Having just produced a CD I can comment on the costs of producing a CD and
they are not as bad as one might think. Not considering artist's fees,
instrument/venue rental, initial recording costs, all of which can vary from
nothing to considerable, the production costs are quite manageable. I
checked out several CD/record/cassette production companies and found that
CD's COULD be produced for as little as $2.00 each in quanities of at least
1000. This price included redimentary artwork (black and white) and type
setting. An already mastered (i.e. reverb already added, indexing done and
equalization completed) 1630 DAT master was expected. One could also get 500
cassettes and 500 CD's for approximately the same price. Studio digital
mastering comes in at about $250/hour and you'll need about two hours. So,
for about $2500 one could take an existing 15 ips tape master, rent two
hours of digital studio time and then proceed to make a thousand CDs.
Quality? I don't know, but from what I've been told there isn't a great deal
of difference in CD pressings. I chose a different path which raised the
initial investment considerably...and I didn't have to rent a venue and
organ. From what I have been told, CD mastering is so accurate that test
"pressings" are not made. There was none made on my CD...my first listen to
the finished product (after the 1630 DAT master) was opening the shrink wrap
on a CD, putting it in my CD player and listening.
 
At any rate, a reissue of a previous analog recording on CD need not be
expensive if the original master tape is in good condition. It could also be
extremely profitable when you figure per item production cost vs. selling
price.
 
John Ledwon