You do not just want your song as a file, you want to hold it as a real CD. At Tonstudio Leipzig I design your cover together with you and print the short run right here at the studio, on branded discs, in a jewel case, with full colour printing and an inlay.
Over the last ten years music has become almost entirely digital. That is practical for everyday life, but on special occasions it is often not enough. Some occasions deserve a keepsake you can hold, not one that disappears into the cloud. That is exactly what CD production at Tonstudio Leipzig is for.
Short runs from 2 copies, three packages from €70 (standard design) to €150 (complete package with a photo shoot). Shipping as a DHL parcel adds €15, picking the CDs up at the studio is free. For detailed advice book the initial consultation in the studio shop, for short questions email or WhatsApp is enough.
Six situations where a physical CD really is worth more than handing something over digitally.
You have recorded your first song at the studio, perhaps in a workshop or coaching session, and an MP3 alone does not feel like enough. The CD in your hand is the moment when having sung becomes having made something, often kept for a lifetime as tangible proof.
A song from your ceremony or a composition of your own, recorded at the studio, as a keepsake for parents, grandparents and witnesses. A CD in a jewel case with your wedding photo lands very differently from a Spotify link, and gets played again years later. Four to eight copies is usually right for the closest family.
A custom song with rewritten lyrics or a parody you wrote, recorded for a hen party or milestone birthday, lands far more surprising as a real CD than a WhatsApp audio. The cover design can be as silly as you like: inside jokes, embarrassing childhood pictures.
Your grandmother's folk songs or your grandfather's old band recordings, captured at the studio in a jewel case with historic family photos, become an inheritance across generations that your children can still hold.
After a studio workshop with children, friends or family, a run of CDs for everyone who took part turns it into a lasting experience instead of a fleeting memory, often brought out again years later.
As an indie artist you want 10 to 12 CDs as a personal promo set to hand out after gigs or to fans. That number is exactly the scale that makes sense at the studio; from 50 copies upwards it goes to external pressing plants.
Three packages depending on the scope and the significance of the occasion, from €70 to €150 for 2 CDs. I clarify the exact price for your project on request.
A lean way in for urgent gifts or when the cover design is not the point: a standard design from ready made templates, your audio cleanly mastered and burned onto branded discs, delivered in a sturdy jewel case. Print data preparation always included.
from €70 for 2 CDs
The most popular package: a conversation about the cover idea and mood, an individual design with your photo or a studio image, optional logo development, full colour printing and inlay. The way to go when the CD should really work as a personal keepsake.
from €100 for 2 CDs
The premium package for particularly considered occasions: a cover photo shoot at the studio with lighting, then developing the cover together with logo design and layout suggestions. Needs more lead time, but the result carries accordingly.
from €150 for 2 CDs
A fresh cover photo at the studio with lighting and several setups, useful when there is no suitable photo. Included in the complete package, otherwise a separate extra.
A small logo or wordmark to suit the song or occasion, for an artist name or wedding initials. Developed together in the concept conversation.
For when you want a larger run pressed externally but want to keep the studio cover design: handover of correctly prepared print data in the professional format.
Anyone searching for CD printing finds hundreds of online pressing plants, all with the same templates and minimum runs from 50 or 100 copies. Two factors make the difference with this handmade studio version.
Standard online plants demand minimum runs of 50, 100 or 200 copies, pointless when you actually need four or six CDs as a wedding gift. Here a short run of two copies is explicitly welcome, at consistent quality from 2 to 12 copies.
Online plants work with ready made templates from large libraries, one of thousands of interchangeable designs that only roughly fits. Here cover designs come out of a personal conversation: photo, logo and layout are created specifically for your CD.
Genuinely short runs and a design made together instead of a template make the difference between a CD that looks like a thousand others and one that really suits the occasion.
A real CD in a jewel case does not only work the first time it is unwrapped. It gets brought out again weeks, months and sometimes years later, because it is something tangible that does not get lost in the digital stream.
Holding the finished CD with your own photo and name on it turns an abstract studio experience into a tangible, finished piece of work.
