How to Change the Audio File You Uploaded to Cd Baby

Digital

[Overview | Mastering | Distro | Bandcamp | Publishing, Licensing, Copyrights]

| Overview

With a budget of a few hundred dollars...

you can get your digital album professionally Mastered and make it bachelor on all the popular stores and streaming services. A ballpark budget starts at around $forty per song for Mastering, plus $50 to Digitally Distribute your album and you should allow yourself a few months to complete these processes.

If you lot're trying to become your music out without spending anything, practice your all-time to "master" the tracks yourself, set up your free Paypal and Bandcamp accounts, upload your album to Bandcamp and voilà! - you've officially released your music digitally.

Be sure to check out the PROMO department for advice on letting the World know about your release!

Get Upwards-to-Spec!

Audio File Formats: Yous should save your final mixes as high-quality (24 bit is standard) stereo WAV or AIFF files bounced at the same sample rate you lot've been mixing in. These WAV or AIFF files are what you volition submit to the Mastering Engineer, what you volition get back from the Mastering Engineer, and what you will and so upload to digital stores and services (they will non take MP3's!).

Artwork: To be prophylactic, salve your Digital album cover artwork equally a 2400 10 2400 pixel .JPG or .PNG file, at at least 72 dpi and in RGB color way. (2400 x 2400 pixels is the largest dimension recommended - many stores take a smaller version, but if yous start with the 2400 x 2400 version, you can always downsize.)

UPC and ISRC codes: To sell your music on iTunes or whatsoever of the other major services, you will demand to become through a Digital Distributor and they will provide y'all with both a UPC code for your album (this identifies your album and monitors your sales) and ISRC codes for each of your tracks (same idea, only for individual songs).

Here is a useful rundown on the applicability of UPC and ISRC codes for indie artists.

If y'all prefer to license your ain personal UPC and ISRC codes, you lot tin can notice unmarried UPC's for as depression as $10.00 and ISRC's are a one-time $95 fee for a company/brand prefix.

| Mastering

To have your final mixes professionally Mastered you will need to accept a starting budget of roughly $twoscore per song and should plan on waiting 4-8 weeks from the day you submit your files to the mean solar day you lot download your finished masters.

If you're looking for a quick answer to the question "Should I get my digital files mastered?", the reply is "YES!"

Why?

Considering mastering dependably makes your mixes audio ameliorate. 😎

Mastering engineers specialize in standardizing and refining the dynamics, loudness, consistency and timing of your tracks. They're experts at applying complimentary levels of EQ and Compression, helping each element of your music sound clearer and smoother (they utilise the kind of Hi-Fi equipment virtually of us can just dream of putting our mixes through!) For more on the history and effects of mastering, I recommend this podcast interview with one of my favorite engineers, Carl Saff.

If you're not budgeted to Master professionally or if you aren't convinced that information technology's worth information technology, delight at least practice your audience the favor of trying your best to "main" the tracks yourself!

Mastering Engineers

Here are some recommendations for affordable Mastering Engineers with corking reputations (price per vocal approximate - and since rates fluctuate based on # of songs/amount of time existence mastered, these approximations might exist low for a single and loftier for an album - always double bank check!):

The Boiler Room ($50/song), Lucky Lacquers ($l/song), Sky Onion ($50/song), Carl Saff ($lx/song), Eureka (Mike Nolte) ($sixty/song), Focus (Doug Van Sloun) ($lx/song), Taloowa ($75/song), Josh Bonati ($85/song), Salt (Paul Gold) ($100/song), Aureate Mastering ($100/song).

[*2021 update: a smashing manner of finding the right Mastering Engineer is to expect at the credits on any new music yous call up sounds really good and and so google them and see what their rates and availability are.]

| Distribution

To make your music available on Apple tree Music, Spotify, Amazon, Tidal etc., y'all'll need to sign up with - and pay! - a Digital Distributor.

Notation: Turnaround times for Digital Distribution are pretty fast these days - from a few days to a few weeks - though yous can specify your release appointment when you lot go through the set-up process. Be sure to requite yourself plenty time - at to the lowest degree a calendar month (industry standard is 3 months) before your release date to become your EPK together, ship out printing releases, service radio and push your data.

The three Digital Distributors I'm most familiar with are Tunecore, CD Babe and DistroKid. All have piece of cake-to-apply dashboards that guide you through the gear up-upward process, offer clear and thorough reports on your sales, and allow you lot to hands withdraw any money you've made by Check, Direct Deposit or Paypal.

Tunecore vs. CD Baby vs. DistroKid

Tunecore charges $29.99 to distribute your album for the offset year and then raises it to an annual charge of $49.99, for continued distribution, every twelvemonth after that - but they don't take whatsoever percentage of your music sales.

CD Baby, on the other paw, merely charges a one-fourth dimension fee of $49 per album for distribution, but they accept a 9% cut of everything you sell, for the duration of their service.

DistroKid allows you to upload unlimited music for an annual price (starting at $19.99/year), and lets you lot proceed 100% of your royalties (paid monthly). Definitely the all-time deal, peculiarly if yous're planning to release more than than one anthology. Bonus from DistroKid is that thanks to Spotify'due south minority investment, you become instant verification on Spotify (including the blue checkmark on your Spotify artist page) when yous submit your music through DistroKid.

Other options

In that location are a number of other Digital Distributors worth checking out, including Stem, Music Kickup, Aded.us, Ditto Music, iMusician, Catapult and Traxx.space. Hither's a good detailed breakdown of distributors and their features via Ari Herstand at Ari's Have.

