The most common issue I come across when working with a client’CD DVD Duplication Replication Digital Download Cards USB s project is the artwork.

Artwork seems to be the last thing on the TO DO list and it’s usually rushed. The actual CD DVD duplication or replication takes a week or even less depending on the volumes. What takes up time is designing artwork, the right pictures, text, then the constant revisions, add in the technical stuff and it could another week or two. To simply things here’s a few tips:

• Make sure you are using the correct templates from the CD DVD supplier you have engaged – they are all slightly different.
• Create a rough draft of your design, select pictures, headlines, fonts etc to save time, if you are using a graphic designer. This way they can use your rough design as a guideline.
• Make sure you get the hourly rate and put a limit of hours into it – that way the designer works to a timeline and you could get more for your money.

Plan For A Delivery Date 

• Be smart with your project planning; ie have someone work on your artwork the same time you are doing the recording and mastering.
• If you are on a tight time line, you can speed things up if you can get your printed materials done ahead of time. Just like building a house, foundation first, add the walls then the roof – then paint it.

Know What You Want

I have worked with some of the biggest artists on the planet, not to name drop but what the heck this is a blog … AC/DC,  Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Vanhalen, The Who, Rod Stewart, INXS, Robert Plant, Genesis, Phil Collins to name a few – the record companies all work the same way.

• Start with an image or a theme for the album cover
• Take photo’s or design the graphics with the cover shot, back cover, inside shots in mind – never take the shots and then decide which shots to use. The later is reckless, it can be costly, you will waste time and then settle for something you don’t want.
• Make sure you don’t have to many decision makers in the mix – it takes up to much time, and will likely result in many changes. If the process is to arduous, it becomes a chore, which could result in you settling to get it done vs  getting the best result.

Templates

If you need templates for CD DVD, printing or packaging options click on this link.

High-Resolution Photos

For the pictures you would like to use for your cover shots, make sure they are at least 300dpi.  Anything less would not look right, some would blame the CD DVD manufacturer – the old adage applies: garbage in garbage out. We can fix sizing issues, work on your layout but we cannot fix resolution problems so make sure you inform your designers and photographers beforehand.

What’s A BLEED ?

The Bleed is a part of the template, its the extra portion of the layout that gets cut off during the printing process to ensure the fit works for your jewel case, cardboard sleeves or DVD amaray cases. The template will have three lines – the first line going from the inside outwards is for you to keep your text or photo’s inside. The second line is the cut line – the third line is between the cut line and allows for any irregularities during the cutting process. the bleed is 1/8-inch on all sides. You won’t have any problems as long as you leave all essential elements of your artwork within the safety margin.

When submitting your artwork, its always good to include the fonts that you used in the artwork.

Do You Need A Bar Code ?

If you are releasing your CD DVD release through retail then you need a barcode.  If you are selling online or off stage don’t need to bother.

Clarity!

Make sure you pick the right team to work with you on your artwork. Check them out online,  review their designs, look for testimonials, talk to someone who has used them before to make sure they came in on budget (within reason depending on your changes), work well with  others to make this process seamless.Artist Videos

And so it goes ….

“The Band”is a business like any other startup, you need a product to sell, a market to sell to and a customer to make the purchase. The more purchases, the more resources and time you will have to grow your business. If you can find a Dummies book for business startups, buy it so you can get some basics on how to operate a business. You need to think of your music as a product and the band as the CD manufacturer.  Your band instruments such as guitar, drums, amps, mic’s, CD discs are all components of your new product. Your product name or your brand is the band name.

I think the theory of “what’s in a name” is incredibly important. The brand or band name plays a role in your success. Just factor in your style, for example; if you are a kids band then “The Wiggles’ works, but not, if you are a serious musician. I once had a theory that band names that had three syllables and ended in an upward inflection was the way to go. But who knows – some think it important enough to create a TV show – “What’s In A Name?”

Once you have the band name,you need to think about the name of your new CD release – the name needs to make sense. Work the CD cover shot as a theme, it should work together as a package that complement each other.

