Free Barcode?

[musicmad]

Hi,

when going to a manufacturer to get CDS made, do thay normally offer you a barcode??? if not, how do i get one??? how much do thay cost???

Thanks

Musicmad

[FinnArild]

GS1 is the company that organizes the barcodes at a top level. They cost quite a lot - I pay roughly $500 a year to keep my registration. For that reason, I sell off barcodes to projects - many others do - for example CDBaby. Let me know what your needs is, and we can talk.

[Lazz]

when going to a manufacturer to get CDS made, do thay normally offer you a barcode??? if not, how do i get one??? how much do thay cost???

Finn makes a typically generous offer - but I would still expect a manufacturer to throw this in 'free'.

Like Finn, they are usually registered and are able to generate as many UPCs as they want using the proprietary software.

So, because it's all paid for already, it's really no skin off their nose to give 'em away.

You should chip away at their quote/estimate all the time.

A few pennies per unit here and there makes a difference.

And the cost of a UPC is negligible.

Getting a deal on print and assembly will be the biggest challenge.

That's a real toughie.

[musicmad]

GS1 is the company that organizes the barcodes at a top level. They cost quite a lot - I pay roughly $500 a year to keep my registration. For that reason, I sell off barcodes to projects - many others do - for example CDBaby. Let me know what your needs is, and we can talk.

Hi FinnArild,

i'm pretty new to all this barcode senario, but what you mean is that you pay $500 a year to keep registerd and in that year GS1 will provide you with as many barcodes as you want??? when you sell off your barcode to other projects does that mean there albums will be identified under your! registration??? whats the score there??? i will be selling my album throught distribution sites, CD baby, itunes, amazon, and my own website etc, i dont imagine my album will be making it to the retail stores, but only throught distribution on the internet, so is it safe??? to use sombody else's barcode???

Musicmad

[musicmad]

Finn makes a typically generous offer - but I would still expect a manufacturer to throw this in 'free'.

Like Finn, they are usually registered and are able to generate as many UPCs as they want using the proprietary software.

So, because it's all paid for already, it's really no skin off their nose to give 'em away.

You should chip away at their quote/estimate all the time.

A few pennies per unit here and there makes a difference.

And the cost of a UPC is negligible.

Getting a deal on print and assembly will be the biggest challenge.

That's a real toughie.

Hi Lazz,

i was just thinking barcodes where only ment for albums in retail stores so thay could scan the barcode and order more of those albums when its out of stock??? but as i said, i dont imagine my album making it to the retail stores but only throught distribution sites on the internet, anyway, thanks for your information...

Cheers

Musicmad

[FinnArild]

The barcode itself is just a number. The connection to the commodity doesn't become "real" before the shop (or distributor) enters it into their database with a price stuck to it. When you register for a GS1 barcode you get the first numbers - the rest of the numbers you build up. Example: my main number is 709001302 - Serendipity is my second commodity (since the "Take Two..." single was first. It all ends with a checksum number generated by OR'ing all the numbers. Full barcode for Serendipity is thus 709001302 002 0 (obviously: if you expect to have more than 999 items, you need another barcode type). Once you have this barcode, you are in agreement with whoever you get it from that they don't use the code for other items - which wouldn't be smart on their part either.

You should - as Lazz says - check if you can get the code from whoever prints the CD first, though. If they don't, you should probably just pay CDBaby for it. They charge $20, which is roughly the same I would charge (actually, with the dollar being under 5 NOK now, I would charge slightly more: $20.20 ...).

Edit:

The score: iTunes require it, for example. So does many other on/offline services.

Edited April 23, 2008 by FinnArild

[musicmad]

The barcode itself is just a number. The connection to the commodity doesn't become "real" before the shop (or distributor) enters it into their database with a price stuck to it. When you register for a GS1 barcode you get the first numbers - the rest of the numbers you build up. Example: my main number is 709001302 - Serendipity is my second commodity (since the "Take Two..." single was first. It all ends with a checksum number generated by OR'ing all the numbers. Full barcode for Serendipity is thus 709001302 002 0 (obviously: if you expect to have more than 999 items, you need another barcode type). Once you have this barcode, you are in agreement with whoever you get it from that they don't use the code for other items - which wouldn't be smart on their part either.

You should - as Lazz says - check if you can get the code from whoever prints the CD first, though. If they don't, you should probably just pay CDBaby for it. They charge $20, which is roughly the same I would charge (actually, with the dollar being under 5 NOK now, I would charge slightly more: $20.20 ...).

Edit:

The score: iTunes require it, for example. So does many other on/offline services.

(1) But when you pay $500 a year to (GS1) for your registration, do thay then provide you with as many barcods as you want, in that year??? (2) if i us your barcode or register for my own, whats the difference???

Mm

[FinnArild]

1: the particular type of barcode I have signed up for costs $500 a year and provides me with a total of 999 seperate codes (which should last me for a while)

2: $480

... also I do recommend you get your code from CDBaby and not me (as a matter of fact, if I don't get out more CDs this year than last I'm gonna do CDBaby barcodes myself).

Edited April 23, 2008 by FinnArild

[musicmad]

1: the particular type of barcode I have signed up for costs $500 a year and provides me with a total of 999 seperate codes (which should last me for a while)

2: $480

... also I do recommend you get your code from CDBaby and not me (as a matter of fact, if I don't get out more CDs this year than last I'm gonna do CDBaby barcodes myself).

Finn, Thanks for all your information

and good luck on your musical quest...

Musicmad