Few years ago, analog formats such as vinyl and cassette tape re-established themselves as  essential formats for releasing music. Producers and listeners alike are eager to have their music on physical format along with presenting it on streaming services. 
 
At Headless Duplicated Tapes we produce a high quality tape duplication and can make your cassette from scratch. But what does it take to transform digital data to a beautiful physical tape with album cover and all? Let us take you through the process. 
 
Before you place the order
So you recorded your music, had the master done and an artist or graphic designer made you a cool cover. You decided to release the album on cassette via Headless Duplicated Tapes. What now? Be sure to read and try to follow our documents on How to prepare audio files and How to prepare print files on our website's main page. It should help you in sending the data in the right format and with properly defined parameters. Doing this will secure that your order is completed the fastest possible way. 
 
1.Confirmation
After receiving the data, we ensure that everything is in order and send you  confirmation notes and payment details. 
 
2. Payment
 
As soon as we get the payment, your order goes in the production queue! Be sure to double check that you send the payment before asking about order status. You'll also receive confirmation of every step via email and your shopping account on our websites shows the current status of your order. 
 
3. Print
On-body print is the first step in making a tape. We have two options - UV digital print or pad printing. Pad printing is faster and more detailed that UV print, but is only capable of printing one color at the time and  really is effective (both time-wise and price-wise) for orders over 200 pieces.
 
4. Master
When on-body print is finished or you choose adhesive labels or no print for your tape, we master your audio data for the magnetic tape. The tape itself has specific sound characteristics, so we ensure that the transfer from digital to analog is the smoothest in the most possible way.
 
5. Duplication
The master data is transferred to our digital master computer, where it is converted to analog magnetic tape via the process of high speed duplication. 
 
6. Loading
The data are duplicated on the tape in the form of the “pancake”, the roll of magnetic tape. The pancake is then transferred onto loading tapematic machines, where the tape is loaded into the empty cassette bodies. 
 
7. Assembly
In the meantime, the j-cards and adhesive labels arrive from our partners in a professional printing firm. We assemble the tapes by hand and prepare them for packing & shipping. 
 
8. Cellophane
If your tapes are going to stores, or you just want a little bit more protection for them, we can put them in cellophane. The foil is eco-friendly cellulose (???) and degradable.

 
9. Packing & Shipping
As soon as your order is finished, we carefully pack it in a solid paper box and prepare it for shipping. You get the notice by e-mail and you can track your order via the tracking number shown in your customer account.