Doing it yourself in any business is a must to get things started, whether it’s a widget company or you releasing your first CD, DVD or Digital Download release. Business promotion and marketing is not that much different from marketing your music. Business basics are always the same, it’s abit more challenging today with so many options and the ongoing demise of the record retailers. In the good ole days you needed to get exposure at radio and have a slot for your CDs at the local retailer then tour tour tour.

Audience’s today are spoiled, they just need to turn on YouTube and go surfing to find new music, making it more challenging to connect, but not impossible.  You need to work out some short and long term goals using a step by step process, put a price tag on implementing it and move forward.  You will want to have checkpoints during the process to make sure your time, effort and money are well spent – so after three months review the results and if you need to rethink your strategy then do so.

If you are new to the business side of things, don’t hesitate to contact a social media consultant, hire their services for a couple of hours to pick their brains on what it takes to get a web profile. Creating a Facebook, Youtube presence online is only half of it. You should also hire a music industry consultant for the same reason. The idea of the consultants is to develop a list of questions that will form the basis of your strategy, throughout the short and long term goal process. Each question is a project of its own, for example: what social media programs will I need to work on, should I release a single to radio and so on – make sense?

When you are ready to release your CD, should you have a CD release party? The answer is yes you should do something, either at a local club or in your friend’s basement – you need to make an announcement or a statement of some kind to show you have in fact arrived and ready to take on all challengers to be the next big thing. This is a great way to get pictures and video’s to use for your website, facebook and other social media events, showing you playing and interacting with your friends and fan pages – make sense?

Should you put your CD into local music retailers?  Chances are you could get your CD into a retailer but you would need to put it on consignment, getting paid only when it’s sold. It will be your job to get the potential buyers into the store, to show them you can sell product.  Having an interesting cover and product will help to get your CD into the retailer, and the more professional looking the better your chances.  They will want to listen to your CD first and if like it, they could become an inside sales rep for you as well, suggesting your CD to people looking for new music.  Find the stores who specialize in your music genre and that will make things easier.

You will need to use social media properly; lots of music bloggers applaud the use of Facebook. I agree in part, that it’s a great way to connect, and I also disagree as Facebook postings are becoming like spam. I get so many of these it drives me nuts – I don’t read a lot of them anymore, getting 3 or 4 of these a day is no fun if you are a fan of a band. Think about the person receiving them and how they will interact, in my case when I get too many I don’t even read them I just hit delete. So, if you are doing it then you need to pace these postings and release them in a timely and professional manner.

With all the different media opportunities that allow you to build band pages – the official band website is still the most important goto center. You need to drive your YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Reverbnation and others back to your main website. All sales, emails, interaction with your fans should all be linked to your main website, using it as a hub. You will also want to list all of the retail stores carrying your CDs.

Build everything up slowly, and when you are ready to launch your new CD you have covered all aspects of the business to make it successful. That holds true for each level you are at, controlling your expectations is important. The realities of a first release are very different from your 2^nd or 3^rd CD releases; each one should raise you up to the next level. With each release you will get more experience and if you have the talent and have done a few things right, you can make some money. The experience you get from this will be that you need to have your ducks lined up to move forward. Timing of course is everything, no matter what you do in life – business and personal.

I can remember being invited to album release parties when I was with Warner Bros Records, I talked to the band after the show and can remember saying: “I couldn’t help but notice, that I was the only person in the room who could actually make a difference to their career”. They spent a lot of money renting a hall, buying beer, posters and inviting their friends.  It’s great for hanging out, getting pats on the back and picking up girls, but not a great way to spend your cash if there is only one person from the music business in the room – unless of course, it’s the right person. So plan accordingly.

I have blogged about the how-to prepare your CD for release – check it out.  You can contact us in Canada at ONESTOP Media Shop, in the US its ICE Digital Media also check out our video “From Content To Retail” on YouTube.

And so it goes …

You always hear that businesses invest in people; this is also true for the music industry, an industry that is full of wannabees, posers and time wasters. How do you set yourself apart from the pack, to gain credibility and have the music industry take your hot new CD release, you and your band seriously? Over the years, I have met all types and the ones you remember are the ones who focus on the business and creating a win-win for everyone.

