Let's Break It Down: How Many CDs Have You Sold?

[Robertt8]

Our band is in the process of finishing up our CD
for self-release, and I was wondering how well
you people have done selling and promoting your
own CD's.

==============================
How many CDs did you sell?

Did you have a record company backing you?

Release it yourself?

Any advertising? If so, what type? Did it work?

Where did you sell them (at shows, online)?

Did you get screwed ordering too many or too few?

...All that good stuff...
==============================

It seems like there could be a lot we can learn from
all you people who have gone down this path in one
way or another.

[greenascanbe]

Originally Posted by Robertt8

How many CDs did you sell?

150 and climbing since July 4th

Originally Posted by Robertt8

Did you have a record company backing you?

Nope

Originally Posted by Robertt8

Release it yourself?

Yep


Any advertising? If so, what type? Did i work? [/QUOTE]

Nope, not yet.

Originally Posted by Robertt8

Where did you sell them (at shows, online)?

Bass player owns a music and book store. Also at shows, online and even on ebay

Originally Posted by Robertt8

Did you get screwed ordering too many or too few?

We ordered 100 and then had to do another run of 100.

Basically always underestmate how many you'll think you'll need, especially if your a new act. If you been around a few years and have a big following it may be a different case, but I've seen many acts have delutions of gradure for summer releases and end up using the CDs as drink coasters at christmas.

...All that good stuff...
==============================

It seems like there could be a lot we can learn from
all you people who have gone down this path in one
way or another.[/QUOTE]

[andydeedpoll]

we only ever sold 50, but for some bizaare reason that was as many as we ever bothered to print ... we recorded and mixed the whole thing in about 6 hours, in a crap room, all the guitars were going direct and we recorded the drums with a single room mic.

well, i say 'we' - the people who were recording us didn't really have a clue, and neither did we. basically, it was crap .

basically always underestmate how many you'll think you'll need, especially if your a new act.

kinda makes sense - 'cept its often cheaper the more you do - it'd be more cost effective to have 300 made, and continually sell them over the next two years, rather than getting rid of 50 in a month, then printing another fifty once you've sold those... if you play lots, and your good enough, and you price them right, CD's will sell.

Andy

[Fieva]

==============================
How many CDs did you sell? 200, then lost the rest of the CDs in a studio fire.

Did you have a record company backing you? No.

Release it yourself? Yes.

Any advertising? If so, what type? Did it work? Word of mouth, online (website and chatrooms)

Where did you sell them (at shows, online)? Street corners, online

Did you get screwed ordering too many or too few? I think we would have been good if we didn't lose the last hundred that we had in the fire.

...All that good stuff...
==============================

[juststartingout]

Well, we are on our third, thousand order. No recording company backing, it was self produced and mastered at Sterling in New York. Most sales at shows, but some on CD baby and a couple of local stores. We have a lot of tshirt sales too.

[zbert]

Sold none. Gave away a few hundred. Yes, gave them away. OK, so to make this affordable we had CDR's printed up by Disk Faktory. We did our own art and one of us had the covers printed at work. All this is put into a vinyl sleeve.
Cost was around $1 per. People are blown away when they ask if they can buy a CD. Tell them no but I'll give you one. You made a friend who just may be back with a few friends to see you next time.
As I own the studio we had no recording costs. That helped a lot too keeping cost down.

[strat0tele]

How many CDs did you sell? - I think 5 actual sales, the rest I gave away to friends or people who requested it on message boards. The album is up for free on the web so only a few decided to actually pay for a cd

Did you have a record company backing you? - no

Release it yourself? - yes

Any advertising? If so, what type? Did it work? - messageboards

Where did you sell them (at shows, online)? - I am a one manband, online. I got a CDbaby account but it's funny because I sold absolutely ZERO Cds. Waste of money. I had no grand dilusions of selling a shit load, but I figured I would atleast sell ONE on cdbaby.

Did you get screwed ordering too many or too few? order 50, have about 30 left after giving them away. haven't sold one since early july. I'm not promoting it either so I get what I deserve.

[erosconpollo]

How many CDs did you sell? A couple hundred, I reckon. I should keep better track...more given away than sold, most likely.

Did you have a record company backing you? Nope, other than my own so-called label.

Release it yourself? Yes.

Any advertising? If so, what type? Did it work? Mostly online announcements plus plugging it at shows. Sometimes it works!

Where did you sell them (at shows, online)? All sales have been at shows.

Did you get screwed ordering too many or too few? Recorded, duplicated, printed and packaged right here, as needed.

[Dani Pace]

Sell them? I knew i was doing something wrong! I think I've sold 3, but if you count the ones I've been on then there are a few thousand. Oh well, I'm just musician who has had the chance to set in on a number of recording sessions and someone else sold them. Oh well, I've got my own that I've been working on for the past two years which should be out soon, if money and patience last and I'll give you a more detailed report then. Do the ones that i gave away for Christmas presents count?

[Smurf]

==============================
How many CDs did you sell? 10

Did you have a record company backing you? No.

Release it yourself? Did everything myself.

Any advertising? If so, what type? Did it work? My Sig, forums, word of mouth, placing my site on every web ring I could find that matched my music.

Where did you sell them (at shows, online)? Everywhere.....

Did you get screwed ordering too many or too few? I burnt them myself as needed.

I also am a OMB, and tho my first CD was fun I will get them pressed from somewhere and be a little more aggressive about the whole thing the next time...

[andyhix]

We sold less than 500, less than 1000 AND less than 5000, but I couldn't figure out how to select multiple answers in the poll.

