made up should be a single continuous WAV file for each side to make sure your transitions and gaps come out correctly.

 


CD: Maximum recommended length is 78 mins. Your mastering engineer should make you up a DDP package that keeps all of your album information, transitions and gaps together. You can use WAV's for making CDs but you risk losing your sequencing information if the CDs aren't made properly.

 



 

 

 
 
 

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