Advice on the process of making an album...
Hey guys, so glad this forum is here! My band, Convey, is planning to release an album the first week of September, 2009. We have decided to lay out a plan for things, and here is the first draft. I'm posting it because I'd like to hear any comments/advice/questions/whatever... specifically things that you think our rough draft plan may be missing, or things that should be added. The first line of each of the ten points was created as a starting point by another one of my band mates, and then I expanded on each point in the lines following.
** EDIT: After posting, I realized how long this actually is... sorry! I hope you still take the time to read it! Maybe we'll be able to give you a free copy of the album or mp3s when it's done :D - thanks guys!
1. get 10 songs done
set a deadline for this. say, may 1st? we probably need deadlines for everything...
also, figure out a budget for all of this.
2. Copyright them / get them mad tight
how long does copyright take to complete? deadline for having them sent out/tight, may 15th? factor for $ into budget.
3. Record them / pick two songs to put online along with album release date
deadline to finish recording, june 1st? if we are all free for the last 2 weeks of may, this could work. set release dates for the singles (at different times)... carefully consider which songs go out.
4. get album + art/pressing done
final cd, ready to be sold, august 1st deadline. gives us time to get the cd/packaging really good and worth owning. what about online options for buying the album? would we want to have the whole album available as mp3s for less $?
5. get merch finished/band photos
we need t-shirts. ideally 2 designs so people have an option, plus we need guys shirts and girls. and picking the right sizes is important. we don't want lots of extras. i think having stickers is a really really good idea too. not expensive and we can give them out. people use that stuff.
6. Prep for release over summer (new website and myspace design)submit to cd baby, itunes, whatever
we already have a tunecore account. details on that. cd baby takes a cut of the profit, obviously so will any distributor. the best way might be to make it available ONLY from us at the shows and also available from us DIRECTLY from our website, where we will set up our own payment system (probably paypal, it's free i think). maybe later we should put it up on cd baby, itunes, etc, but not right away.
for website: we'll need a good design, $ to get it up and running. factor this into the budget so that we can direct people to the site for EVERYTHING. we need this to be a central place for people - not just a giant ad/demo for the band... it needs to be interactive with us posting videos, random blogs, etc. think of the sites you actually visit and why they you visit them!
promotion: online, college radio (airplay, interviews, acoustic performances?), college papers, the local hour or two that wbcn, wfnx, waaf play local bands around here (boston). where else? press releases to whom?
7. Release + Release show (Bills Bar? Middle East? contact Lionel?)
who do we want to play with us? we need to make sure and advance the show... and all shows for that matter. send out promo stuff before we play/go put it up ourselves. SEPTEMBER 8TH is a tuesday, when major labels/indies release their albums. do we want to do this and have the release show on a tuesday? it could actually turn out to be really good as long as it doesn't run too late... nobody does stuff on tuesdays. friday night/sat. we'd be in competition with pretty much every other band playing that weekend.
8. Management (Sidehatch)?
we should just do everything ourselves until it becomes too much to handle. which won't be for a while probably. yes?
9. Start playing shows/send cd to as many labels as possible
i know you guys are really into this, but realistically just sending stuff out doesn't seem worth it to me. if we were to get picked up i'm thinking we'd want to wait until about a year after and then get them to fund a second album. they will want to see what we can do on our own in terms of sales, fan base, touring, merch, etc.
10. keep playing shows and writing new music
To YOU! ... please keep in mind that I wrote this directed towards my band, so the details about local venues and dates and budget I don't expect advice on, unless you're from the Boston area. This is just a bunch of ideas we came up with, and we haven't put a huge amount of thought into the plan yet- plus we haven't considered nearly everything we need to do, especially with details. But if you have just general advice/comments on anything major that might be missing from our plan, that would really great!
Thank you so much for reading, and if anyone has any questions feel free to message me.
Chris
p.s. you can hear our stuff at myspace.com/conveymusic
** EDIT: After posting, I realized how long this actually is... sorry! I hope you still take the time to read it! Maybe we'll be able to give you a free copy of the album or mp3s when it's done :D - thanks guys!
1. get 10 songs done
set a deadline for this. say, may 1st? we probably need deadlines for everything...
also, figure out a budget for all of this.
2. Copyright them / get them mad tight
how long does copyright take to complete? deadline for having them sent out/tight, may 15th? factor for $ into budget.
3. Record them / pick two songs to put online along with album release date
deadline to finish recording, june 1st? if we are all free for the last 2 weeks of may, this could work. set release dates for the singles (at different times)... carefully consider which songs go out.
4. get album + art/pressing done
final cd, ready to be sold, august 1st deadline. gives us time to get the cd/packaging really good and worth owning. what about online options for buying the album? would we want to have the whole album available as mp3s for less $?
5. get merch finished/band photos
we need t-shirts. ideally 2 designs so people have an option, plus we need guys shirts and girls. and picking the right sizes is important. we don't want lots of extras. i think having stickers is a really really good idea too. not expensive and we can give them out. people use that stuff.
