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Joined: May 2000
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Yes, anyone can do it. It takes work though.
Once your CD is done, make a release plan. For one of our CDs we planned a release party. Paid for radio commercials to announce it, showed up at the station with donuts and coffee, schmoozed a little and got some airplay along with the commercials, talked to the owner of the hall about our plan and he bought in. We got door and CD/tshirt sales and he got the bar. He told us at our last break he wanted to do it again (good night for bar). They ended up opening both sides of the hall up that night and calling in extra help to open the other bar. Everyone had a good night including us. We advertised in Canada and had people come across for the party. Executing a plan for the CD takes effort and a little $$ investment, but can pay off.
If you are going to release it act like you are doing a release.
For online sales CDBaby can help a lot, but sign up and get a UPC code before printing any CDs. Then you can sell it anywhere. Get the local CD store to stock a few (he can scan with UPC and track your sales). We have a very few CDs left over from another CD we did in '07 but I see that CD for sale online still. Right now I can find it at places like Amazon, iTunes, mtv.com, artistsdirect, importcds, cduniverse, payplay.fm, music.yahoo, cdandlp.com, allmusic.com, musicstack, jpc.de, amazon uk, (theres even an entry on billboard.com but no info)
Is it 'released'?
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Anonymous
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Did you send any out to radio stations in other states?
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Not just states, countries..
we designed a shipping package with marketing collateral inside and branded on the outside too.
If we thought of it, we did it.
It bugs me that I know people right now sitting on good product but won't invest in the promotion/marketing side to make things happen.
Instead they play the local spots, mixing in originals with covers, wondering when someone will find them.
Last edited by rharv; 09/23/12 06:32 AM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Quote:
...Instead they play the local spots, mixing in originals with covers, wondering when someone will find them.
Far too many *think* this, think that is how the industry works, but it is a fallacy.
For every "discovery" act, there are literally hundreds more successful acts that got there by doing what it takes to promote, making that promotion a large part of their business plan.
If you take the interest in this thing and keep at it, there is a far better statistcal chance of success.
Me, I'm a sideman in the grand old tradition.
--Mac
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Joined: Jan 2011
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Apprentice
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Apprentice
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rharv,
do u have a link to your release on Amazon? Do u make $$ from the sales there?
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Joined: Nov 2008
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Journeyman
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Journeyman
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Quote:
Quote:
Amazon won't sell those hard copies, you know.
I beg to differ. I see one of our CDs for sale there and I have no idea who it is that has it listed. Dunno if it sold if we'd even know or get anything from it.
Sold many (hundreds) more at shows than online.
My first solo release was a CDR.
Some what recently I was told Amazon stopped selling CDRs because of the inconsistencies they posed to older CD players.
No problems with the second which was manufactured with a glass master.
CDBaby sells CDRs and the digital download sites all sell the first 1, but Amazon won't sell the physical CDRs
WSS
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Joined: Nov 2008
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Journeyman
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Journeyman
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Quote:
Quote:
As far as this website for manufactured CDs assume those are CDRs right?
That's a good price for 100 but not a very good price for 1000 sense the real places will manufacture 1000 for you at a lower price.
The real places?
Yes, they are CDR's, but so are Disc Makers & Oasis short runs.....
And Kunaki are GREAT for short, quick runs, not 1000's. For a band that only needs 40 to get them thru you can not beat Kunaki prices or service. Even after S&H you could not create the product at home for the same price, at least not at today's supplies cost...
And as a side note, all printing is done direct to disk, no labels on the CD-DVD's...
No doubt that seems like a pretty good deal for less than 300 CDRs.
At 1000, of course, the " real guys" charge about 99 cents each.
But if these guys are quick and easy, great.
Just curious, how do they handle copyrighted material?
In other words if your band covers a particular song?
I limit my self to 1 per album and I pay Harry Fox.
WSS
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No, I don't make money off Amazon. Not that I know of. I don't even know who is selling it there and if I would get any money. I've seen this CD on sale online for $40 .. by an individual I didn't know. Like anyone would give $40 for it .. Don't buy it, PM me if interested, but listing is here - http://www.amazon.com/Burn-Simpleton-Gur...=simpleton+guru My whole point is - We sold way more CDs at shows than online or in a store. We also promoted the whole thing heavily. You have to do the work if you are going to release it yourself, and even then we sold more at performances by far. Any online sales usually were triggered by a performance somewhere. The reason we got any airplay was because we were promoting the show, the cd release, and bought commercial time to generate some interest. We also showed up at the studio and schmoozed. Then have a couple people call the studio showing interest in this new band, asking for details .. before you know it they think something is happening in the area and they got the inside scoop. Don't forget to send a note later to tell them how successful it was and thanks. Think of everything you can to generate interest and do it. If you want a copy of CD PM me and I'll see how many are left. We stopped making more copies at least 5 years ago on this particular CD though. That's why I'm so surprised I can find it so many places! I haven't looked for it in years. Recorded about 6 years ago (2nd CD we did, and the first was better but with no promo effort I can't find that one anywhere online). Band stopped playing about 4 years ago. Website dead, all gone. /searched band name at Amazon and see our first CD is listed but 'not available' .. dang I'm missing sales! 