A great example of this is Phil Collins, was playing a concert in Vancouver promoting his new CD release. I was working for Warner Bros at the time and was the rep for the company at the concert. I had worked with all the local concert promoters and people involved, so the atmosphere was very casual. After the sound check, Phil comes up to me backstage area wearing a towel, he asks if he can get a pair of tickets for is ex wife to be left at the door. He could have sent someone else but he took the time to seek me out and handle this himself.  He was always like that, he was the kind of guy who when he jumped off a plane to do a concert, he’d walk up to you first and shake your hand, he’d know your name and make it personal and let you know he appreciated what you did for him. Either he had a really great memory or he always took the time to find out who was who in each market … did it pay off for him?  You bet –that is Artist Marketing 101at it’s finest.

Online marketing is all old stuff by now, but you know to be found you need to have a website, videos on YouTube and a Facebook presence and more. Don’t overdo it on the Facebook, I have one guy who sends me 3 or 4 updates a day and it’s tiring, even his mother wouldn’t want that many in a day … I am about to unfriend. This is an example of what not to do.  For your website design, check out the top 3 sites in your music style and take the best ideas and coloring. Seems like every hard rock band uses black as their background color and white text which could be hard to read depending on the font size.  If this is you then make sure your site can be easily read and your information isn’t a secret.  Constantly  update your site with band information, pictures and video’s – nothing fancy, your fans will want to know what you are like, so a straight up chat on YouTube can go a long way to help establish yourself.

Over the years, while I was at Warner Bros/BMG/ZOO I was sought out for advice by bands wanting me to listen to their new CDs.  If a band was persistent, respectful and hit the right cord, I would meet with them, they bought the cheese sandwich and I would answer questions they had brought. The reason for the questions is they need to think about what they want to do and not waste time.  Information is a great thing but the right questions are key to moving forward and helps to set goals. So with the right questions and mindset we would get some ideas about what they needed to do next.

I remember the very first time “INXS” came to Vancouver, they opened up for “Stray Cats”, promoting their first CD, they were young and inexperienced. The concert promoter and I took them and their manager out to dinner, which would become a tradition every time they came to Vancouver. We would talk about the music business, our experiences and things to do to be successful – you could tell they really wanted this bad, especially Michael Hutchence. This happened all the way from an opening act to having the number one album in the world with their CD “KICK”.  Focus, hard work, growth and having fun along the way is important to your success.

It is important you get yourself and your band on the same wave length, you can’t have one or two band members doing all the work – so figure out the jobs and have weekly business meetings to review progress.  Always treat this as a business, if a band member doesn’t pull his weight you need to replace him with someone who will. Your goal is to prepare and plan for success, keep friends separate from business or plan for failure. When you start doing more serious CD demo’s you need to work with a good engineer who can work with you on your sound. Be open to all suggestions, you can learn a lot about recording, sound and song structure as that is the place where it’s all done.

Imagine opening a retail store and you have nothing to sell, people come in to see what you have and the shelves are empty. Same with your band, you need to have something to sell, it’s not just about the music and lyrics, it’s about your fans experience, through your CD releases, website and image. If you can’t write songs yet, find someone to work with who can. Always think outside the box to find the right mix to connect with an audience on a personal level.

You can get an incredible amount of information online on how to make it in the music business, but before you start reading, always consider the source and check the writer’s credentials to make sure they have some real music industry experience and success.

You will want to set proper goals, for example; do you want to be weekend warriors, playing pubs, do you want to play for a few years for fun and then get a real job – or are you looking to make music your life’s work – be paid to write, record and play music. Define what you want and find players who are in line with your goalset and are willing to sacrifice and do what it takes to make it.

If you are in it for the long haul then you need to seriously reflect on your music and see if you actually have the talent and how you do that is important. You need to get some serious feedback, you might want to consider hiring a consultant or a professional manager and have them review your stuff and get a review of your potential.  If you have to pay someone to do that then do it, as its well worth the money to be on the right track.  I knew an angel investor who put up $150,000 investment in a band; he had no idea what to do so he left that up to the band.  They bought a van, toured the country, spent all the money and had no CDs in stores. The tour was a bust with little or no real revenues.

