Planning A CD Release Show? If So Read This First!

Almost every conversation I have with a band about CD Pressing starts like this:

“We would like to replicate X number of CDs, our CD release is scheduled for…..”

The last thing any band wants to do is to have a CD release without discs.  Also, having a CD release with an album you’re not happy with, or packaged with art that you regret is potentially worse.  CD manufacturing is not a long process (10-12 Business Days in most cases).  However, you have to be ready for the unexpected.  You may have the art files completed, but when you receive the proofs you may notice a typo, or that there is something missing.  Your master may have data issues you may need to address.  You may want to completely change your art, or even your track order.

If you have not booked your CD release, you have all the time you need to fix any issues before you begin the manufacturing process.  I understand the need to share your newly recorded music with the world as soon as you have left the studio, however rushing this final step could completely undo all of the hard work you have put into your album.  Every band wants their CD out as soon as possible, but it's much better to have your CD arrive a month or two early, than one day too late.

So first things first, DO NOT schedule your album release party/show/event while you're still recording.  Once you have your CDs in-hand and you have made sure that you are happy with them, the first thing you should do is begin promoting it.  This is why major studios advertise, give out flyers, have merchandise in kid’s meals, put out hundreds of commercials and put the album/movie/product in your face as many times as possible.  No major studio would ever silently release a CD a week after it was finished mastering and expect anyone to buy it.  Here is some great advice from industry experts:

“Give yourself at minimum three weeks to get the CDs out to local newspapers and magazines in time for them to write a review before or around the same time as the official release date. You can even sell limited signed editions as pre-release copies before the official release. This can help considerably with bringing in a little cash flow to offset all the money you just spent on the recording and production process.”  David Barber – Former President, Colorado Music Association

“Contact local press about your CD release at least one month before the CD release show. Don’t be like every other band when you contact the press either.  Calling on the phone or sending an email is almost the least you can do. Set up a day and time to personally bring an advance copy of your CD to the local entertainment writer(s).  Many writers say very few artists bother doing more than call or email them these days.  Those same writers say that since so few artists actually bother to come to and meet with them personally, they usually write about the artists that do stop in person 100% of the time.”  David Codr – Publisher, The Music Phonebook

“The best advice I can give is to… plan ahead. The biggest mistake is …. I would have to say out of all my orders, 90% of the orders I get from my bands are bands that already have a date for a CD release party, which is usually only a week to three weeks out. They don’t understand that the manufacturing takes three weeks. Every Friday we have bands in our office picking up CDs between sound checks and their CD release party show. When I ask them how much promotion they did for their show, they often say, “None, because we didn’t have any CDs.” And that’s when I say, “There probably won’t be too many people at your CD release party because you didn’t do any pre-releases or proper planning.” Bands tend to think the day they get their CDs should be the day they have their CD release show because they can’t wait. There [is] usually very little planning. There are no reviews in the local newspapers, no Internet reviews. That’s definitely the most common error that I see…  In my experience, bands don’t budget well either. They spend all their money on recording. They’ll spend … as much as $20,000 on recording and then … want the best-looking package on no money. Budgeting and timing always seem to be the biggest issues.” Joe Guyette – Owner, Breakthrough Media

These are the steps you should follow and check off in order:

1.            Recording and Mastering

2.            Graphic Design for Album Art

3.            Replication

4.            PROMOTION

5.            Schedule Your Release

6.            Play Your Show

If you skip any of these, or try to bunch them together, it will not be a smooth ride.  If you run through these in order, you will make more money, be happier with your product and have a stress free process.

Written By:  Aaron Perez

How Do I Get My Music On iTunes?

How do I get my music on iTunes?

It may seem like an obvious statement, but none the less it needs to be said.  “Your music has to be available for sale online.”  Yeah, your fans in your city can buy the CD at your shows.  But that counts for only a small percentage of your potential fan base.  The easiest and cheapest way to release your music globally is through digital distribution.  iTunes has become one of the most popular places where fans buy music ; so you NEED to get your music in there.

I hope that this short article helps you navigate the not so complex world of getting your music on iTunes.

How Do I get my music on iTunes?

There are many of services around that specialize in distributing artists’ music.  Distrophonix is one of those services.   While many distributors charge you a fee to put your music into stores, Distrophonix does not.  It is free to sign up and you get to keep 100% of your rights. They will release your music globally to over 400+ stores including iTunes.  Distrophonix will handle all of the set up and management of your release; as well as tracking your sales and processing your royalties.  That’s right!  You can actually make money selling your music and it doesn’t cost you a dime to sign up through Distrophonix! 

