FAQs

To obtain a quick quote, please head to our pricing page. Once you’ve entered in your contact details, we will send you a formal quote for your approval. Alternatively, feel free to contact us directly for formal quotes. Especially if you’re after something that you can’t find on our pricing page.

Once you have approved a formal quote and confirmed your order details, we will issue an invoice.
We require a 50% deposit to confirm your order. The balance is then due when we deliver your records. We send our full terms and conditions with formal quotes. To see our full terms and conditions, please get in contact.

We require all music masters to be mastered specifically for vinyl. If the music has not been mastered for vinyl, please get in touch and we can recommend an engineer. To see our audio specifications, please find an information sheet here.

Once your audio files and cue sheet are submitted to us, we order these with our cutting engineer. These files are then cut into a lacquer which is then turned into a stamper. These two processes and their costs are outlined on your invoice. When you receive a test pressing, you will hear how your masters have transferred to the analogue format. If you have any issues with how the mastered files are sounding and need to adjust your masters in any way, we will need to start the process again and you will be charged accordingly. If you have any issues with the test pressings themselves, we will absolutely work with you to resolve these!

It is vital that you provide the required information on your cue sheet. We have a cue sheet template available here for a standard LP or here for a double LP or you may already have one provided by your mastering engineer. This template ensures you let the cutting engineer know about RPM, the catalogue number you'd like engraved into your lacquers, track list (so what tracks are on what sides of the record, A side, B side etc.), gaps and silences between tracks or a continuous cut. If you do not provide this information to us, unfortunately we cannot be held accountable for a recut and replate as these processes would have to be repeated.

A Test Pressing is the initial pressing of a record, produced for the purpose of quality control before the final production run. Test Pressings are an opportunity to assess how your vinyl masters have transferred to the analogue format. They provide an assurance all tracks are correctly ordered and the cue sheet has been followed correctly.

While Test Pressings and final records should sound similar in terms of quality, Test Pressings are not exact replicas of the final product. This is because certain audio characteristics that may be present in the Test Pressings may not necessarily be reproduced in the production run, owing to the process involved in creating Test Pressings.

Due to the small quantity of records being produced, this can lead to more surface noise as well as clicks and pops, however, as long as these don’t occur in the same spot on all of your records, there’s nothing to worry about.

Understanding what to listen out for is essential to ensure your project sounds the best it possibly can and gets on the press and completed as soon as possible. Please read our test pressing information sheet here to find out more.

Once a project has been confirmed, we will contact you in regards to submitting your music and artwork assets. With our assistance, we will ensure all artwork is submitted correctly and then send you either a PDF or printed proof. We require all artwork to be submitted on Program Records artwork templates, according to our artwork guidelines. If you are looking for our artwork guidelines or artwork templates, please find them here. To avoid delays and resubmission, we highly recommend you read the artwork guidelines carefully.

You’re welcome to do your own printed proof once you receive the PDF proof. Please keep in mind that this will not reflect the exact colour profile of our printer but will give you a good idea of any layout issues or errors or if there’s any blurriness in the design. If you’re looking for a matched colour profile to the final product, we can provide this sort of proof to you for an extra $75 + GST. Please note, this is a flat sheet of paper and not a folded and glued completed jacket. We recommend printing a proof if you are interested in how colours, images or text will print on our printer. A printed proof is printed on a special printer set up to mimic the settings of the final run. It is 99% accurate to the colours you will receive on the run on standard semi-gloss stock. However, it is important to note that if you are ordering uncoated matte stock, this particular stock will reduce the brightness of the artwork and a printed proof is not an accurate representation of what you will receive on the final run.

Centre label proofs are provided digitally only as these are printed with a supplier located in New York due to the highly specialised stock that is used. Centre labels are printed on this special stock and baked to remove any moisturise to ensure no bubbling occurs in the pressing process. Centre labels are not stickers with adhesive. They are pieces of paper stock that are pressed into your records at the same time the grooves are stamped. Due to the baking process, CMYK colours may yellow slightly but we will do our best to ensure this doesn't occur.

After you approve the proof no further changes can be made to units or artwork as our printers produce the printing plates and it is added to their production queue. It is important to make sure your artwork proof is approved as soon as possible to ensure there are no delays in receiving your records.

We will need your vinyl masters, artwork submitted with Program templates and artwork proofs approved at least 8 weeks beforehand. Please note, the 8 week turnaround period begins from approval of the artwork proofs and not from the date of asset submission.

Our scheduling dates are dependent on when we receive assets from each job as well as test pressing approval and other unforeseen factors. We prioritise projects by when their assets are submitted so the earlier the better! Once we have all files and approvals, we can provide you with a more accurate timeline. Please don't hesitate to enquire about ETAs as the job progresses.

We schedule pressing your records often quite far in advance. We will always try to meet timely deliveries but in the pressing of a record, there are steps in the manufacturing process that can cause delay. Therefore projections for final delivery dates that are made in the initial stages of production must be treated as estimates that can change.

We recommend you schedule a release date after approval of test pressings. Program Records can never be held responsible for deadlines of releases, scheduled dates for release parties or any kind of agreements made with third parties.

To see what colours we offer, please see here or download our colour sheet here.

Due to the nature of coloured vinyl, the surface noise can vary between different grades of compound. Generally black vinyl is considered to have lower surface noise than coloured or metallic compounds.

A marble effect can be achieved by mixing two colours. Marble colour combinations can also vary because of the random nature of marbling and dye lot variations in the production process so please chat to us about any desired effects. We can then assist with how you’d like to advertise a mock-up of a marble as you’ll have an idea of the finished product.

If you'd like us to organise domestic or overseas shipping, we will send you a quote when your records are complete as this depends on box weights and shipping prices calculated at the time.

For test pressings, printed proof deliveries and delivering final records locally there is a $30+GST flat fee for each delivery. If you are local, you are always welcome to pop in to pick-up!

We use TNT for domestic deliveries and DHL for International deliveries. We can also provide dimensions and weight of boxes for your own organised courier service.