AWAL

AWAL is a cool Distro company you may want to try submitting to. It's curated, then they don't accept everything, but if you manage to perk their ears, they offer proficient terms for digital distribution (a direct 15% sales committee on a rolling 30-twenty-four hour period contract) and they are known for actively pitching your record for shop placement and features. To submit your music to AWAL, you'll first need to fill out a "Join Us" form, which yous can find here.

Artist Profiles

A number of the large digital streaming/monetization platforms allow you to independently annals and customize your Artist profile, which you lot should definitely do!

Here are Artist sign-upwards links for Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music and Pandora.

| Bandcamp

Bandcamp is a dynamic, gratis service that provides you lot with a customizable profile, full control over setting prices, and some really useful (free) services for selling merch and generating download codes.

(They also have some valuable features for fans, similar being able to "follow" the bands you like, being notified when the bands you lot follow release new music, a gratis mobile app for streaming your purchases, and options for wish-listing and gifting music.)

Bandcamp has no set-upwards fees and no annual charges. They do, however, take a 15% committee on all of your music sales and a 10% fee on all merch (compare that to iTunes, which takes a xxx% commission on all sales.)

If yous're an indie creative person and y'all're trying to put your music out, I encourage you to go set up up on Bandcamp regardless of whether you're also doing Digital Distribution!

Heads Up!

A common frustration with beingness new to Bandcamp is that in social club to collect the coin you make on Bandcamp, you lot must not only have a Paypal business relationship, simply your Paypal account must be a "Premier" or "Business" Account, which means once you lot've ready a Paypal account you'll need to go through an additional process of (costless) upgrading on Paypal before yous can really first collecting everything you've earned. And then if yous plan to utilise Bandcamp as a platform for selling your music, go your Paypal account in order showtime!

| Publishing, Licensing & Copyrights

As long every bit you haven't explicitly signed away whatsoever rights, your Publishing and Chief Recording copyrights default to yous.

It is recommended, all the same, that you do everything y'all tin to professionally establish the rights to your music. This involves registering your "music compositions" and "sound recordings" with the Us Copyright Office (this can exist washed together, in one application, for $35), registering with a Operation Rights Organization (or "PRO") equally both a Writer and a Publisher ($100 - $150) and registering every bit an Artist with SoundExchange (free). Once these tasks are complete, you lot'll exist covered in case anyone always records, performs, plagiarizes or wants to pay big bucks to license your songs.

(For a actually great, detailed look at the realities of Publishing and Licensing, check out this article, "Agreement the Music Industry: Music Publishers, Syncs and Licensing" by Budi Voogt.)

Performance Rights Organizations

The 3 major Operation Rights Organizations - ASCAP, BMI and SESAC - collect and distriubte royalties for the "public performance" of your songs.

For indie artists, your best bet is to choose either ASCAP or BMI (SESAC is pretty exclusive and "invitation merely" at the moment). Both ASCAP and BMI permit you to annals as either a "Writer", a "Publisher", or both, but since the royalties they collect go 50/50 to "Author" and "Publisher", you'll desire to register as both a "Writer" and "Publisher" to collect the entirety of your potential earnings.

The grab: there are fees associated with registering. If you go with ASCAP, you'll demand to pay $fifty to register as a "Writer" plus some other $fifty to register as a "Publisher". At BMI you'll exist able to register every bit a "Writer" for free but then they charge $150 to annals as a "Publisher".

SoundExchange

Subsequently registering with ASCAP or BMI, be sure to sign up as an Creative person with SoundExchange. This is a free registration that covers royalties for "non-interactive" streaming of musical content (such equally Pandora and SiriusXM).

Licensing

The skillful news is that if anyone ever wants to license any of your music for Picture show, TV or Commercials, since y'all control your Publishing and Master Recording rights, you (or you and your lawyer) tin can negotiate and get paid directly.

The bad news is that the competition for Licensing dollars is super intense.

While information technology'southward ever worth sending an email and listen-link to absurd Licensing Agencies like Bank Robber, Musicbed, The Music Playground and Zync, your best bet in terms of getting a Licensing Agency interested in your music is to succeed on other fronts like publicity and radio. If you generate some buzz, your licensing opportunities - as well equally other opportunities like touring and merch sales - are sure to increment.

Songtradr

Songtradr is a complimentary service that allows you to upload your music, set licensing fee prices, submit to diverse projects, and make licensing transactions all through their platform. If you current of air up licensing anything through them, they take a 17.5% brokerage fee (compare that to Tunecore's 20%). It's a new service and I don't know their success rate, just I've worked with some of their team before and I would definitely recommend giving Songtradr a shot.

Publishing & Licensing through your Digital Benefactor

If y'all're using Tunecore or CD Baby equally your Digital Benefactor, you may be interested in their options for consolidating your rights management with them. The do good would exist that you lot may score some licensing opportunities that y'all'd otherwise exist missing out on. The drawback is that y'all have to requite them contractual permission to place your music anywhere they can, and you may not be happy with where your song gets placed, regardless of the payout.

Tunecore offers a "Tunecore Publishing Bargain" for a one-time set-upward fee of $75 (plus fifteen% of royalties and 20% commission on any Licensing they secure). There's a decent chance y'all won't make that $75 back from it, just it will definitely offer y'all a glimpse into online acquirement streams and put your music out there for licensing opportunities.

And CD Infant has two options: a gratuitous opt-in feature for "Sync Licensing" where they will brand your music available (and collect the royalties) for Picture, Boob tube, commercial and YouTube licensing; and a service called CD Babe Pro ($89/Album or $49/Upgrade), through which CD Baby will handle your PRO registration and collect and distribute your royalties (taking a fifteen% admin fee).