Is iTunes enough?

iTunes is by far the biggest digital music retailer in the world.  They have stores in almost every developed country.  However, not everyone uses iTunes.  Amazon, Spotify, Rhapsody, Napster, and eMusic are other popular mp3 websites.  Don’t miss the chance to sell your music to fans that use the other services.  There are over 400 mp3 stores around, and every single one of them is important. Distrophonix will get your music into practically every mp3 store worldwide. 

Do I need to have some sort of cover art to get into iTunes and the other stores?

Yes, the stores are very strict about this.  Your artwork has to be 1400 by 1400 at 300 dpi.  The artwork also has to include your artist and album name.  If you need help designing a good iTunes album cover, check out Distrophonix’s graphic design services.  http://www.distrophonix.com/graphic-design/

Do I need to have my music mastered before putting it in iTunes?

No you do not.  However, it is highly recommended that you do.  Having your music mastered will help you to have a much more professional sound and it will give a  better listening experience for your fans.  To learn more about mastering check out:  http://www.distrophonix.com/mastering/

Where do I go to sign up to get my music into iTunes and the 400+ other stores?

Distrophonix makes it easy for you to distribute your music.  Simply go to their website, http://www.distrophonix.com/distribution/, click on the “sign up today’ button and the site will walk you through the process.

How do I get people to buy my music on iTunes and the other stores?

Ok… So now your music is posted in over 400 mp3 stores globally…….Now What?   It is time to get to work marketing your music.  Just putting your music into stores without getting the word out will not result in many, if any sales.  Use social networks to spread the news that your music is available.  Encourage people to tell their friends.  Tell everyone at shows that your music is available on iTunes.  Put your street team to work getting the word out.   In short, tell everyone you know, and their mother that your music is available online.

I hope this article helps answer your questions about getting into iTunes and other online mp3 stores.  If you want to learn more about getting your music to the masses check out www.Distrophonix.com

Written By: Kevin Schmidt

Kevin is one of the owners of Distrophonix LLC. Distrophonix is a company based in Baltimore, MD specializing in music marketing, distribution, Rock Band Encoding, CD pressing, and mastering for musicians worldwide.
www.Distrophonix.com

Tips For Designing A Good Band Website

Summary: Tips for designing the best band website possible.

If you follow these tips and guidelines below, you will have a great band website that will make you look professional, engage fans, and blow away your competition.

1. Get a memorable url: You want your websites url to be memorable. The best url’s are those where you can just have your band name followed by a .com. Unfortunately though, many .com domain names have been taken. If this is the case consider a .net, or come up with a url that is a phrase that contains your band name followed by a .com. ie. If your band was named The Beatles, you could use the url thebeatlesrock.com.

2. Connect Your Social Networks To Your Band’s Website: Make sure that all of your social networking pages (Facebook, MySpace, Reverbnation, Twitter, etc.) are linked to your bands page. This makes it much easier for your fans to connect with you on the social network of their choice.

3. Provide Links Stores Where Your Music Is For Sale: Make it as easy as possible for your fans to purchase your music. Make sure that you provide links to your music on iTunes, Amazon, etc. If you want to go one step further, consider signing up for an affiliate program with the stores that your music is found in. Becoming an affiliate will allow you to make additional money on your sales because the stores will share a portion of the revenue that they make above what you normally would get. Another nice feature is that if your fans purchase any other music while they are on a site like iTunes, you will get a percentage of that as well.

4. Provide Detailed Contact Information: I can’t even begin to tell you how many band websites I come across where the band forgets to provide contact info. Make sure that, at minimum, you include an email address and phone number.

5. Provide A Street Team Resources Section: If you are serious about your band, you need to have a street team. Make their job as easy as possible by providing marketing materials such as flyers and posters that they can download from your website, print off and distribute. You may also want to consider providing banner ads that your street team and fans can post on their own websites and social networking pages. Another good promotional tool is screensavers and desktop backgrounds.

6. Have A Bio Section: Fans want to get to know you. Make sure you provide a band and band members bio along with plenty of pictures.

7. Audio/Video Links: If you have free music or videos to share, make sure that you either embed them on your website, or at minimum, provide links to where they can be found.

8. Collect Email Addresses: If you have a band newsletter, make it easy for fans to sign up for it. Newsletter companies like Constant Contact and Campaigner provide a free newsletter sign up tool that you can imbed on your website.

