WHERE TO GET A UPC BAR CODE

• Universal Product Code - Bar coding
  Getting a bar code involves registering with the Universal Code Council, or relying on a commercial service to do it for you.
  Bar coding allows sales tracking and many retailers, like Amazon and Tower Records, they won't carry your CD without it. READ MORE ABOUT THIS
  
  
• If you already have your UPC Barcode, the site link below will allow you to create the actual barcode image. Then just do a print screen and crop out the image. That way you've got a barcode image to use.
  Just make sure you select UPCA for the type under barcode symbology.
  http://www.idautomation.com/java/linearservlet.html
  
  Here's another that may be a little simpler:
  http://www.barcoding.com/upc/
  
  Once you get the image there (and you should generate it as a PNG format so there is no lossy compression), you do a right click on the image then Save As... to save it to a file. Don't just do a print screen, though, as the version that shows up on the screen is not the full size, so it loses information.
  
  
  
• Soundscan http://home.soundscan.com/ tracks sales and reports to MTV, VH1, Billboard Magazine. They all rely on bar codes. You need a UPC bar coded onto your CD to get on the professional map and enable national distribution. A UPC assigned and affixed to your CD also aids in distribution and helps prevent scams.