CD

[Overview | Mastering | Manufacturing | Samples | Distro]

| Overview

It'south 2022. Should you still make CDs?

Certain, if:
✔ y'all're playing a lot of shows or going on tour (CDs are yet a cracking impulse-buy at the merch table) [*uhh, yep, this doesn't apply at the moment, but this is the general idea]
✔ you lot have a good relationship with your local record store and enough of a local presence that you lot can nigh likely move some product
✔ you plan to practice a big publicity and/or college radio push and want to postal service out CDs for consideration
✔ you lot want your music added to the Allmusic.com/Rovi database, which supplies the bio, epitome and metadata for sites like Spotify [*2021 update: yous can actually practice this digitally now, past post-obit the instructions under the "My music is a digital release, not a concrete product. Can it still be listed in the database?" at the above link.
✔ yous take money in the budget (approximately $800 for 500 CDs)

No, if:
❌ you inappreciably e'er play live
❌ the majority of your focus is online/digital
❌ yous expect to get your CD in record stores across the land (this takes a physical distribution deal, which showtime requires getting signed to an established record label!)
❌ your upkeep is tight... If yous but have a few hundred bucks and y'all're debating between professional person Mastering and making CDs, I encourage you lot to Master!

| Mastering

CD Mastering is the same process as Digital mastering, with the boosted consideration of how best to deliver your CD chief to the CD manufacturer. Traditionally, your Mastering Engineer would burn a CD "production master" which you lot would then mail in to the manufacturer, and while this is however a viable option (and typically an additional $25 or and then charge for the disc), the electric current standard is to evangelize your CD master electronically as a DDP image.

Be sure to allow your Mastering Engineer know upfront about the different formats you lot plan to release your music in.

If you're looking for advice on who to use for professional CD Mastering, delight check out the DIGITAL Mastering section!

| Manufacturing

There are 2 means to industry CDs:

1) "Replication" (the loftier-quality professional manner)
ii) "Duplication" (for low quantities - basically the same as burning CDs from your computer).

300 CDs is the typical quantity threshold for professional Replication. For smaller runs, you can either go through a Duplicator, or CD Babe and Amazon CreateSpace have options to duplicate-as-needed.

Price Breakdowns for Professional CD Replication

Note the various packaging options and that prices do non include aircraft (prices effective Summer 2019 - always double-check!):

From Discmakers:
300 CDs in jewel cases with total colour embrace = $555 ($1.85 per unit of measurement)
300 CDs in total color Digipaks = $657 ($two.14 per unit)
500 CDs in precious stone cases with full color cover = $795 ($1.59 per unit)
500 CDs in total colour Digipaks = $790 ($ane.58 per unit)
1000 CDs in jewel cases with full color comprehend = $990 ($0.99 per unit)
1000 CDs in full colour Digipaks = $990 ($0.99 per unit)

From Groovehouse:
500 CDs in jewel cases with full color embrace = $795 ($1.59 per unit)
500 CDs in full colour Digipaks = $1170 ($ii.34 per unit)
thou CDs in jewel cases with full color embrace = $890 ($0.89 per unit)
1000 CDs in full color Digipaks = $1390 ($1.39 per unit)

From Nationwide Disc:
300 CDs in jewel cases with full color cover = $778 ($2.59 per unit of measurement)
300 CDs in full color Digipaks = $783 ($two.61 per unit)
500 CDs in jewel cases with full color encompass = $915 ($1.83 per unit)
500 CDs in full color Digipaks = $915 ($1.83 per unit)
one thousand CDs in jewel cases with full colour embrace = $1134 ($1.13 per unit of measurement)
1000 CDs in full color Digipaks = $1134 ($one.13 per unit)

The Math

As you tin can see, the more CDs you manufacture, the cheaper the toll is "per-unit" - equally low as $0.89 per CD if you make 1000.

This "per unit" cost is useful because it allows you to estimate what your profit margin will be when you really sell a CD. If CDs are costing you $ane/unit of measurement to produce, but you're selling them at your merch tabular array for $10 each, you're profiting $ix on each CD. If yous brand 1000 CDs at a cost of $900 and you manage to sell all 1000 CDs at $10 a pop (that'due south $10,000!), your full profit is $9100, which is why CDs, in theory, tin be a great investment. (To actually sell 1000 CDs, withal, you'd probably have to be doing brisk business online and at at least a few record stores, in which case your turn a profit margin would be a bit lower considering you'd need to factor in the shipping and packaging costs for mail orders, the commissions for webstores, and the wholesale price for record shops.)

But hold up. Do you really need m CDs? I can assure you it is extraordinarily difficult to sell chiliad - or 500 - or even 100 CDs these days, and the about likely result of making all those CDs is that they will end up taking up closet infinite for years to come.

I think the wisest advice is to effort generating involvement in your music online and/or in your community first and if you sense that in that location's real need, that's when you offset thinking about manufacturing.

Kunaki

Got a hot tip from this reddit #watmm thread most Kunaki, an on-demand, no minimums, CD Duplicator. Pros: total-service, cheap and on demand. Cons: Duplication (not Replication) and only Precious stone-cases offered.

| Samples

Beware: if you have whatever uncleared samples anywhere in your tracks, there is a high likelihood they'll be detected past the manufacturer!

In society to avoid copyright lawsuits, manufacturing companies make sure to clear themselves of liability in the paperwork they have you sign too as protect themselves by running every projection through sample detecting software before going to press.

If they detect the samples you've expertly chopped and woven into your songs, they will pull your projection from production, notify you of the detected samples and insist upon appropriate clearance for whatsoever it is you're using earlier your project can proceed.