9. Make Your Website Aesthetically Pleasing: Make sure your website looks great! If you are going to take the time to make a website, make sure that it looks professional. A cheap, ugly website will actually do more to hurt your image than to help it. If you have a bad website, you are better just having no website at all.

10. Make Your Website Easy To Use: Please make your website easy to use. Make sure that all features are clearly presented to the viewer. Keep things simple.

11. Sell Your Merch: A website is a perfect place to allow fans that are unable to attend your shows to buy your merchandise. Post pictures of Tshirts, CDs, stickers, patches, etc that you sell. Use paypal to accept credit cards.

Written by: Brenden Bosmans

Brenden is a Marketing Consultant to Distrophonix LLC. Distrophonix provides digital distribution (iTunes & 400+ other stores), CD Pressing, Download Cards, Mastering, etc. to Record Labels, Musicians and Studios. To learn more about Distrophonix check out:
http://www.distrophonix.com/

Tips for Designing the Best Cover Art for Your Album

Summary: Tips and insight into designing the best album cover for your music.

When someone is flicking through albums at a record store the first thing they are going to notice is the graphics. If the graphics aren’t eye catching then they are going to go right past that record until they find one that grabs their attention. If they’re interested then they will listen to, and hopefully buy that record. So it is key that when you’re putting together your artwork that you make it as noticeable as possible. 

Think about what the music on the album is saying. Does it tell a story? Are there characters in your songs? What atmosphere does your music project? Based off of the answers to these questions take the time to come up with some kind of imagery that really conveys your message. Also, make sure that your cover fits into your genre of music, otherwise a potential listener may pass it by thinking that it isn’t going to be their taste in music. 

When adding text to your design, whether it be the main title and band name on the front or track listings on the inside you want to make sure that the text isn’t too cluttered or difficult to read. Also limit the number of different type faces that you use. The design can become overly complicated and in-consistent by using too many fonts. In addition, it strains the eyes. The main title and your band name should be easily recognizable so that someone who is viewing your album knows exactly who they’re looking at. 

Whether you are coming up with the design yourself or are hiring a designer to put something together for you, you should think about these points. A designer will be able to come up with a much stronger design if they are aware of the answers to these questions. If you do hire a designer, make sure to keep in close contact with them during the process. If you do not like something, don’t be afraid to be honest. After all, you are the one who will be using the finished design. 

By: Cat Wise

Cat Wise is the Head of Graphic Design at Distrophonix LLC.  Distrophonix  LLC is a music marketing and distribution company based in Baltimore, MD. They design graphics and designs for musicians, as well as offer digital distribution, CD pressing, and mastering.  

www.Distrophonix.com

http://www.distrophonix.com/graphic-design/

Designing the Right Logo for Your Band

Summary: Tips and insight into designing the best logo to represent your band and music.

When people see your logo, they need to be able to recognize it as you instantly. A logo needs to be able to communicate who you are in a single glance. Here are a few tips about coming up with something that will let people know who you are as a band and musician.

1. Who is your audience? Think about who you want this logo to attract. Use this information to come up with images that will appeal to your desired demographic.

2. First impressions count. Your logo may be the first thing your future fans see. What is the message you want these fans to get from your logo?

3. Less is more. You don’t want to over-complicate your image. Use a limited number of colors and try not to use too much text. The more complicated your logo is, the harder it will be for your audience to remember; You want to be remembered! In addition, if your logo is complicated it makes it harder to read when it’s small. Logo’s need to be able to be viewed in all sizes, whether it’s on the corner of your album cover or a large banner on stage. Either way it needs to be easy to read and needs to identify you as a band and a sound.

4. Plan ahead. Take some time to think about what your plans are for the future. Will you be changing your image or sound any time soon? If so then you need to think about whether your logo will fit in with any changes you make, or if it will be able to be easily modified to reflect your new style.

Before you start designing your logo please consider these four points carefully. If you are hiring a designer to help you make sure you supply them with this information so they can create the best design for you. In addition, if you do hire a graphic designer don’t forget to keep the lines of communication open, and of course don’t be afraid to be honest about the results. After all, you are the one who will be using the finished design.

By: Cat Wise

Cat Wise is the Head of Graphic Design at Distrophonix LLC. Distrophonix LLC is a music marketing and distribution company based in Baltimore, MD. They design graphics and designs for musicians, as well as offer digital distribution, CD pressing, and mastering.
www.Distrophonix.com