Turn Your Demos Into Profits

So you've written a bunch of songs, the band's rehearsed them and they're ready to record, now what?

First, after you've decided what to record and you've come up with a budget that will allow you to cut the songs, think about creating a product that you can sell through gigs, fan club, internet distribution and consignment arrangements with various music retailers.

There's more to creating a product than song sequence and a CD master. Think about what you need to manufacture a CD while you're in the recording process. Graphic design, photography and selecting a replication vendor to help you through the disc manufacturing process will help keep your project on track, on schedule and within your budget. Talk to various graphic designers and look at their previous work until you find someone who shares your vision. Find a company that understands design, manufacturing, and distribution of independent music like (shameless plug) Focus Media Concepts. Look at samples of their previous work for other clients. In short, talk to everyone you can about how to create and manufacture the CD product that you want. Make a decision on this vendor while you're in the pre-production phase of your recording project and communicate frequently as you move through the project. Finding an ally who understands how to manage your project to make all of the pieces fit together at the right time and for the right price is key to getting a quality product in a timely manner without going crazy in the process. I would also think about value for your dollar rather then who has the cheapest price. Remember, you're competing with everyone else, other indies and major label artists, for your piece of the consumer's music dollars. You've got to offer a quality product that will compete with everyone else's stuff. Don't sell yourself short with getting it done "cheap". Find people who believe in quality and value.

There are a lot of options for selling music today: CD, E-CD, DVD and MP3. Incorporate as many choices as possible for your fans.

Don't overlook the power of online distribution of your music. It's great to have CD's to sell at your gigs, but as you grow your business add other products and merchandise to your inventory. Spend some budget on creating a quality web site. Sell your music online through various distribution channels like CD Baby or Awarestore.com. Take CD's to your local record retailer and work a consignment deal to get your product on their shelves. perform any chance you get and shamelessly hawk your product. Get involved in a good cause - it's great publicity and you'll feel good about helping your community.

We'll talk about other promo and marketing in the days and weeks to come.

If you would like to discuss a specific topic of interest please contact me.