A keepsake in the hand, rather than a Spotify link in a WhatsApp message, reaches recipients emotionally far more, especially older ones.
Unlike digital content, the CD finds a visible spot on the shelf or in a drawer and recalls the occasion on its own.
At the next family gathering the CD often gets brought out again, becoming a conversation anchor that rarely happens digitally.
While streams can vanish with an account or platform, the physical CD is still findable and playable even after twenty years.
If the first CD worked well, the idea of making another one quickly becomes a recurring tradition for future occasions.
Good preparation makes the difference between a standard CD and one that really suits the occasion. Six points from many gift productions.
The occasion affects the mood of the cover, the number of copies and the choice of package. For occasions with real symbolic weight such as a golden wedding anniversary or your first song, the complete package is worth it; for urgent hen party gifts, the standard version.
Typically four to eight copies for weddings, two to four for hen party gifts, two to six for your own recordings, 10 to 12 for indie promo runs. Minimum is two copies, maximum in studio printing is twelve.
Three options: a photo you already have, a new cover photo shoot at the studio, or a standard template for urgent gifts. With your own photos, send three to five to choose from.
Romantic for wedding gifts, silly for hen party custom songs, classic for family memories, striking for indie promo runs. Sending example covers or mood images helps enormously in the concept conversation.
About a week of lead time for a standard design, two to three weeks for an individual design, three to four weeks for the complete package. For urgent occasions, enquiring four to six weeks before the date is ideal.
Both are optional extras that make the CD look considerably better, clearly recommended for gifts and keepsakes. For quick workshop keepsakes a simpler version without printing can make sense too.
Four steps from the first enquiry to the finished CD in your hand or in the parcel.
Write me a short note about your plans and I will get back to you with a specific offer from €70 for 2 CDs. For an individual design or the complete package, the paid concept consultation is worth it, where we go through the occasion, the mood and the photo strategy.
After the concept conversation the cover design takes shape, with your photos in the individual version, or with a photo shoot beforehand in the complete package. You get drafts to approve, and only after your final approval does it go to print.
The CDs are burned onto branded discs, given full colour printing, and the inlay cover is placed in the jewel case. Every CD is checked for compatibility and packed carefully for posting or collection.
Collecting it yourself with no shipping costs, DHL standard taking three to five working days, or DHL express taking one to two working days. Details in the Location & collection section below.
The CD production takes place entirely at Tonstudio Leipzig. Handover directly at the studio if you collect, or delivery by DHL standard and DHL express anywhere in Germany.
Studio address: Bernhard-Göring-Straße 17, 04107 Leipzig, in the middle of Zentrum-Süd, within walking distance of the Karli, with courtyard parking and step-free access. For people from Leipzig, Connewitz, Plagwitz, Markkleeberg or Halle, collecting it yourself is usually the nicest option: no shipping costs, handover in person, often combined with a session you had planned anyway.
Carefully packed with padding so the jewel case arrives undamaged. Makes sense for occasions that are not urgent, with at least one to two weeks lead time.
For urgent gifts planned at short notice, such as weddings, hen parties or birthdays. Delivery typically the next or second working day after posting.
DHL serves every German address, including blocks of flats, care homes or business addresses. With unusual delivery addresses, just let me know so packaging can be adjusted.
The most important answers before you enquire. For short questions email or WhatsApp, for detailed advice the initial consultation in the studio shop.
A fully designed audio CD, printed at the studio, in a sturdy jewel case, with a full colour inlay cover and optionally full colour printing directly on the CD.
Depending on the package, a cover design created together with a cover photo, logo development and layout, or a simple standard design for the faster version.
Produced on branded discs, with compatibility checked for all common players.
Short runs from 2 copies.
Short runs from 2 CDs up to 12 CDs are possible directly at the studio, the minimum is two copies. Production always runs in pairs (2, 4, 6 or 8 CDs) — for 3 copies you pay the price of 4.
Slightly larger numbers for particular needs can be discussed in the initial consultation. I do not handle real quantities from 50 or 100 copies upwards, see the next question.