Have you entered “Battle of the Bands” contests, put your music on YouTube and asked for feedback, based on maybe a year or two you should be able to figure out if you are going to be the next big thing. If yes, proceed and if not keep your ego’s out of it and move on. It’s a big decision to make but make it at 25 rather than 40, when you are still young enough to get a career.  If you love the music business do what I did after I realized my band was not going anywhere – I went back to school, took radio & journalism courses, got a job at a radio station as an on-air announcer and moved up from there.

Remember the definition of luck is “preparedness meeting opportunity”, so if your stars are lined up and one day you turn right instead of left you could bump into your destiny.

I remember one band I was working with had some great material and I had a lot of interest in them. It was Canada Music Week and record labels, concert promoters and print media were all planning on attending. I got a phone call the day before and the singer/songwriter/vocalist had a sore throat and was cancelling. The three rules of important-showcases-that-could-change-your-career are never-never-never cancel a show unless your life depends on it. The fallout from this is spelled … disaster, which could end your career. I lost all interest in the band from the labels, concert promoters and to this day that one event that could have changed the bands history, didn’t happen. Not saying this would happen every time but in this case it did and the band broke up a few months later.

I remember another band I worked with, they had the worst case of rockgod attitude I have ever seen. I went as far as meeting with their wives and girlfriends soliciting their support in getting the band to drop the attitude and if they wanted to make, they would need to drastically change their style. They would show up late for everything, dress like a bunch of garage mechanics and acted like everybody worked for them. I put them in a hot tub chat with David Foster for a CBC Special at Whistler Blackcomb, they had the prime 10 pm slot to play on stage being recorded for television broadcast – needless to say this gave them huge face in the industry – who is this band?  Are they Fosters next big thing? This was incredible press; they had amazing video footage with great press to follow and a real jumpstart to releasing their first CD.

The band thought it was all them and not the work I or any of my connections had done in setting this up. I had interest from Warner Bros to sign them and I walked away because they were so hard to work with, before they had really done anything, I could only imagine the nightmare if they got signed. I ran into the singer a couple of years back and he’s a lounge singer, he still sounds great but the one and only deal he had, eluded him for the wrong reason, his attitude and not his talent. At the end of the day that was too much, they were not willing to make even a few changes. It’s not worth the time, money or hassle to have to live on the edge of your seat with this type of band.

There is a fine line between suffering for your craft and ending up a frustrated musician with no job prospects, angry at the world and thinking the music business owes you a living.  Choose wisely.

As always we manufacture CD DVDs, Printing, Packaging, Graphics and a good ear, so if we can help let us know. In Canada we are www.onestopmediashop.ca and in the US  www.icedigitalmedia.com.

And so it goes …

DVD-R media prices have dropped a lot over the last several years, making them affordable for anyone who wants to use them. DVD cases can be bought at retail and the DVD case outerwraps can be a DIY project – just go online and download a graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop and download a 30 day trial version – spend a week figuring out the basics and then start designing – nothing fancy, just get a great cover shot, add a logo and you have a front and back cover.  Print your DVD case outerwraps on your color printer – using finished paper. To cut the inserts to size you can get a paper cutter from Staples or Office Depot along with some Avery DVD labels so you can print the paper labels and put everything into a DVD case.  This is a great way to do small runs of 25 to 50 units to get started.

KEEP in mind boys and girl wannabee movie moguls – your potential customers don’t buy your releases because of your great design, they are still looking for a great story or information about just about anything these days.  As the saying goes “Content Is King”. You have a worldwide market thru the internet, Amazon, eBay and many more sites that are free to sell your products. Check out our video “From Content To Retail”  http://www.youtube.com/user/ONESTOPMediaShop

Once you have gone thru the first stage and sold out your first run you will be ready for the next stage – 50 units plus.  Contact us at www.onestopmediashop.ca in Canada or www.icedigitalmedia.com for the US markets…like the song goes “we can help”.  Duplicating your DVDs is usually up to 500 units, after that you should start replicating your discs.