Getting clearance

Is it worth contacting tape labels and publishers about getting clearance to utilize samples? Not unless you've got the kind of money that tin become their attending!

If you're interested in trying anyway, here is some gratuitous, thorough, legal advice.

Solutions

Since you lot won't get in any actual trouble for submitting music with samples (and who knows, your timing could be just correct to slip by!), you tin always gamble with the manufacturing plants. Just be certain you're approved for product earlier yous pay them anything!

Yous tin can also Do It Yourself by printing inserts, purchasing cases and having the CD faces printed on and then burning the CDs on your computer...

| Distribution

If you lot're hoping to have your CD in record stores across the state, your best bet is to get signed by a tape label with a national distribution deal - and fifty-fifty then, in such a competitive market, it requires press, radio play and critical acclamation to exist in full effect the calendar week your CD is released to avert being only some other band lost in the store-shelf shuffle.

If this is your dream, and you desire to reach out to your favorite tape labels in the hopes that they will offer yous a deal and work tirelessly to become your CD into every store still standing, simply:

✔ Compose an email to the label's contact email address
✔ Write a paragraph about who you are and what kind of help you're looking for
✔ Paste in the advisable links to stream your music, and...
✔ Sign off

Chances are you lot won't hear back. Just it's your dream. Perhaps you lot will! ⚡

So what'due south the best way to sell CDs, beyond your merch table at shows and from your local record store?

Online Retail

Making your CD available online is as piece of cake equally signing upwardly with an online retailer similar Storenvy (gratis) or Big Cartel (costless for up to 5 items or $9.99/mo) - or DIY past creating a CASH Music account and using their gratuitous tools for creating a shop. Once yous're fix, you can link to your storefront from your website and your social media.

If you've set up your profile on Bandcamp, they will host a gratis merch-store for you (they take a 10% commission on all merch sales), from which you can price, sell and link-to your CDs.

And if you're using CD Baby as your Digital Distributor, they offering a costless customizable store widget you can embed on your site. (CD Infant also offers what they telephone call "Worldwide CD Distribution" for $49 + $4/CD, assuasive yous to sell CD's via their online shop, on Amazon and through various distribution partners).

Vinyl

[Overview | Mastering | Manufacturing | Samples | Distro]

| Overview

Nix's sweeter than the twenty-four hours UPS shows up with a box full of your very ain hot-off-the-press LP's!

Getting at that place can be a journey, though.

Be prepared to expect

Making actual records takes time. Not only are in that location multiple steps required before production but the whole vinyl industry is notorious for delays.

$$$

And it takes $$$. You'll need to be prepared to pay for Mastering, lacquer-cut, test presses, anthology-jacket printing and aircraft along with the vinyl manufacturing costs.

$4 per unit, with a minimum of 500 units, is a good rough cost estimate ("unit" = the finished packaged product).

In other words, 500 12" LP's in custom-printed Jackets volition cost you $2000. (seven" records are about one-half that.)

| Mastering

The aforementioned Mastering Engineer you lot use to primary your digital files can create a secondary digital master specifically tailored to pressing vinyl - it typically takes a little more time then at that place'south an additional price, only engineers and audiophiles will encourage you to do it. (Yeah, of course y'all can simply use the digital master for your vinyl but vinyl manufacturing introduces a different gear up of quirks and dynamics, so if you lot desire your tape to sound its all-time, Master for vinyl!)

For a list of recommended Mastering Engineers, check out the DIGITAL Mastering section.

Cutting Lacquers

After you have your Mastered files there is a 2d step involved in creating a vinyl main, known as cutting lacquer. This is the process by which the sound from your Master is transferred by a mastering lathe onto the lacquer, cutting the grooves into it. Here's a fly-on-the-wall video demo:

There are ii ways to cut lacquers:

1) Ship it to a lacquer-cutting specialist (who will then send information technology on to the manufactory for production).
ii) Have the manufacturing plant y'all're using cut the lacquer.

Both options price near the same corporeality of coin (approximately $350 for standard 12" or $150 for 7").

The benefit of having a specialist do it is that they are really focusing on you and making your vinyl sound as true to the Master equally possible. The negative: the extra fourth dimension it takes to schedule them.

The benefit of having the tape plant do information technology is efficiency - information technology'll save time and, as long as yous're happy with your digital Masters, it should sound fine. But a record establish is cutting a huge corporeality of lacquer and they're not really promising the service of a "shut" listening.

Some lacquer-cutting specialists with sterling reputations (they besides all happen to be popular Mastering Engineers) (prices per standard 12" approximate):

Sky Onion ($260), Carl Saff ($330), Lucky Lacquers ($350), Bonati Mastering ($350), Taloowa ($350), Salt Mastering ($370) and Gold Mastering ($450).

| Manufacturing

Vinyl Manufacturers typically make a distinction between the services they offer: "Vinyl Manufacturing" is one service, while "Album Art/Jacket/Insert printing" is another (and may require its own separate order.)

Some people prefer to have their Album Jackets and whatsoever insert textile printed by companies that specialize in custom press (such as Banner or Dorado). *Notation: 500 is the standard minimum lodge for 12" jackets (and 300 for 7" jackets) regardless of whether you use a specialist or the vinyl manufacturer. If you need fewer than the minimum, you'll simply be left with a stack of extra jackets...

Equally with lacquer cutting, the costs are about the same whether you accept the Vinyl Manufacturer print your packaging or send information technology to a specialist. Ane advantage of having the Vinyl Manufacturer print the Jackets is that they volition typically insert the records into the jackets for you lot at no extra accuse (every bit opposed to having to do them all yourself in your studio apartment.)

