Hello there!
Thanks so much for your questions!
For those that might be reading my response here's a definition of Media Mail:
Media Mail is generally used for books (at least eight pages), film (16 mm or narrower), printed music, printed test materials, video and sound recordings, playscripts, printed educational charts, loose-leaf pages and binders consisting of medical information, and computer-readable media. Sound recordings may include incidental announcements of recordings and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such recordings. Books may contain no advertising other than incidental announcements of other books.
You're right, if you send your CD in a machinable-type CD mailer envelope and it doesn't weigh more than 1 ounce, postage should be 42 cents. (Most that I have seen were a bit heavier than 42 cents though!). And while your CD might qualify for Media Mail (as per the definition above), postage prices for Media Mail start at 1#. As of May 12, 2008, the 1-pound price for Media Mail is $2.23.
You're also correct in that the service standard for Package Services can be up to about 10 days or so (although the postal service has become so efficient that often times delivery time is faster than that!).
To address your question, you are not required to mail your CD as Media Mail. As long as your mailpiece is mailable and weighs 13 ounces or less, you can mail your CD's as First-Class Mail. Depending on how you package the CD's, you'll either pay the letter-size prices, flat-size prices or parcel prices.... but still First-Class. A 7-ounce First-Class Mail parcel costs $2.19, so it is still a better postage and delivery value than Media Mail!
Depending on the number of CD's that you send out at one time, you might want to consider presorting them for lower First-Class Mail prices. (You'd need at least 500 per mailing.)
I hope this helps you.... sounds like you're making the right choices!
Elizabeth