The retail DVDs that you buy at the retail outlets aren’t usually duplicated, they are replicated. There seems to be a lot of confusion around duplication & replication – they are both digital and anything digital is a master and plays exactly the same in any digital player. The difference between duplicating a disc and replicating it is with duplication you take DVD Recordable discs and copy the movie file or data onto them. With replication it is done thru injection molding on large machines. When I opened up the first DVD plant on the west coast, DVDs were priced at $2.50+ each, now you can get them for 0.50 cents depending on the size of the order. DVD replication thru the manufacturing process is much faster and you can get larger runs cheaper, faster, add in a barcode for inventory control, and you are ready to sell your products.

I have spent over 30 years in the distribution business, having worked for Warner Bros, BMG & Sony Music. I formed my own Canadian record label and distribution company in the 1990s and opened the very first CD DVD replication facility west of Toronto in 1998. I have won numerous awards for Artist Marketing & Promotion and earned gold records for his international record releases, distributing products in more than 20 countries worldwide.

Just wanted to throw in some credibility in case you were wondering if I actually knew what I was talking about.  Check out the photo gallery on Facebook “IceDigitalMedia” and you’ll see some of my music industry from my record label days. Like I always say I’ve never worked with a Beatle or a Stone but just about everyone else …

If you are looking for CD DVD Duplication Replication in Canada contact us at One Stop Media Shop and the US its ICE Digital Media.

and so it goes …

I have been in the music business for many years and have seen a lot of changes. Like any industry, there are always going to be changes and should be expected. Changes that include the decline of the retail music outlet, to online retailers that have cornered a large part of the market, going from nowhere to controlling the download industry.

In the US, music chain Sam Goody went from a national presence to a few remaining franchises.  Tower Records went from being one of the largest and most dominant record retail chains, with a long successful history going bankrupt in 2004. Today, the only thing that remains of Tower Records 45 year history is a website “Tower.com”, an online retailer, selling books, music and videos.

What is that saying about the actual music business? Nothing really, it’s as vibrant as ever – if not, more so. The entry level to record and produce your own CD has never been cheaper or easier to access. The changes that are getting the attention are format changes. Over the years it’s gone from wax music cylinders to vinyl to tape and then the CD and now a niche trend back to vinyl.

It’s hard to imagine that music could one day only sell online, that is a very boring option. Where do you read about the band, lyrics & photo’s? Music is an experience and a bit of a process – you buy a new CD, you dash home and put it into your CD player, you read the liner notes and listen. By comparison the iTunes download is impersonal, no warm and fuzzy thrill of it all purchase experience and if you wanted band info you could maybe download a word document …

Music formats went from sheet music sales in the 1880’s when the first so called record label was the Edison Phonograph Company. They sold the phonograph players and the “wax music cylinders”, a format that was around for awhile, then vinyl started selling in the 1920’s as 78s, then the 33-1/3 speeds became the norm for albums and the 45 rpm for the single releases (rpm-revolutions per minute).

“Over the past four years, vinyl sales have gone up almost 300% from 858,000 in 2006 to 2.5 million in 2009. If this trend continues sales will reach new peaks, according to Nielsen Entertainment.

During this time, CD audio sales have been dropping; they are down about 18% overall. Nielsen only scans retail sales and the big question they don’t ask is “have those sales just disappeared, or have they regrouped and gone somewhere else? Bands sell their CDs off stage; they sell CD DVD through their own websites, online marketing companies to name a few. These sales are not scanned and accounted for.

Nielsen Entertainment says “it’s not just audiophiles expanding their collections that is driving vinyl record sales, but a whole new generation of young music fans who are liking the album art, liner notes and other features that records provide.”  “It seems this trend will continue as the record industry is doing some cool things to not only make the format come alive but to make it more exciting for consumers.” The next question is can the CD DVD be rebranded? Do you think that all technology has to go south on us, the minute something else comes along?