Either way, if yous want to keep your LP costs down, stick with the standard or default options and consider limiting the number of colors on your artwork and labels!

Price Breakdowns for Professional person 12" LP Vinyl Manufacturing

Prices include lacquer cutting + *standard 12" Jacket press* but do non include shipping (prices are effective Summertime 'nineteen - e'er double-check!):

From United Record Pressing:
300 records with b/due west labels in newspaper sleeves = $1286 ($4.29 per unit)
500 records with b/w labels in newspaper sleeves = $1455 ($2.91 per unit)
500 4 colour LP Jackets = $695 ($i.39 per unit)
* All-time parcel deal: 500 records with b/w labels and 500 four color jackets = $2150 ($iv.30 per unit)
+ Digital Download coupons and hosting parcel (1000 coupons) = $275

From Erika Records:
100 records with b/westward labels in paper sleeves = $1066 ($ten.66 per unit)
300 records with b/due west labels in newspaper sleeves = $1308 ($4.36 per unit)
500 records with b/w labels in paper sleeves = $1465 ($2.93 per unit)
500 4 color LP Jackets = $475 ($0.95 per unit)
* All-time package bargain: 500 records with b/w labels and 500 4 colour jackets = $1940 ($3.88 per unit)

From Groovehouse:
300 records with one color labels in paper sleeves = $1394 ($4.65 per unit)
500 records with one color labels in paper sleeves = $1760 ($3.52 per unit)
300 records with i colour labels and iv colour Jackets = $1815 ($half dozen.05 per unit)
500 records with one color labels and 4 colour Jackets = $2130 ($four.26 per unit)
* All-time bundle deal: 500 records with one colour labels and 500 4 color Jackets = $2130 ($4.26 per unit)
+ Digital Download cards and hosting package (500 cards) = $349

There are a number of other Vinyl Manufacturers both in the U.Southward. and abroad. Here is a good reference list.

Vinyl On Need

The prices are premium, merely if all you're looking for is a limited number of copies of your album on vinyl, there are services that will lathe cut each record one-by-one, assuasive you to make as few every bit 1 copy(!) Proceed in mind that lathe-cut vinyl is done by paw and not past the precisely-calibrated machinery of a record plant, so it is susceptible to volume and allegiance fluctuations, but however... pretty cool.

Here is some sample pricing from Vinyl On Demand (prices are effective Summer '19 and do non include shipping):
1 7" record in a blank jacket = $25 ($25 per unit)
20 7" records in bare jackets = $285 ($14.25 per unit)
1 12" record in a bare jacket = $48 ($48 per unit)
20 12" records in blank jackets = $490 ($24.fifty per unit of measurement)

Other lathe-cutting vinyl specialists to check out: Austin Bespeak, One Groove Vinyl, Tangible Formats and Audio Geography.

Qrates

Along with being a (fairly premium-priced) professional manufacturing option, Qrates offers a crowdfunding business organization model, where yous can create what-volition-be your production and so crowdfund it through them. Once your projection is funded, Qrates handles all the manufacturing, takes a 15% cutting of sales, and either ships your orders (for an additional v%) or ships you lot the product (you are so responsible aircraft out the orders yourself).

| Samples

Yes. Just every bit with CD Manufacturers, Vinyl Manufacturers are on the look-out for unlicensed samples and will waste material no time pulling your project from the production line if they locate any unlicensed samples in your music. (The Manufacturing plants are always the ane's that will phone call you lot out, past the way -- the Mastering Engineer and the Lacquer-cutter won't care.)

How take others bypassed the problem? They've taken their chances, and by taking their chances, I mean avoiding the cheaper, high-book Manufacturers and trying to find smaller Manufacturers who may not accept the manpower to run everything through detection software. Just unlicensed samples are always a hazard when having your music manufactured, so consider yourself warned!

| Distribution

To get your LP in record stores across the state you volition need a Distribution Bargain, which is typically just an option if you are signed to an established record label. For more details, see CD Distribution.

Without a Distribution Bargain, your best bets for selling vinyl are:
✔ from your merch table at shows
✔ at your local record store, where yous can establish a relationship with the buyer and clerks
✔ from your ring website and from online stores and services such every bit Storenvy, Large Cartel, CD Baby, Bandcamp and CASH Music (and by linking to whichever stores/services you're using from your social media)

Cassette

[Overview | Mastering | Manufacturing | Distro]

| Overview

It's 2022. Should you be making tapes?

Cassette culture, like vinyl culture, is passionate about the warmth and imperfections of analog sound and the man, tactile pleasure of a physical product.

Is this you?

If it is, there's a pretty vibrant marketplace for tapes and a manufacturing industry in that location to back up information technology. Tapes tin can be professionally produced for almost half the cost of vinyl (roughly $2/unit of measurement) or fifty-fifty washed at dwelling house for $ane/unit or less.

| Mastering

You can use your Digitally Mastered files for cassette manufacturing, though some people recommend a Mastering treatment closer to what yous'd go Mastering for Vinyl to make the best-sounding tapes. Either fashion, your Mastering Engineer will be able to brand whatever adjustments needed if you plan to manufacture cassettes.

Cassette Duplication companies accept masters in the following formats: audio-cassette, CD-DA, information CD/DVD and 44.1kHz sixteen-bit .WAVs (you can send higher quality but they will almost likely downgrade them to 16-bit).

| Manufacturing

At that place are two means to go near making Tapes:

1) identify an guild through one of the handful of large manufacturing plants that will professionally duplicate, print and packet them for you lot
2) social club blank tapes, cases, labels and j-cards in bulk and do the duping and printing yourself

To get a sense of the toll difference between D.I.Y. and professional person manufacturing, yous can get 100 blank 30-minute tapes, cases, labels and j-cards from National Audio for $92 (or $0.92 per unit - but and so you accept to do the duping, printing and packaging at home).

