OK I have a CD! Now What?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dom Franco
  • Start date Start date

What do you do with your recordings

  • Give them away to friends, and relatives.

    Votes: 11 31.4%

  • Send them to a publisher to sell your songs

    Votes: 4 11.4%

  • Bury the lousy disk in the back yard

    Votes: 1 2.9%

  • Try to sell them on a web site

    Votes: 3 8.6%

  • Try to sell them at gigs

    Votes: 13 37.1%

  • Try to sell them as frisbees

    Votes: 3 8.6%
  • Total voters
    35
If you're looking to sell them, you're going to do most of that at live shows.

I wouldn't give them away unless you're getting something in return, like a review, a person at your live show, radio play, etc. CDs are too expensive to give away for nothing and giving them away doesn't make people respect your effort in creating one.
 
I would have to say that all of you have written some great posts on this subject because it is really making me think. I got into recording because I had seen many small local bands and soloist that have talent that really did not know where to go for recording. Professional studios can be very intimidating. I try to provide a relaxed atmosphere. I used to not charge much at all for my services, but when I became a better engineer and had better equipment, my time and cost became a major factor. I found that when you charge for your services, people took studio time more serious.

My philosophy is that if you really believe in YOUR music, then you'll find it worth the money you invest for recording and CD duplication. At that point you have to have the same drive to sell your music where ever you can as mentioned in the previous posts.
 
Fishmed said:
My philosophy is that if you really believe in YOUR music, then you'll find it worth the money you invest for recording and CD duplication. At that point you have to have the same drive to sell your music where ever you can as mentioned in the previous posts.
Click to expand...

YES!! People can see when you're serious and investing in yourself like this helps that happen.
 
When it comes to great frisbee action CD's will never compete with good old vinyl.
 
Making your friends and family pay for your CDs is a losing attitude, IMO. When you started out, they were the only people who gave half a damn about your music. And for many of us, that's still the case. :)

You don't EVER bite the hand that feeds you.
 
Ma and Pa are Great!

@Keno 53.

HEY! Good point about the SMALL record stores. They're GREAT! I was collaborating with a local jazz producer (i bailed on this deal....dude gave me the creeps) but we let the owner of our local record store hear it...he liked it so much he wanted to fund pressing up 5,000 and still split the profit....TRUE! Couldn't BELIEVE IT!!!! GO LIL' RECORD STORE GO!!!

Their is probably a pitfall in doing something like that...but hey...he offered. And i bailed. hmmmmm?
 
it ain't impossible

It's not just a pipe dream to make money from your music; as I'm sure Mr. David Hooper would agree. If you worked with your music forty hours a week like you do your job you'd be making at least a little money.

My band has been together a little over a year. We saved up money from playing out and recorded a cd in a nice studio. We rehearsed really well and recorded the whole thing in eight hours (15 songs). We have horns in our band so we had to run through each song three times - rhythm, horns, vocals. We saved bucks in recording time just by having our songs down and having a plan before we went in.

We designed a cover and duplicated the cd ourselves (cd burners) and began selling them at gigs for $10 a piece. Since then we've sold plenty of cds to make up for our recording costs many times over. It's a great feeling when someone buys a cd at a live show and a great feeling too when they come back and tell you that they love it.

We gave away some of our cds to family. But you do have to draw the line somewhere. If all six of us gave cds away to our parents, and grandparents, and uncles, and aunts, and brothers and sisters and cousins, we'd be out lots of cds.

So I don't think it's crazy to think you can make some money at music. I am 21 and the youngest in my band is 18. We've recorded a cd, eaten out on band money, and even pocketed some of the money we make and all it has cost us is time. It is hard work though, I never imagined how hard it would be to be in a band...but it's worth it for me.

All the best,

Tucci
 
Here is a site I came across. I don't know a whole lot about them, but it looks like it has possibilities. If this site pans out, it could solve the distribution end for an indie.

http://www.notontheradio.com

BTW - I'm not affiliated with this site.
 
My CDs are for sell on my website, www.richbischoff.com . And I also try to sell them at gigs. The hardest part for me was getting distribution. Even then, things have been really slow. Unless your out playing gigs every night and touring, your pretty much screwed.
just my two cents

Rich
 
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