When you look at the sales numbers for each format they have increased from the format before, so the question seems to be “for music sales to expand does the technology need to change to accommodate the next level of sales growth that were not there before?”.  Why are vinyl records coming back so strongly? I recently bought a USB connect record player for my 11 year old. He loves the old records and is learning to play the songs from the more popular artists, such as AC/DC. He is in a band and he passes along his enthusiasm to his friends and band mates and the trend continues.  They make CDs and pass them around; a physical CD is way cooler than a digital download. They can create a cover for it and the big thing is they can actually touch it, and look at it during lunch hour. It’s almost like they discovered something new.

Reuters says CD album sales fell by seven percent last year, despite a 30 percent jump in the number of digital albums purchased – so where’s the bad news in that?

So what does that mean?  It means that music is in great shape, but the formats as always are being challenged. If not CDs, then what can the bands sell offstage – digital downloads?  “How do you market a digital download off stage – do you hand out an iTunes card so they can go to their site to purchase your music?

Great arguments for the beginner, as a start, but after you are more established you need to find a solution whereby you don’t give away a large percentage of your CD profit. Don’t forget that commission comes at a cost, you need to do showcases, posters, some travelling expenses and other costs related to a digital sale only to give away a profit to someone who has done nothing but offer a different platform to sell your product on. You are only a tracking code linked to your music until you bring attention to it through your own marketing efforts and none from iTunes or similar sites. Based on the fact they pay you quarterly it’s a questionable deal on which to base a business on. So the next question is; “does being on iTunes actually benefit you”?  iTunes is not Warner Bros; they’re just a digital kiosk to make a purchase and nothing more.

You could consider a Digital Download Card, which is a logical choice for any band if you can’t sell CDs off stage. You can hand out the cards at shows, events, friends and family. The cards are pretty cool with lots of your artwork on it, your website info and an access code where you have a link setup for the customer to enter a username and password. Once confirmed and the product paid for, the customer can access the digital albums or singles download page to get their product. The cards can be a regular business card size or larger, 5 x 5 inches the same size as the CD insert.

From this landing page you could also sell merchandise, including; tee shirts, posters and more. You could do links to friends and if they sell some for you – give them a gift certificate or credit to use on your site. It’s an amazing place to be creative; offering downloads for album artwork, lyrics, touring information and much more.

But the risk is there as well, you could lose a sale if you factor in the fact you are not actually selling the finished CD product right away, it’s a platform for the customer to download from. The downside is everyday they don’t do the download the chances are they won’t and the heat of the moment sales potential is lost vs. selling a finished CD offstage.

As always if you need CD, DVD, Duplication, Replication, Printing, Packaging or what to comment please contact us thru this blog or through our websites. In Canada we are ONESTOP Media Shop, in the US ICE Digital Media.  Check out our YouTube Channel.

And so it goes …

I have written before about POPKOMM being one of the largest music festival tradeshows in the world, the other is MIDEM, held every January in Cannes, France

I first attended MIDEM in 1997 in Cannes, France. MIDEM is the largest such event in the world of music. It started off as a publishers convention, who got together every year to pay each other artist royalties from the previous year. This grew over the years to include independent record labels, artists, distributors and publishers slowly growing into the monster event it is today.

I attended for many years when I had Spinner Records, we had our own record label and distribution company for the Canadian markets and licensed our products internationally through Popkomm & Midem.

MIDEM is a great place, where artists, record labels and distributors meet every January in the hopes of doing some business. Companies come from around the world to attend this event. I did a lot of deals in Midem, a typical deal consisted of selling them finished CD products or you could do a licensing deal whereby, you gave them the rights to manufacture your products in their territory and pay you a royalty. The royalty would be about $2.00 per unit and you would get paid in advance based on sales of a few thousand units. It paid for the trip and gave you a chance to work your artist in that territory. Times have changed of course and now with the digital downloads it’s a different market but the deals are similar.

