REACTIVEradio

Being that it’s a rather slow day at work today, I spent the better portion of my morning pricing out the entire cost of recording and pressing 1000 copies of a 12 song CD. It’s strange because I was picturing the price to be either really high or really low, and it turns out the reality is right in the middle.

Breakdown:

• 20 hours of studio time (recording and tweaking single songs): $1000
• Mastering (tweaking the full album; making it all flow): $490
• CD replication service (pressing the 1000 CDs w/ jewel cases, 300 posters, 1000 stickers, 24 limited edition t-shirts, UPC barcode): $1590
• 20 countertop sales displays: $50
• Design of all artwork (CD, jewel case inserts, posters): $390
• Commemorative Plaque (for hanging on the wall): $49
• Distribution package (submission of all tracks to iTunes, Yahoo! Music, etc; submission to CDBaby [online CD store]; submission to Nielsen Soundscan to track sales): $29
• Taxi Membership (A&R group that will shop your CD around to the major labels for possible distribution deal): $299.95
• Photography for CD insert [optional]: ~$200

Grand total: $3797.95

So basically for less than $4000, I can have an entire CD recorded, pressed and delivered professionally. That means that if I sell the CD for $12.75 each (plus shipping), I only need to sell 300 copies to break even. From everything I’ve read on independent music publishing sites and blogs, 300 is doable even if you don’t market yourself at all. Just from word of mouth (e.g. whoring yourself out to anyone who will give you the time of day; parents telling their friends to buy it out of pity for their children; etc.) I plan to sell them all.

There are a few things, like the Taxi membership, or the commemorative plaque, that aren’t absolutely essential, but the Taxi membership is a potential revenue earner as it could put me in touch with people who will buy large quantities of my CDs and therefore give a greater return on investment. I would also just like the plaque because this would be something I’m doing completely on my own, with no label help at all, and I think that’s a pretty damn big accomplishment and deserves to be remembered.

The sales displays will be great too, because I’ll be able to have people like my sister in Calgary, or friends in Winnipeg, as well as myself here in Bermuda, attempt to have independent record stores keep a few copies right by the registers which will give me some exposure too. Obviously this part depends on my family and friends being supportive in this endeavour, but I have enough dirt on enough people that I can call in some favours if absolutely necessary.

The t-shirts will be great for marketing because I’ll be able to keep a few for myself, and then use the rest as special gifts for either contests or just as extra goodies for random/certain purchasers when I sell the CD online. I’ll be able to throw in a sticker with every sale, and the posters will be good for the record stores to give away or sell with the discs, depending on the quality of the prints.

It’s strange to think how far the recording industry has come, and how accessible it really is to completely self-publish an album. I don’t have to worry about one of the Big 4 breathing down my neck to have anything accomplished; I can do it all at my own pace. While the whole process looks rather daunting, it’s also really exciting, and I can’t wait until I can take my first steps into the studio and finally get on my way to having my own professional CD.

Now does anyone want to give me four thousand dollars?