Marketing an EP

[Rusty K]

Hi,

I've got about five songs that I'd consider finished recordings. I was thinking of putting them out myself as a EP instead of waiting to get more music "in the can", but I don't really know if that is still a good way to get my music out. I'd like to hear some feedback on it. Like....will people pay attention to an EP....not to mention will they pay money for them?

Thanks,
Rusty K

Think of it like this.

You walk into a music store, browsing through CDs. 99% of the CDs are marked at around $15, each having around 15 or so songs on there. You also come across some singles (that are really good/popular songs).

Then amongst those you see a single CD marked for around $6 or so with 5 songs. What is your first impression?

I don't think there's anything wrong with selling a CD with 5 songs, it's just kind of inbetween a "real" CD and a single. Kind of like "Hey, I tried to write a full album but I can't...". Or, "I wrote a full album but only 5 of the songs were good enough to put on here".

That may sound kind of offensive but that's what a lot of people would probably think.

Personally, I'd much rather buy a $6 (or whatever you charge) CD with only good songs, than one with 15 songs and only a few of them being good.

Maybe someone can give you professional advice on this but I just thought I'd give you that perspective.

It's just that if you do market this CD, then you come up with 5-10 more good songs later on, you really can't just add them on there and re-sell it. You'd have another 5 song CD.

I would personally just wait until you have more material. Or if you're positive that you won't, then just put it out there. Whatever you decide, don't release it because you're impatient on releasing a CD.

[Rusty K]

danny.guitar,

Your points are valid but I'm just trying to break in locally so to speak. I guess I misled you a bit by asking if anyone would buy an EP. My experience has been that an EP is more "promotional". I'm more interested in letting DJ's and other media types know that I'm alive and I'm wondering if anyone will pay attention to an EP.

Thanks,
Rusty K

[steve.h]

How long have you been a 'band'? If you haven't been out for more than a couple of months, an EP is a good thing to have at shows to start getting your name out there. They're basically a glorified demo at that stage. Bands that put out EP's between albums are usually using them for live material, singles, etc. If you're an established artist, I'd sit down and write 8-12 more good songs, so you have 10-12 to pick from for your full-length.

My band started recording our EP before playing any shows, so we'd have them almost right away when we started playing out. It helped us get noticed quickly, and made us look quite professional with full artwork and everything! We're still getting fans off of that EP (145,000+ plays on myspace in the year it's been out, and it's only 4 songs!), with a couple of positive reviews on semi-reputable websites within our 'scene'. Right now we're about to start recording our full-length, which we really should have put out late this summer/early fall, but we had some member issues and have had to delay the release by almost 1/2 year. This took most of our momentum away and is putting quite a bit of pressure on us to release the most amazing album we can create: a situation that's both creatively inspiring and terrifying, as if this fails to impress the shit out of our starting-to-lose-interest-fans, we're basically done.

I know this seems slightly O/T, but hopefully I've answered some questions you may not have even known you had haha

Originally Posted by Rusty K

danny.guitar,

Your points are valid but I'm just trying to break in locally so to speak. I guess I misled you a bit by asking if anyone would buy an EP. My experience has been that an EP is more "promotional". I'm more interested in letting DJ's and other media types know that I'm alive and I'm wondering if anyone will pay attention to an EP.

Thanks,
Rusty K

I think I went a little overboard and jumped to conclusions also. For your purposes I'd say a 5-song EP is a great way to get your name out there.

[Rusty K]

Steve.H,

Not a band...just a songwriter/musician. I do have a band but this is separate. I think your group's experience with the EP makes me think it might be the way for me to go. I have four of the songs up on myspace right now but I wanted to add one more. I just want something substancial to hand to people when I'm talking about my music and to maybe get some air-play around town.

Could you give me some tips on how to generate that many "plays" and "views" on myspace. Of course I'm "fishing" for "friends" but I thought you may have some other tricks you could pass along. 145,000 plays is impressive!

