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[hargerst]

From July, 2002

Last month we asked if should your band start thinking about cutting an album and selling it at gigs?  The first question you should be asking yourself is, "How many CDs can we realistically expect to sell?".  If the answer (including family members, friends, and fans) is under 100 CDs, it doesn't make sense to go for a full album, but a 3 to 5 song CD might be a good alternative. If the answer is around 200 to 500 CDs, then it makes good sense to start thinking about doing an album. We mentioned several plans and this month, I'm gonna expand a little on things you should be thinking about:

New group, not many gigs, and under 100 potential CD Sales:
Doing a 3 to 5 song demo to send out to clubs for gigs, and selling to fans, friends, and family is a good idea and it can pay for itself very quickly, if you plan it right.  You'll burn your CD-Rs yourself, do your own labeling on the discs (using paper labels), and print all your booklets and traycards on your computer.  You don't have to make up 100s of CDs, only enough to cover a show (10 to 20 at a time), and your costs won't break the bank.

Getting the actual recording done will be the bulk of the expense. Figure anywhere from $500 to $1,000 for studio time in a decent studio. If you can sell your 3 song demo for $5, and a 5 song demo for $10, it'll take you about 100 CDs to break even - everything you make after that first 100 CDs is straight profit.  Use any profit you make to pay for recording more songs, till you get to the 10 to 12 song range. If you can sell an additional 100 CDs, at that point you'll have enough for your first album.

Most groups make a fatal mistake on this one; they give out CDs to anyone that'll take it, in the hope that something good may somehow happen, or thet think that they'll pick up more fans that way, or just to impress everybody that they have a CD out.  It's a bad move.  These first CDs are your entrance into the professional world of music, or should be.  Why start by giving away the one thing in the music business that you hope to make money from: your music?  Here's a list of who should get free CDs:

1. One to each band member.
2. Club owners.
3. Music reviewers.

Here's a list of who should hafta buy the CD:

1: Anybody that's not on the first list.

Is that too harsh?  Nope.  First of all, if you don't set an initial value on the CDs (and the music that's on them), why should anybody else think your music is worth money?  What if a close friend or family member screams about not getting a free CD?  Tell them they will get a free one out of the first commercial pressing, but for now, you need to sell every CD you make to pay for doing a full album.

Some points to consider:  Why not save money and do the whole recording yourself?  
That can be answered by asking, Why not save money by doing your own surgery?

If this is gonna be your calling card to the world, get it done professionally, even if it's in a smaller studio.  The band should be concentrating on the music, period.  If your guitar player is also being the engineer, which is more important, watching recording levels, or playing a killer solo?  The other advantage in NOT recording yourself, is that you get an outside opinion and an unbiased mix, avoiding the "MORE ME!!" syndrome (where the album sounds like a guitar album with "slight drums, bass, and vocal accompanment").  It's very tricky listening to a band's first recording efforts without wanting to turn your part up a little louder.  You have to listen to the whole song and decide what's best for the music, not what's best for your ego.

What kind of artwork are you going to put on this first CD?  Most bands have at least one person in the band who's sharp on doing graphics, or ya know somebody who's good on a computer.  You need 3 printed things for your CDs: a paper round CD label, the booklet, and a tray card (that goes under the CD tray).  You can buy die-cut round CD labels that can be printed with any computer printer.  

If you go with a two panel booklet (meaning a single, one page book, printed front and back), you can get two books out of a single 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper.  Two tray cards can also be printed from a single 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper.  You can even take your finished artwork to a fast copy place and have them print the artwork on high gloss, heavy paper stock for a more professional look.