MIDEM has become an important industry tradeshow where issues are openly discussed in forums, new developments and concepts are introduced and information presented. For tradeshow visitors there are panels with prominent industry figures and keynote speakers. Some topics of interest are digital formats, digital music, live music, mobile entertainment and the many challenges the industry faces. In addition, to highlighting these many issues MIDEM also has showcase evenings whereby countries can feature and promote their national artists to the world stage – always a great party.

By attending Midem, you can build partnerships to maximize your marketing potential. For example you do a video for the Canadian market and you get some airplay – if it ends there chances are you have not been able to recoup your production costs. If you took that same video and amortized the costs with your international partnerships, you could release that same video in numerous territories with everyone chipping in to offset the cost and maximize the potential of the video as a marketing tool internationally.

I have written a few articles on D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) CD products getting your product ready for release. MIDEM 2012 has just announced its “D.I.Y., Technology & Brands” is getting added to the mix of their sub-conference side show – “MidemNet, which focuses on the global music tech community.

They are featuring a lot of extras this year, including; The Midemlab Startups & App Developers Competition which features digital innovations in three categories:

1. Music discovery, recommendation & creation
2. Marketing & social engagement
3. Direct to consumer sales and monetizing content

If this is something that interests, you details on how to enter just google “Midem 2012”.

Midem is also working to appeal to the D.I.Y. crowd of artists who previously found that a trip to Cannes was to expensive and overwhelming to attend something so large. You have 5 days to work the room and its a lot of work and effort to work your pitch for 10 hours a day.

The challenge is still to market your products to retail through finished CD products, as well as CD sales online and digital downloads. Years ago you only needed to worry about retails sales, tour your ass off and if you had some of the right stuff you had a shot. Now its retail + online sales so you need to wear a few hats and have a band that is ambidextrous and able to work the markets with both hands, one in retail and the other on social media. Midem can go along way in getting you some of the answers to those nagging questions such as – “what should I do now?”

Midem 2012 is also featuring a new concert series providing more performance opportunities during the convention for bands. To get in on this you need to submit your music and information. To do that check out their website for more information, you can also see their video “Midem 2012 Connected By Music”.

Midem 2012 runs from Saturday January 28th to Tuesday 31^st. Participants will be approx.: 6,850 people from 3,120 companies and 77 Countries. There will be approx. 360 Journalists attending, all setup in 55 National Pavilions. Of the companies attending there are 1,500 record labels, 700 music publishers and 500 music distributors.

Social media will play a major part of the event, for example; the top six Twitter accounts are musicians, a third of all YouTube videos are music-related, 74% of music fans and 67% of record labels agree that more fans will buy directly from the artists.

Over three million artists now meet, engage and carry on transacts over online communities,  97% of people think that music can strengthen their brand, 91% of consumers accept or are positive about brand involvement in music entertainment and culture.

There will be a lot of discussions and how-to sessions that you can attend to take your product or band to the next level. There will be lots of success stories by artists, record labels and distributors. You will also hear from band managers, music publishers, entertainment lawyers, concert promoters – have I missed anyone? You can get a lot of CD music and DVD samples so you can see what other bands are doing from around the world.

This really is a must attend for two reasons, one its not only for musicians or bands it’s a great place to be if you are a music writer reviewing CDs, a blogger and a great all around place to hang out and learn more about the industry. I have made so many connections and done a lot of business over the years because of Midem. The second reason is you are on the Mediterranean Sea in centuries old Cannes. The restaurants, bars and café’s are a lot of fun fun fun … its an incredible journey and if you can afford it you will learn years worth of music industry savvy in a single week.

It’s all about the music. MIDEM covers every genre, including classical and jazz, folk music, traditional music from just about every country in the world. The exposure from within the music industry, the press area that accommodates the hundreds of online and offline music writers from daily newspapers, magazines, radio, television and now YouTube stations- all capturing the week long events making MIDEM an incredible marketplace and did I already mention it’s a fun place to be. See you there …

As always if you need CD DVD Printing Packaging in Canada contact us at ONESTOP Media Shop, in the US ICE Digital Media. Check out our YouTube video From Content To Retail.