For larger runs my studio printing is the wrong choice.
From about 20 to 50 copies a professional CD pressing plant with specialised technology and a different price level is worth it, and at 50 or 100 copies it is the only sensible route anyway.
I deliberately concentrate on what is realistically doable at the studio: small, personally designed keepsake runs with a handmade character.
Three options are possible:
a standard design: a ready made design with no major adjustment, the fastest way.
An individual design: I choose suitable cover photos with you and develop the layout, the wordmark and the mood together in the concept conversation.
Your own design: you bring your finished cover design yourself and I only handle the printing and the print data.
With all three options the print data preparation is included.
Three options: something you already have from your phone, if the quality is good that is often enough. A new photo at the studio during your recording or cover design session. Or a standard template that suits your occasion.
For more elaborate cover photo sessions the separate photo shoot package is the better choice.
A standard design: about a week from ordering to the finished CD.
An individual design: about two to three weeks.
Complete package with a cover photo shoot: about three to four weeks.
For urgent gifts, enquire in good time, ideally four to six weeks before the date, so that everything stays relaxed even with express delivery.
Collecting it yourself at the studio with no shipping costs, standard delivery by DHL taking three to five working days, or express delivery by DHL taking one to two working days for urgent dates. Details in the Location & collection section above.
Depending on the package, for 2 CDs: Standard CD from €70, Individual CD from €100, Complete package from €150. Production runs in steps of two, so the price doubles, triples or quadruples for 4, 6 or 8 CDs. Shipping adds a flat €15 for DHL and secure packaging, picking the CDs up at the studio is free. I clarify the exact price for your project on request.
Before a file goes to print it has to be technically clean:
the right bleed, the correct dimensions for the jewel case inlay and the CD surface, the right colour profile, a proper PDF export with embedded fonts.
A technical step that comes up with every CD production.
With your own designs I check the print data beforehand and adjust it if something is not right.
For detailed conversations about the concept and the choice of package, book the initial consultation as a paid session directly in the studio shop.
For short questions you can reach me by email or WhatsApp message, WhatsApp is usually fastest. Getting in touch by phone works too.
This page is written for private clients, hobby musicians and indie artists with personal gift occasions or small indie runs.
If you work with a record deal, a major label or a commercial marketing budget and need larger CD productions with professional pressing and distribution, a specialised CD pressing plant is the right address.
For the audio side there is also the separate business site of Tonstudio Leipzig.
That doesn't change the price. The biggest effort on my side is preparation, printing, adjustment and production, not the design itself. Production also always runs in pairs, regardless of who designed the cover.
WAV is best, since it is lossless. High quality MP3 files work too.
A standard CD blank holds 80 minutes (today's common 700 MB format). As long as your total running time stays under that, everything fits on one CD.
For a standard jewel case: front cover 120 x 120 mm, back cover 151 x 118 mm including the two narrow spine areas (6.5 mm wide each). Both as a high resolution, print ready PDF.
Not directly. A square cover can't be mapped one to one onto the round disc. It's best to send me your artwork once without text in the highest resolution available, plus your finished version with text — I'll build the matching round motif for the disc print from that.
Yes, completely normally. The discs are produced on branded blanks and are compatible with all common playback devices.
Yes, a short, informal confirmation is enough. By sending the files, or with a brief message here, you confirm that you hold the necessary rights to the music and the images used.
Easiest by link, for example via WeTransfer or Google Drive. You can send the link straight to me via WhatsApp, that is completely sufficient.
No, I'm not a pressing plant. The CD print is done using a printed foil, plus a front and back cover in the jewel case. The result isn't comparable to an industrially screen or offset printed large run, but it's exactly right for personal small runs for birthdays, events or a special gift.
Write me a short note about what you have in mind: which occasion, roughly how many copies, standard design or one created together. Short runs start from €70 for 2 CDs, plus €15 for DHL shipping. Runs from 50 copies upwards a professional pressing plant is the better choice, I will say so honestly.