To have National Audio do the consummate manufacturing for 100 30-minute tapes and deliver the finished production to your doorstep costs about $200 (or $2 per unit).

(If you plan to order supplies in bulk, Delta Media also has great prices on blank Tapes, a diverseness of cases, Labels and J-cards.)

Price breakdowns for Professional Cassette Duplication

Quotes include printing and packaging but do not include aircraft (prices effective Summertime 'xix - always double-check!):

From National Sound Company/Cassetro:
100 up-to-threescore-minute tapes + press and packaging = $258 ($2.58 per unit)
250 up-to-60-minute tapes + printing and packaging = $510 ($2.04 per unit)
500 upward-to-60-minute tapes + printing and packaging = $960 ($1.92 per unit)
g up-to-sixty-minute tapes + printing and packaging = $1750 ($1.75 per unit)

From Cassette Works:
250 up-to-60-minute tapes + printing and packaging = $400 ($1.threescore per unit)
500 up-to-sixty-infinitesimal tapes + press and packaging = $750 ($one.50 per unit)
1000 up-to-threescore-minute tapes + press and packaging = $1450 ($i.45 per unit)

From Rainbo Records:
500 upward-to-44-minute tapes + printing and packaging = $659 ($i.31 per unit)
thousand upwardly-to-44-infinitesimal tapes + printing and packaging = $1075 ($1.07 per unit)

| Distribution

Every bit with selling CDs and Vinyl, your virtually dependable options for selling Cassettes are from your merch table at shows, from your local record shop, and from your online storefront, website, Distributor and/or Bandcamp.

There are a few holy grail names in tape shops, like Mississippi Records in Portland and Burger Records in Fullerton but I accept no inside scoop on how to get them to carry your tape other than to send them a re-create and promise someone takes an interest.

Here are a few recommended record-axial sites to send a re-create of your finished record for review (along with sending links to the digital versions of your music to your favorite music blogs):
Tabs Out, Animal Psi, Cassette Gods, Ad Hoc and Decoder.

| Electronic Press Kit

Electronic Press Kits, or "EPK'south", consist of all the standard tools you'll use to promote your record. Your Anthology Artwork, Liner Notes, Bio, Publicity Photos, Music Video(south) and Remixes volition all go into your EPK. The best fashion to keep your Kit organized is to make a folder on your desktop, championship it "EPK", and someday you create something that you program to apply promotionally, brand certain information technology gets in that binder!

Anthology Artwork

For Digital Distribution, you'll need to make your Album Encompass a 2400 x 2400 pixel .JPG or .PNG file, at at least 72 dpi and in RGB color fashion (for physical press, your file will need to be saved in CMYK). From here you tin downsize the file to any dimensions y'all demand for promotional purposes. If you plan to post an prototype of your Anthology Cover on your website, in your social media, or in your press release, a best do is to "Save for Spider web" in Photoshop to optimize the file size. If yous need aid designing your artwork, try an cheap indie designer like Fiverr ($5-$40) or a crowdsourcing site like 99 designs.

Liner Notes

They typically include who played on the record, what they played, who wrote the songs, who recorded it, where it was recorded, who mixed information technology, who mastered information technology and any shout-outs and give thanks yous'south. Y'all'll have options to input your liner notes when you ready upwards your anthology with a Digital Distributor, Bandcamp and/or Soundcloud. Liner notes are too pretty standard to take in your artwork if y'all're making any physical products.

Bio

Hither'southward a secret: any you write in your Bio and/or Press Release will be used, oftentimes verbatim, in any review or publicity you receive. So write your Bio exactly the mode you lot want your audition to read information technology. In general, your Bio should be a paragraph or ii that quickly covers who you are, where you're from, any pertinent accolades or printing quotes you've received and and then your best endeavour at making the tape you're promoting audio, in words, like something someone would desire to take time out of their life to heed to. Be honest! Exist thoughtful! Be curtailed! Let your bio serve every bit a time sheathing of where your band is at - and exit it in that location, no reason to ramble on! P.S. I recommend that you write your Bio to be pretty interchangeable with your first Printing Release.

Publicity Photos

If you're fortunate plenty to become any press, they'll want a high-res (300 dpi at a standard photo size similar 4x6 or 5x7) publicity photo or two, and so effort to be prepared. Nothing fancy - have someone take a few shots with a digital photographic camera or smartphone and upload them to your computer. If you accept a photo editing awarding similar Photoshop (even iPhoto or Picasso will do), maybe crop it a bit, and adjust it to look its best. Be sure to save a few high-res options for press and and then "Save For Web" copies of the photos to apply in your social media and in your press releases.

Video

Music videos, however amateur, are a huge nugget to your EPK and my communication is to either dedicate yourself to making 1 before your release date or detect someone skilled and dependable in your social world to assistance make a video for you. Once information technology's done, upload it to YouTube and/or Vimeo and so link to it in a press release and embed information technology on your website, and in your social media. (Even uploading a "music video" that simply shows your album fine art while the song plays is useful, since it allows your music to exist discoverable (and monetizable) on YouTube.)