6. Prep for release over summer (new website and myspace design)submit to cd baby, itunes, whatever
we already have a tunecore account. details on that. cd baby takes a cut of the profit, obviously so will any distributor. the best way might be to make it available ONLY from us at the shows and also available from us DIRECTLY from our website, where we will set up our own payment system (probably paypal, it's free i think). maybe later we should put it up on cd baby, itunes, etc, but not right away.
for website: we'll need a good design, $ to get it up and running. factor this into the budget so that we can direct people to the site for EVERYTHING. we need this to be a central place for people - not just a giant ad/demo for the band... it needs to be interactive with us posting videos, random blogs, etc. think of the sites you actually visit and why they you visit them!
promotion: online, college radio (airplay, interviews, acoustic performances?), college papers, the local hour or two that wbcn, wfnx, waaf play local bands around here (boston). where else? press releases to whom?
7. Release + Release show (Bills Bar? Middle East? contact Lionel?)
who do we want to play with us? we need to make sure and advance the show... and all shows for that matter. send out promo stuff before we play/go put it up ourselves. SEPTEMBER 8TH is a tuesday, when major labels/indies release their albums. do we want to do this and have the release show on a tuesday? it could actually turn out to be really good as long as it doesn't run too late... nobody does stuff on tuesdays. friday night/sat. we'd be in competition with pretty much every other band playing that weekend.
8. Management (Sidehatch)?
we should just do everything ourselves until it becomes too much to handle. which won't be for a while probably. yes?
9. Start playing shows/send cd to as many labels as possible
i know you guys are really into this, but realistically just sending stuff out doesn't seem worth it to me. if we were to get picked up i'm thinking we'd want to wait until about a year after and then get them to fund a second album. they will want to see what we can do on our own in terms of sales, fan base, touring, merch, etc.
10. keep playing shows and writing new music
To YOU! ... please keep in mind that I wrote this directed towards my band, so the details about local venues and dates and budget I don't expect advice on, unless you're from the Boston area. This is just a bunch of ideas we came up with, and we haven't put a huge amount of thought into the plan yet- plus we haven't considered nearly everything we need to do, especially with details. But if you have just general advice/comments on anything major that might be missing from our plan, that would really great!
Thank you so much for reading, and if anyone has any questions feel free to message me.
Chris
p.s. you can hear our stuff at myspace.com/conveymusic
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by randy on -
Hello and thanks for posting!
You totally have the right plan. Some things may change a little, but overall, this looks GREAT.
Here are my $.02
1) Cover all your bases as far as "getting picked up", but DO NOT EXPECT IT. Your approach should be to create diversified income streams (gigs, licensing, merch sales, album/song sales etc) to create a sustainable business.
2) Social Networking: This is what will get people to your shows, and club owners to think twice about you. You need: Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. This is absolutely necessary.
Each band member should have a facebook account, and you band needs a group/page. Then get all your friends to it. Use Twitter and connect it into your status updates for myspace and facebook...(for each band member)...then, load up these pages with your audio, video, and twitters...everyone in the band should twitter..especially when an event or a show is coming up..or you are at the show! (this is done from your phone).
3) Content is king.
once this mechanism is set up, a constant flow of twitters( so people know what the band is up to all the time), Video (use youtube), and audio posts will keep your fans coming back for more. Then when your album is done, go into overdrive mode.
4) Analytics
gather demographics on who is watching and where. this will help you book in popular areas.
youtube has this, and brightkit.com does this for twitter posts...all free.
these are the basics for viral marketing in preparation for bands career...just as important as copyrighting the tunes :)...
Ill get some more editors to chime in!...keep us informed on your progress!..here are some related clips:
-
Permalink Reply by George Howard on -
yeah - you're on the right track, and the depth of detail here is about 1000% more inclusive than i see from most artists. the only thing that troubles me about this otherwise very good plan is that the live component starts late; too late, imho.
you need to be out there now playing. don't make the mistake of looking for validation by playing the middle east etc. (a club I've spent countless hours both on stage and off), instead build your community in a more meaningful way - find a way to identify those who have values that align with those of your band, and then figure out where they are. make your gigs events. while it's tempting to validate yourself by playing at the middle east, etc., in the long run it's pretty meaningless. what's meaningful is building a tribe. then, if/when you play the middle east (after playing many other non-trad venues), and your tribe shows up and you sell it out - things start happening.
you should be building that tribe - via playing live and leveraging tech - while you're recording. don't think in terms of records - think in terms of songs as social objects that you can empower the tribe with to spread the word. these can be downloads, they can be songs on burned CDs, whatever.
George
-
Permalink Reply by Chris on -
Thank you, George and Randy for your replies. It's really helpful that you both address different aspects of my post. The live component is something we definitely need to work on, and hearing it from you, George, gives it some real meaning. I am meeting with my band later today to discuss this stuff, and when I bring up things they don't always take them as seriously as they might if a "professional" in the industry was talking about them. This is awesome, now I can watch your live video! Thanks for the input.
-
Permalink Reply by Anne Tabligan on -
This band I am promoting is already doing these. Check out IVY ROSE:
http://ivyrosemusic.com/
They are ready to take it to the next level. Any advice?
© 2010 Created by randy.
