Can we have the $5 CD???
Amazon has been doing something great to lure some business from iTunes. Every day they have a “deal of the day” where they sell a full album from $1.99-$3.99
It’s worked, I’ve bought 3 CDs from them this way. One that I would have bought anyway, and two that I wouldn’t have paid full price.
This got me thinking… With single songs going for $.99, shouldn’t the album feel like a better deal per song? And aren’t we all a little fed up with what the CD has wrought? I won’t go on about how vinyl sounded great, but what I miss is that most albums were 8-10 songs because you couldn’t fit more on there. Less bloat, more good songs, less filler.
So, how about the labels start charging $4.99 for a digital album? By necessity, artists would stop putting out god awful collections of 17 songs, and I bet go down to a much more palatable 8-10 songs, and it would still feel like we’re getting a deal. In fact, I bet more people would pick up a full CD at this rate. Something I think proven by Maroon 5’s old album storming back into the iTunes top 5 the week they sold it for $4.99
Digital delivery reduces cost, flat out. No distribution, mailing, returns to deal with. The record companies need to find new ways to market and value their products. Smaller albums would let artists release albums more frequently, enabling them to stay “on the pulse”… and those filler cuts? Make them what they used to be… B-Sides. Release the single for $1.99 with 2 unavailable bonus cuts!
It would be nice if iTunes or the other stores would allow independent artists this flexibility. Some sort of ability to set a price lower than $9.99 (or the total of .99 per track, whatever is less) would let the EP come back into play in a big way. I bet a lot of indies could and would be willing to release a five song EP if they could sell it for $2.99!
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Filed under: Music, Recording
1. Do you know which studio to book? Do you know if they will really have what you need to accomplish your goals? Real Producers know this. Many have their own studios as well, so the price isn’t much more, and if their studio isn’t up to the job, they’ll be able to take the portion of the project that needs another space and coordinate everything.
4. Do you need other musicians, gear, etc…? A Real Producer knows great people who can perform on your project that MEET YOUR BUDGET and deliver reliable services.
If you’ve ever talked to ANYONE who has recorded a CD you have heard the horror stories. Budgets skyrocketed 2-3 times past what they were prepared to spend. (Although sometimes this was due to unrealistic expectations… but a Real Producer can prep you for that ahead of time!) They weren’t happy with the sound at the end. The engineer took too long to deliver. There are many more. If you press for more information and ask if they hired a producer, 9 times out of 10 they will say “no”. And if you press on with the ones who did, I bet often you’ll find they didn’t do any research on the producer.
2. Ask the producer what his WEAKNESSES are in general. Ask him what he expects to be the most challenging aspect of your project. A Real Producer should be honest in his assessment of his work(That is his JOB) and not just full of bluster about how “EVERYTHING I TOUCH turns out AWESOME!”.
1. Established producers will “cost”: The truest form of a spec deal is with an established producer who actually has industry contacts and is producing you because they feel they can possibly get a deal for you. However, getting their attention is difficult. Unless you have an inside connection to them in the first place, you will need a very good quality demo to get them interested in the first place. Then if you DO get the deal,YOU WILL NEED TO HIRE AN EXPERIENCE MUSIC ATTORNEY. This will cost you quite a bit, but you need to protect yourself, because the well connected producer is certainly protecting himself. The last thing you want is a scenario where the demos he produces don’t secure you a deal and/or aren’t stylistically where you want to go musically… and then you find yourself lucky enough to actually land a deal later on (not having anything to do with his demos) and have him suing you for earnings.
I realized that it would be a good thing to talk about some of the successes my clients have had, and I’ll start with a brand new one!
Brazilian dance artist, 
In most areas, it holds true that You Get What You Pay For. Spend more money you get better quality. Unfortunately for many reasons, that just doesn’t hold true in the recording business. In fact there is very little rhyme or reason whatsoever when searching for Producers - studios - engineers.
There has been a recent issue that many of my current and potential clients have brought up recently. And in the hope of saving someone some heartbreak in the future, I am going to address it here.
I have a diverse playlist, and at times I find it interesting to see what iTunes tells me I’m listening to the most of… I have never been the type to listen to one song over and over (I get enough of that when I’m mixing a song!) so in 4 years, my most played song has 23 listens. I’m listing here my top 15 songs… Drumroll please…
The Scissor Sisters - “The Other Side” (23) - The truth is, the Scissor Sisters have FIVE songs in my top twenty. I’m just listing this one so I don’t have to think up tons of different things to say. This song is haunting and beautiful, and there are so many songs in my top 20 because “Ta-Dah” is one of my absolute favorite albums of this decade… in fact a lot of songs from them could jump to the front of the list as I seem compelled to listen to the album again soon…
I always hear singers and performers say “I need my own sound” or “I need to find the right image“. And while those are both important comodoties in the business, I have decided it boils down to something else… IDENTITY.