Remixes

If you know someone whose remix skills you admire, striking them up! A proficient remix of i of your songs is a great way to cross-pollinate audiences, deepen the involvement in your album and is another excuse to drum upwards some social media and publicity fizz. Most people capable of doing remixes adopt to have "stems" of your songs. You lot tin save everyone fourth dimension by making certain, when you're mixing, to bounce stems for anything and everything you think might be worth remixing. My advice is to move on getting any remixes going as soon as you've got your final mixes - it's impossible to get them finished and into your EPK folder too soon!

| Publicity

If you think you'd like to try hiring a Publicist, continue in heed that they are extremely picky about who they choose to work with (which is good, since they have to believe they tin can get y'all some publicity if they're going to accept your coin!) And they are not cheap - await to pay at least a few thousand dollars for a publicity campaign, and that'southward for "Indie Music" publicists.

If you have the confidence in your tape and the money in your budget, hither's a good list of cool Publicists to send an introductory email and heed-link to: Chromatic, Forcefulness Field, Terrorbird, Toolshed, Press Here, Motormouth, Stunt Visitor, Grandstand and Tell All Your Friends.

For the majority of bands, who are not able to afford or retain a Publicist, getting word out most your music depends on yous.

⚡ Hither is how to do it: ⚡

Press Release Strategy

A proficient strategy is to exercise 3 printing releases, each serving a distinct merely costless purpose (if y'all're also trying to push a unmarried earlier your album, a press release for the single is customary a few weeks before you announce the full album details):

#1: "The Announcement" (4-6 weeks before your release date) -- this is where you announce your release and your release date and provide anthology details, listen links and social media links to press.

#ii: "The Friendly Reminder" (vii-10 days before your release engagement) -- ideally you'd build upon your original press release with something fresh - a video or a remix or tour dates or a press blurb -- but even without any of that, a "friendly reminder" with the cadre details tin't hurt -- especially if you have some printing outlets you're really targeting.

#three: "The Follow Up" (one-2 weeks later your release date) -- the follow-up is probably well-nigh effective if you tin can either quote from some of the press (or social media responses) you lot've received or have something new to offer (video, remix, tour dates etc). Otherwise y'all're but kind of banging the drum -- so again, banging the drum is how you raise awareness in the first identify, and so... don't requite up!

Creating Your First Press Release

ane. Research and make a thorough list of email contacts for all the Music Blogs, Magazines and local press outlets yous want to send a press release to.
2. Make sure either the entirety of your album or whatever select songs you want to share are properly hosted at a linkable source (such as Bandcamp or Soundcloud).
3. Compose a paragraph or 2 announcing, describing and tastefully hyping your upcoming Anthology.
4. Compose an electronic mail to yourself that looks something like this:

"Your Album Championship" by Your Ring Proper name
Your 250px ten 250px "Saved For Spider web" Album Encompass Your 250px ten 250px "Saved For Web" Publicity Photograph

A paragraph or two describing and tastefully hyping your new album. Be honest. Be thoughtful. Exist concise! What are the scattering of most important and most original things you can say about it? Where's your band from? Where was your album recorded? What makes this album of yours special? The things you say in this section of your press release volition ofttimes exist used verbatim by people writing about your release, so one arroyo is to write this section every bit though yous were the music writer! Not a bully writer? Inquire a friend who knows your music to aid!

Your Release Appointment (on Your Release Format(s)) on Your Record Characterization/Banner/or "Cocky Released"

Stream "Your Album Title/Vocal Title": your stream link here
Download "Your Album Title/Vocal Title": your download link here (optional)

Your Website/Social Media Link 1
Your Website/Social Media Link 2 (optional)
Your Website/Social Media Link 3 (optional)

Thanks!

Your Name/Band Name

Your Contact Info

If y'all have rich-text-editing capabilities in your email service (like Gmail, Yahoo or Mac mail), be sure to give the layout some Pop! If you demand assist inserting images into your email, hither are instructions for Gmail, Yahoo, Mac postal service, and Outlook.

5. Exam it past sending it to yourself. Make sure your links are working! Once you're happy with information technology, create another email to yourself, copy/paste your content into the torso of the new electronic mail, make sure the Subject line has all the right info, enter the email addresses y'all've researched into the BCC field and ship it out! (Using the BCC field on an electronic mail addressed to yourself is recommended for majority e-mail send-outs. If you have specific blogs that you want to connect with, it'south a good idea to ship an electronic mail addressed exclusively to each i, personalizing it all the same you lot see fit.)

Congratulations - yous've sent out your first Press Release! 👏

Now What?

Showtime thinking almost how you tin can make your "friendly reminder" stand up out. Just think: publicity outlets are under no obligation to be - or stay - in touch. It's prophylactic to assume that if someone wants to write near your music, they'll let you lot know. The all-time follow up is another Printing Release (or ii), up to and through your release appointment, anytime you have something printing-worthy to add (videos, remixes, bout dates, press or social media blurbs)!

Newsletter Services

Some people prefer to use email/newsletter services similar MailChimp (costless), Mad Mimi (free) or Campaign Monitor (about $10 per entrada) for Press Releases. The benefits are the custom formatting they offer, equally well as, if yous're into it, the detailed analytics they provide you lot about who is checking out your e-mail and what they're clicking on. Ane potential disadvantage is that these services go far like shooting fish in a barrel for the bloggers you lot're sending it to to "unsubscribe", and many volition...

Paid Campaigns

There are a number of services out in that location that will promote your music to bloggers, influencers and playlisters - for a fee.

A few of the services worth checking out:

SubmitHub is a service that attempts to connect your goal of getting your music heard by music bloggers to the music bloggers involvement in being financially rewarded for taking the time to mind to your music.

There are ii tiers: a free "Standard" option, and a "Premium" tier that starts at $one per credit (a credit allows you to send one vocal to one blog in the network and ensures that yous will, at the very least, receive listening notes dorsum from them). Credits get cheaper the more you buy.

