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[Jeid]

My band are planning a release at the end of the month. This isn't a plug, but more, research and how others release their material.

We're going to release a 6 or 7 song mini-album. We thought about paying for 400 cd's to be duplicated with the jewel case, insert and all that pish.

Then I read some things on the internet and thought we'd do it ourselves. Our drummer works at a printers, so all the cardboard sleeves would be free(although labour intensive), I can burn all the CD's and print directly onto the CD's. This would keep our costs down, it would keep the sell on costs down and we'd be able to make as many as we needed, when we needed.

If we were to pay for all the CD's to be duplicated for us, we'd be trying to get our money back asap as it would cost us near £500. This way, we save money as do potential buyers.

So, my questions.(assuming you liked what you heard)

How important is the quality of the product on offer?

If my band were selling a cd in a jewel case with professionally printed artwork etc, would you be willing to pay £5, or would you be put off?

Even if you REALLY liked the band?

If we were selling the same CD, with the same songs, but in a cardboard sleeve, printed at home and manually put together. Would £3 be very reasonable? I

f you only just liked the band, would you be more willing to part with the £3 because it's cheap?

We're planning on possibly putting the songs on our website and sticking a donation button on with it. It'd effectively be like what Radiohead did, but with no minimum cost.

How much would you pay for the tracks?

What if you really liked us?

What if you'd only heard the stuff on myspace?


We're trying to claw back our recording costs as well as reaching as many people as possible with our music. I don't mind if we make fuck all back, I just want people to hear it. In fact, on the first issue of the artwork we did, it says: "Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this recording is encouraged"

Are we selling ourselves short? Or going about it the right way?

[paul-shand]

i think the 5 quid for the jewel cased cd is a good price, less easy to loose, will go in along with all the other cds, cardboard sleves cds get lost easily

[RF Scott]

If you're not playing out of town shows etc, I think you'll find it hard to sell a CD at £5 to people who aren't your family or friends.

[Jeid]

I was thinking that we'd be more likely to sell cd's at out of town shows for £3 rather than £5

[jamesbroonbreed]

All James BrownBread releases shall be £2 and not a penny over (probably)

[Old Gold]

i'd say screw the jewel cases and give the cds out for as close to free as you possibly can. Maximum musical exposure to newcomers is definately more important at this stage in your career than selling posh album covers to a relatively local fanbase.

Personally, I've had some success wrapping cds in A4 printer paper and selling them for a quid. However, even then it can be a hard sell out of town.

Might I add: good thread.

[Stupot]

Ask yourself this: At £5 per unit, are you likely to sell 100 CDs? This is what you need to shift in order to break even on a pro pressing. If the answer is yes then press them as the packaging is more attractive, the CDs will be printed and it will look more professional all round. It will save you time and the unit cost will be low.
If the answer is no, do it yourself, especially as you can get good quality printing for free.
You have the option then of making up only as many as you need. Say batches of 25 at first. Making them like this also gives you the option of selling them cheaper.
Try to print directly onto the CDs. It's cheaper than you think and looks a million times better than a label.
A good gimmick I saw one band use, was to also print up some CDs in cheap printed card wallets and throw them at random into the audience. Not too many mind!
Don't press if it's a self made recording. Make them yourself. If it's professional then press if you think it's worth it.
Has it been mastered? You can tell by comparing it to a commercial CD which will be much louder and punchier. Make sure it's similar material though. Don't use Kylie as it will mess with your head when you realise that her commercial CD is louder and punchier than your unmastered disc.
If you go the donation route, which is a double edged sword, only put up a couple of tracks at first. Then if it fails you don't give out your whole ep for nowt.
If it needs mastering, feel free to send it to me and I'll master it for nothing as an introduction to my mastering services. Then when you're delighted, you'll tell everyone else! PM if interested.

[Al Coholic]

Why not do both?
Do a cheap version with a couple of songs and cheap cover and an up-market version with all songs and good packaging. You'd both serve price-sensitive buyers as well as enthusiasts who are willing to fork out more.
This will maximise clawing back recording cost as well as exposure.

[Original Spies]

Depends on how many people dig your band. If it's still on a local circuit playing to friends, then you need to be giving it away for next to nothing. If you are pulling crowds then sell it for a few quid.

If you all pitch in and do it all yourselves together, then you've saved money already, so just toss it out for free. I'd rather have people listening to my bands CD than not, so don't deter them with jacked up prices.

But obviously, if I properly liked a band, I would definitely pay £5 for a 6 tracker with some nice packaging.

There's a difference between 'professional' and 'nice'. Professional usually means standard jewel case with 2/4/8 page insert. If you do it all home made, you can really experiment with the packaging, which is way more impressive than a jewel case.

[Stripey]

Originally Posted by Original Spies

. Professional usually means standard jewel case with 2/4/8 page insert. If you do it all home made, you can really experiment with the packaging, which is way more impressive than a jewel case.

"Alternative" packaging can be nice, but a pain when it doesn't fit in your cd rack, increasingly the likelyhood of it getting lost eventually...