Morris Ballen, Who Helped Spread Indie Artists’ Music, Dies at 88

Morris Ballen, whose company, Disc Makers, manufactured small runs of high-quality vinyl records, cassettes and CDs, offering a critical service to countless punk rockers, rappers, church choirs and garage bands who made music without the backing of a major label, died on Sept. 21 at his home in Philadelphia. He was 88.

His daughter Anne Ballen Ladenson confirmed the death.

Especially in the days before digital music, independent artists faced a challenge: They needed to get physical copies of their music into the hands of their fans, but they couldn’t afford — and didn’t need — the massive production runs offered by major manufacturers.

Enter Mr. Ballen and Disc Makers. His one-stop shop, in a factory outside Philadelphia, provided everything a musician required, including mastering, graphic design and vinyl (and later cassette and CD) pressing, sometimes just a few hundred units at a time.

He also offered free bar codes, so artists could sell their music in record stores, as well as marketing assistance like posters and fliers.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/obituaries/morris-ballen-dead.html