Thanks,
Rusty K

[eeb]

some of my favourite albums are ep's to be honest.. there's absoluely nothing wrong with an ep.. especially just starting out.. it's better to sell 5 of your best songs to make a good impression than 5 good and 5 only ok songs.. if you make a killer good impression right off the bat with fan's they'll be anxiously anticipating your full length... it's a great marketing tool... great to start then in between full lengths

[Dax Productions]

Your first release is to get your name out and network. The people that are really going to be able to help you (assuming you can get it into their hands) are going to listen to ten seconds of the first song. If they haven't heard a hook yet, they'll skip to the next track.

They'll keep this up for the first 3 tracks or so, but after that they most likely will take your cd out and listen to something else.

Instead of writing more songs, just spend some time making sure your stuff is as polished as possible.

Get a good press photo, write a short bio, and send it all out to venues, managers, and publicists.

Sell it for $5 at shows and give it away to anyone you want to talk business with.

[Rusty K]

Thanks much...

Your responses have given me more confidence in my original plan. I've been in the business a long time but honestly I don't keep up with current trends in the business side of music. I thought that perhaps an EP was the way for me to go but I just wanted some feedback.

Thanks again.

[mktsteve]

Hi Rusty K

"Not a band...just a songwriter/musician. I do have a band but this is separate."

I think before you try to release your Extended Play you should work out you reason to want to produce it. You say that you're a singer songwriter and that your band is a seperate item.

Are you wanting to find performers for you music?
Are you looking for editors to sell your music?
Are you seriously thinking of expanding your solo career as an artist?

Answering these sorts of questions will determine where you should market your record. Foe example if the reason is to find a publishing company, your market wouldn't be the public market, but you would need to distribute your recording to publishing companies that deal with your gender of music.

Also you should ask yourself if the market where you are would accept an EP. In the UK, for example, EP's are common, as are singles. We have a tradition where bands released singles before the album to test in the market. If the single did well, then they'd record the album. If the single dive bombed, then the artist or band would be dropped like a hot coal!

The simplest way to do this is to go to your local record shop and see what's being sold there. Are there other EPs? Are there other independent EP records being sold? Also you can see the prices asked for the records, the quality of the recordings and the quality of the graphic artwork for the sleeve!
You ned to understand what your competition is doing so you can make your product more acceptable.

You should also think of the 'political' fallout for your desire. What will the band think of you wanting to release a solo record? Will they support you, throw you out of the band, try to ridicule you etc.?

There you go. I hope I've given you something to think about!

Best regards,

Steve Allen

Author of "Marketing Your Music - Success Strategies", "Personal Management in the Music Industry" and "Street Teams - Expand your Fan Base"

[Rusty K]

Steve,

Thanks very much for your reply to my question.

The band is not a problem. We, the band, may actually do a couple of my tunes but there is no friction about doing anything solo. We are all seasoned veterans who know how much of a crap shoot the whole business is. I'm sure if I got "hot" some of them would be more than happy to come along for the ride.

I will check out the local stores but I'm actually more interested in what you said about finding a publisher. If you have the time could you expand on that aspect a little? My problem is that my music doesn't fit in just one genre.

Right now I have no plans to mass produce anything. The whole industry is in such transition it's difficult to know just where to go. I like being independent and controling my own destiny and while I'd like recognition and some financial rewards, fame I could live without. I plan on using all the usual suspects when it comes to marketing myself online. I don't trust the MySpace Store so I'm looking into other ways to market my music on a download basis....of course I Tunes and CD Baby but they may require a full CD.

Thanks again for you help,

Rusty K

[mikeyhasnobones]

i would say that in my experience, most people (labels, radio stations, etc...) really only want e.p.'s. it sounds bad but a lot of these people receive SO much stuff that listening to a full album takes way too long. if you are just trying to break out locally than i would say an e.p. would be a solid idea for a first release!

[Rusty K]

mikeyhasnobones,

Hey I like that response....very sensible and fits my plan! You know part of this industry's transition is really getting us back to the old days when people actually marketed singles....pretty much the same as today's $.99 download except now you don't get the B side and you don't have to have those little plastic thingies to put in the big hole to play them.

Could it be that the "concept album" took us on a very long and ultimately dead end detour?

Rusty K