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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I'm on Amazon, but only because it is a requirement (or at least, it was) for having my music played on Pandora. With Amazon's annual fees, low artist cut, and the fact they won't stockpile inventory so you have to ship every single order, I rarely make anything from Amazon and I discourage people from buying my CD there.
CD Baby has been fabulous. Their accounting is excellent and they place my CD in the new places where artists are paid. There was a one-time setup fee, they do stockpile so I save on shipping, and the artist cut is fair.
You do have to register with BMI or ASCAP to get royalties from airplay, and with Sound Exchange to get royalties from Internet/Satellite TV play.
Regarding Rharv's comment about finding his CD in many places, I am always amazed where mine turns up. Some of the places are even legal. After playing Whack-a-Mole with the major copyright-violating download sites, I have it under control for the moment.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Yes, I mentioned CDBaby for a reason; I think they are on the up-and-up, and are worth the price of admission. One of the first steps in the chain.
Being up here north of Detroit, I am surprised at how much we accomplished with this project and I learned a lot.
That said, it was a LOT of effort and work. If I didn't enjoy doing it I'd feel differently about it, but the whole thing was fun.
I hope my point was understood; if you are going to do it, it will take a lot of work.
You'll have to be the one doing that work if you decide to do it yourself.
If you do it yourself it'll happen.
If you wait, it likely won't ever happen .. and trying it on your own gives you a much better chance if you ever do get checked out by a label. We had a mailing list (nice and long), an email list, references from shows mentioning attendance .. etc.
These things help. The label has something to work with.
It ain't for everyone, and your mileage will definately vary, but if you are going to do it, give it your best shot.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Harv, you are a solid 6 iron from being in Canada (eh?). I would guess you maybe had some work in the Sarnia area. (I LOVED playing there!) If that is true, was there anything unique or exotic about selling your wares in another country? You'd need a work visa to play the gig, and I wonder if there is any kind of bureaucratic crap that would have denied you from selling "American products" in Canada.
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Lots of good practical advice on this thread. What I get is, - You are NOT going to be discovered by chance some night while playing! - And if you don't put in LOTS and LOTS of work, you're going to sell the kinda numbers Eddie mentioned (number of friends minus friends who don't like you enough to buy your CD). About the only thing I'd respectfully disagree with is "If you do it yourself it'll happen." cause, even with lots of work, the odds are still against you selling anything significant enough over a long enough period of time to make it worth leaving your day job (unless you have a really crummy day job!)  And I'm certainly not saying you shouldn't try. By all means if it makes you happy go for it! Its just good to know the odds and go into this with your eyes wide open rather than dreaming of being discovered or creating a large enough fan base that you can maintain long enough to make any decent money from.
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You can easily release your own cd. Most people I know who have recorded them simply do so to add to their gig fees. None I've spoken to expect fame or fortune just the odd bit of radio play. I you merely want to release on for selling at gigs, go for it. Have a friend sitting at a table beside you ( nice looking female if poss.  ) that can take the cash and also to make sure they don't grow legs. If you want to go for large sales, then it HAS to be done properly from recording to marketing by the pros.
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Well said Furry. Don't NOT do it because you are waiting for that record deal. You can still make a product and profit. Every step along the way you will learn and be more prepared if that deal ever comes along by having done it. And do it up right if you want it to succeed! You can do a lot on your own with a little effort. It depends a lot on what your expectations are.
BTW
What killed our project was when four of the five (I was the odd one out) started using the name to play cover gigs. I had no interest in that. It ruined the branding we had done. Instead of being a new 'original' band it became a cover band that played some originals; the kiss of death around here. But they continued to sell CD's, even at cover gigs, which was a plus for me. Took about a year for the whole thing to fizzle out after that. They got burned out, had diluted the name, and wondered why interest had died off. Marketing lesson in there; at first they got some nice paying cover gigs because of the name and could show numbers from the shows we had done, but that faded as well as the name became devalued over time.
So depending on your expectations, give it all you got and have fun with it.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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