New Orleans – January, 2020
Diana Thornton and Mike Hogan have sold Crescent City Duplication to New Orleans-based SunRea Enterprises, Inc., parent company of Louisiana Red Hot Records, Inc., who will continue offering CD/DVD duplication services to the Greater New Orleans region. Diana still operates Crescent Music Services, which Diana founded 22 years ago in 1997 (originally with mastering engineer Parker Dinkins) to offer CD design and CD/DVD manufacturing.
When Diana and Parker founded Crescent Music Services, she was a local singer/songwriter and graphic designer at the time. They recognized the need for a local option for CD design and manufacturing.
In 2011 Diana partnered with Mike Hogan, another New Orleans mastering engineer and musician (Egg Yolk Jubilee), forming Crescent City Duplication (CCD) to spin off the disc duplication operations into a separate company, leaving Crescent Music Services to continue to handle design and pressed discs. Since then Mike and Diana have duplicated thousands of CDs and DVDs for local bands, musicians, filmmakers and businesses. Crescent Music Services and Crescent City Duplication are still the only dedicated companies in the region specializing in CD/DVD production.
A musician herself, Diana has an inside view of the music business. “Online streaming services want you to think that CDs are dead so they can control the market again. I reject this. I believe that physical product, along with performances and sync licensing, are still the best way for bands to be profitable. Indies need some way to sell their music, and CDs are still the best format for them to deliver their music directly to fans for maximum profit.”
Last year Mike and Diana decided it was time to find a new home for Crescent City Duplication. They know how important it is to keep this critical service local, and they wanted someone who would provide the same high-quality personal service.
Local indie label Louisiana Red Hot Records and CCD had already been working together on some of the label’s projects, so when Carmen Sunda (owner of SunRea/Red Hot) and Lilli Lewis (General Manager) expressed an interest in purchasing CCD, they began negotiations.
Red Hot has a broad network of clients, and they can bring new ideas and fresh energy to the company. For over 20 years, Louisiana Red Hot Records has released over 200 albums of Blues, Jazz, R&B, Gospel, Funk, Zydeco, Cajun and Rock, and is a leader among Southern independent labels in marketing and distribution. Offbeat Magazine awarded them label of the Year in 2018.
As part of the sale, Red Hot upgraded equipment and will continue to use the same high quality Rimage brand. They have access to the hundreds of CCD masters and artwork and are using the same print vendors for seamless reorders. Mike and Diana will also remain available as consultants for questions or production help to ensure a smooth transition. Red Hot kept the well-known Crescent City Duplication name and web domain.
According to Sunda, “CCD is the perfect compliment to the Red Hot brand. We are excited at the opportunity to continue to deliver the same CD/DVD quality that local musicians expect and deserve.”
Diana and Mike aren’t retiring from the music industry. Diana is still doing her award-winning print and digital graphic design and photography for CDs, books, publications, and event guides – she is an expert with nearly 40 years’ experience. “I’m currently designing several more books on the Beatles for Bruce Spizer, I’m exploring some new ventures in the music industry, and I’m even playing, recording and performing again.” She reminds people that she is not selling or closing Crescent Music Services, which was always separate from CCD. She still offers CD/DVD design and retail-ready glass mastered disc manufacturing, which she has done for over 22 years for Basin Street Records, Ellis Marsalis, LPO, National Park Service, and hundreds of other local and regional artists. Furthermore, she is continuing to design for her previous duplication clients, but now just forwards the print files over to Red Hot for fast local duplication.
Mike continues audio mastering and generating DDPs. He, too, is still working with his existing clients and then forwards the DDP master over to Red Hot for duplication or to Diana for full manufacturing. And, of course, he plays regularly with Egg Yolk Jubilee and in second lines.
So, if you need CD/DVD duplication (aka shortruns, fast local orders of 100-300 units) – contact the new Crescent City Duplication at 504-534-5574 or go to www.crescentcityduplication.com.
For graphic design, photography and CD/DVD manufacturing (aka pressing) for orders of 500+ with glass mastering, contact Diana Thornton at Crescent Music Services at 504-312-2354 or www.crescentmusic.com.
For audio mastering and DDPs, call Mike Hogan at 504-377-1076.