==============================
How many CDs did you sell?
coupla hundred

Did you have a record company backing you?
sort of - the indiest of indie labels (a couple friends taking a chance)

Release it yourself?
pretty much

Any advertising? If so, what type? Did it work?
no

Where did you sell them (at shows, online)?
shows, mostly

Did you get screwed ordering too many or too few?
we will see in another year or two...

[glynb]

Well people, from the evidence presented here it seems the ones who sell any quantity (I mean hundreds) are those who get out there and perform live shows. Pretty conclusive and in line with what i have been told and expected to see.

When you sing up for CD baby they do warn that signing up and making the album available is nothing, you have to get out there and actively promote and the best way (short of access to the media) is to play shows.

From my own experience getting reviews and mentions in fanzines and publications just doesn't do it unless you also play live, which i don't, yet :-(

[Robertt8]

only 11 people have sold CDs?!

[glynb]

Originally Posted by Robertt8

only 11 people have sold CDs?!

No.Only 11 people who could be bothered to reply to this thread have sold CDs.

[Robertt8]

Originally Posted by glynb

No.Only 11 people who could be bothered to reply to this thread have sold CDs.

well that's obviously a given...just trying to spur this on.

[XLR]

I've sold around a thousand... consignments in record stores and guitar shops, at concerts, and through people who heard it on radio or my website who contacted me to get a copy.

I'm also on a couple compilation CD's that have sold a couple thousand, but I'm not involved in their marketing.

Tim

[glynb]

Just thought that one key question missing from this poll is timescale? What i mean is sales may be ongoing for years in some cases. It would be interesting to know how long it took people to shift whatever quantity they sold.

[treymonfauntre]

my old band recorded an awful demo, we played 3 shows and made 30 CD-Rs with diy packaging and sold out of them each night. but we only sold them for like 2 dollars.

[CarcPazu]

How many CDs did you sell? = On two demo (on cassettes 1991 and 1993) We printed 300 of the first one, we sold around 200 or them, the rest we gave away to familly and friends, 500 of the second one, we sold around 400 or them...

Did you have a record company backing you? Hell no! Who was backing little speed metal bands in the early 90s?

Release it yourself? Yes

Any advertising? If so, what type? Did it work? At the time internet was at breastfeeding stage so no forum, chats and stuff like that... Oldschool! But Yes some advertizement, at concerts mostly, flyers, and a very effective way of advertizing is to give away cheap-ass stickers, kids love to stick shit everywhere, that's free publicity and it stick forever!

Where did you sell them (at shows, online)? At concerts mostly,in consignments in record stores like HMV and some other smaller stores (in the end they always fuck you up, but just having some there makes you publicity and being there with the others is good for selfesteem...)

Did you get screwed ordering too many or too few? No, we considered the quantity very well knowing we had a very reliable (but small) fanbase at the time. Metalheads are very "fan" and liked to buy (at the time).

I'm now working on a full lenght album, this time I will aim way lower than that. Since it's just a hobby, I'll make a light .iso version downloadable on the net and I'll print 100 copies of them with my own money just for the fun of it. I'll send some to review sites, some for friends, and I'll put it for mail order sales a bit in the same way shareware works (if you like it, want to contribute, here's your chance... ya know...)

[Smurf]

Since I posted last in this thread I am up to 15 sold........so that is about 2 a month since I put it out there 8 months ago.....

[tthcore]

I played in a band in the late 90's early 00's. Rock, some drop D, mostly what you hear today on the radio. We made one album, one EP, sold both around 300. We did alot of shows up and down the east coast. We hardly ever had stuff to sell, we sold out right away, but had no foresight to order more. Now i'm gonna put al my stuff online for free, i have no illusions of granour, i have a good job and a hot wife. People can get it for free, plus its not THAT good.

[Fieva]

It's less of a headache to not sell as much as you were hoping for when you've cut costs down by recording/mixing/mastering it yourself, duplicating the cd's yourself, making your own artwork, pressing it yourself (if you can), and using the right resources to get it out there.

I'm doing everything on my CD on my own except pressing it and printing out the label covers (don't want to pay the extra money on the ink I'd be using).

[CarcPazu]

All this brings only a question, what's your goal with your music?
Do you want to be famous? Do you want to express yourself?
Do you want to have fun? Score Chicks? Make money?

Me personnaly, I have a good job and I've done enough concerts to be tired of all the shit that comes with it. It's fun to be on stage but all the crap related to it to actually get on stage finally just don't cut it for me.

Now I only do studio projects for self gratification and personnal achievement.
I have some stuff in my head that is obsessing me non-stop until I got it out and finaly feel relieved (for a while).

I'm sure a lot of people know what I'm talking about, being obsessed with the same riffs over and over or having a complet song/album in your head and the only thing that keeps you from getting it out is time, money and talent.

Sometimes I feel it sucks to be an artist. But sometimes it's great. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about.

[Giganova]

Originally Posted by CarcPazu

All this brings only a question, what's your goal with your music?

That's the key point! I was offered a record contract about a year ago, but guess what: I said "no, thanks" coz I'm not in for the money or fame or other vein motives -- but for the pure joy of creating and enjoying music.

[tthcore]

I agree, i have no reason to 'drop everything'. I'm still pretty young (26), but i have a wife, and a good job, a beagle, adn tons of student loans. We're saving to buy a house, stuff like that. My music is a huge part of my life. All of my fun $$ goes to getting studio gear and such. I play around town at open mics, and bars with my friends, i even plan on traveling around here and there. Its all for fun and self gratification, i see all these ads in my city for people wanting to go tour and stuff, its mostly kids who live with their parents. I'm more into looking back and seeing my tunes evolve and still have a life outside of a nightclub.