Either way, with SubmitHub you get the statistical satisfaction of seeing if and when your song has been at to the lowest degree listened to by any of the blogs in their network.

Crosshair connects the music you submit to playlisters and social media influencers for $250 per campaign.

PlaylistPush does only that - pitches your music to popular playlists for an average campaign price of $450.

StoryAmp

StoryAmp is a free service that helps tailor your press release(s) and tour appointment info to Music Journalists and media outlets. Promoting your music through a service like StoryAmp - especially if you're touring - can be a squeamish compliment to your own DIY music weblog send outs.

| Radio

To professionally service Radio, y'all need to rent a Radio Agent - but Radio Agents, just like Publicists, Booking Agents, Licesning Agents and Record Labels, are super picky well-nigh who they choose to piece of work with. Just existence able to afford one is ofttimes non enough. They have to desire to work with you. And if they've never heard of you, and y'all take no within connections, they probably won't be interested.

Is it worth a shot? Sure! Try sending an introductory email with mind-links to whatever of the Radio Agencies you'd like to hire. Typical Radio campaigns are a few k dollars (sometimes less, depending on duration and whether or non y'all're sending out physical copies).

Here's a list of cool indie Radio Agencies you can try reaching out to: Terrorbird, AAM, Vitriol, Distiller, Fanatic, Pirate!, Crowd Command, Planetary Group, Tinderbox, A man A program A culvert and Team Claremont.

If you're 1 of the majority of bands who can not afford, or can non pique the interest of, a Radio Agent, getting your music considered by radio stations depends on yous.

⚡ Here is how to practise it: ⚡

Submitting Your Music to Radio Stations

*Yous should submit your album to radio stations 4-6 weeks before your release date

1. Submit your music to Pandora.
ii. Enquiry and make a thorough list of e-mail addresses for all the College Radio and Cyberspace Radio stations you'd similar to contact.
3. Make sure a stream of your album is properly hosted at a linkable source such as Bandcamp or Soundcloud. (If you lot desire to continue your album private, you lot can do so on Bandcamp with Bandcamp Pro and on SoundCloud via their "Hugger-mugger Links".)
4. Upload a .zip file of your album in Mp3 format to your web server or to a fileshare platform like Dropbox, Hightail, Mediafire or Google Drive - or create a Surreptitious Download Link to your Album on Soundcloud.
v. Compose a paragraph or ii announcing, describing and tastefully hyping your Album (tin can be the same every bit your Press Release).
6. Create an email to yourself that looks something like this:

"Your Album Title" by Your Band Name
Your 250px x 250px "Saved For Web" Album Cover Your 250px x 250px "Saved For Web" Publicity Photo

Delight Consider for Airplay "Your Album Title" by Your Ring Proper noun out Your Release Engagement on Your Record Label/Imprint/or "Self Released"

A paragraph or two describing and tastefully hyping your new album. Exist honest. Be thoughtful. Be curtailed! What are the handful of most of import and most original things you can say about information technology? Where's your band from? Where was your album recorded? What makes this album of yours special? The things you say in this section of your press release will often be used verbatim past people writing about your release, so i approach is to write this section equally though you were the music writer! Non a great writer? Ask a friend who knows your music to assistance!

Stream "Your Anthology Title/Vocal Title": your stream link hither
Download "Your Album Title/Song Title": your download link here

"Your Album Title'southward" Tracklist:
1. Proper name of Track i (Rails i duration - for example: 4:01)
2. Name of Rails ii (Rail ii duration)
iii. Name of Track three (Track 3 duration) *EXPLICIT (Be certain to mark as "EXPLICIT" whatsoever tracks with explicit language!)
4. Proper noun of Track 4 (elapsing) *Recommended (Be sure to mark as "Recommended" 2 or 3 tracks that you recommend!)
5. Name of Rails v (duration) *Recommended
etc.

Your Website/Social Media Link 1
Your Website/Social Media Link 2 (optional)
Your Website/Social Media Link iii (optional)

Thanks!

Your Proper noun/Ring Name

Your Contact Info

7. Test it by sending it yourself. Brand sure your links are working! Once yous're happy with it, create another email to yourself, copy/paste your content into the torso of the new email, brand sure the Subject line starts with "DIGITAL DELIVERY", enter the electronic mail addresses you've researched into the BCC field and transport information technology out! (Using the BCC field on an email addressed to yourself is recommended for bulk email send-outs. If you take specific stations that you desire to connect with, send an email addressed specifically to them.)

Congratulations! You've successfully delivered your album to Radio. 👊

Follow Up

If there are specific stations you want to follow upwards with - in item your local and/or favorite station(s) - check into the Station Manager's office hours (Station Managing director office hours are normally listed on the station's website) or call in and talk to 1 of the DJ's you lot like. ("Hey, I really love this station. I recently submitted some music to y'all guys and was wondering whether you'd had a take a chance to mind to information technology...")

*Also worth because: both Tunecore and CD Baby accept easy and free options for servicing Internet radio, available to members and subscribers.

| How To Release A Record

I'g Zach Hangauer and I started the indie label Range Life Records in 2005.

I designed this site to serve as a quick, candid and hopefully empowering guide through the maze of the release procedure.

If you have whatsoever questions, success stories, tips, or want to reach out for any guidance, please make it touch on: howtoreleasearecord(@)gmail.com

How To Release A Tape on Twitter

Life In Music interview (11/26/16)

Interested in Indie Pic? Cheque out the new resource site I did all about the Mumblecore motion picture genre: mumblecore.info

New!: I did a podcast interview with ACPG, excavation in to some of the site content - check it out:

thielenprembid.blogspot.com

Source: http://howtoreleasearecord.com/

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