And so it goes …

Assuming you have worked out your sound, you need two things – a live show and an image. How important is an image when you are trying to market your bands new CD release? Think KISS here, they are probably one of the best self marketed bands in the business. Everything they do is on the same page; graphics, costumes, stage presence, CD and DVD releases.

A bunch of tattoo’s are an image, but do you need to have tattoo’s to be in a rock band and sell CDs? Do you need to pierce body parts – remember your image is making a statement, so you really need to think about and know the audience you are targeting your strategies towards. You could miss and hit the wall, instead of the wallet when it comes to sales of your CD DVDs.

For the stage show, I hired a choreographer to work with a band I was promoting. She met with the guys, discussed their limits and what they felt comfortable doing on stage. Knowing your market and audience type comes in handy here, you tailor your stage presence to match them. A rock n’roll image doesn’t suite jazz, so think this through, talk to friends of the band. What should you wear ? Talk to a clothes designer or a professional dresser to see if you can come up with something unique, and if its blue jeans and a tee shirt, at least coordinate yourselves. Finding and securing your audience, and playing to them is never selling out. Do your own thing, just make sure that you know what you are doing. If not, then just do what you like and see if it works – remember no rules in this business, best practices create results, and there are short cuts. If it was easy, we’d all have number one albums or in my case lead singer/guitar player.

What kind of pictures should you take for your CD cover? Once you have your image figured out, plan a setting for the pictures. The mistakes I always see is that bands and photographers take a whole bunch of pictures and hope one works for the cover shot. I think you need to plan a shot for the CD front cover, inside band shots and the back CD tray cards, leaving nothing to chance or it’s a waste of time and money. I think a good photographer is not just a person who can get a good picture of the band, they need to think about the band individuals, their image, their sound and work with the band to get that special shot.

To source out idea’s try googling CD covers from old albums, look at photo albums from famous photographers, look at famous painters to get ideas. Visit museums and look at other people’s inspirations. If you have ever been to Holland, you might have visited the Rijksmuseum, and seen Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”. They have rows of benches, so 100 wannabee painters can sit and stare at the painting. They spend hours looking and focusing on the painting, looking at his strokes and style. The reward is inspiration and that is a gift that a great painting, a great song and a great CD cover shot can bring. Sorry got carried away there but its true enough…

Album title: What’s in a name? A lot is in a name … “The Rolling Stones – Get Your Ya Ya’s Out” screams off the page. It all starts with an album theme.  Other really great titles include:

Songs In The Key Of Life – Stevie Wonder
Master of Reality-Black Sabbath
Physical Graffiti & Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin
Teaser & The Firecat & Tea For The Tillerman – Cat Stevens
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
Appetite for Destruction – Guns N’ Rose
Toys in the Attic – Aerosmith
A Night at the Opera – Queen
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars – David Bowie
Ghost in the Machine – The Police
Dark Side of The Moon – Pink Floyd                                                               -

These album names are all dated, but great names that come with a story. From the CD title you can imagine the cover shots. So in the order of things a great album title could come first, then plan the cover shots around the title.

Should you include song lyrics in your CD release? NO! Give fans a reason to go to your website if they are interested in what you have to say. If you are a new band, chances are nobody is interested until you have a hit song, and if you do, its not a big deal if you have the lyrics there or not. Don’t be fooled – more is not better and if it doesn’t sell CDs then don’t do it and save some money.

If you are looking for CD DVD Duplication Replication Printing Packaging Graphic Design & Direct Mail services contact us in Canada at ONESTOP Media Shop. In the US ICE Digital Media. Check out our YouTube Video release “From Content To Retail …

And so it goes . . .

This is pretty important stuff, unless you are only making music for yourself, you need to find, develop and secure an audience. In fact, you could probably use a business plan for yourself or the project. Clarity is a wonderful thing – planning for success is a must – so plan!

Producer: How do you select a producer to work with you on your songs and getting your CD into production? What about a sound engineer, how do you find and meet with a sound engineer? For both producer and sound engineer you need to work on a budget.

The next question is are you ready for one?  Should you be doing more production on your own first, spend your first money on some shiny toys and learn to record yourself. Play with the sound, develop your own unique style. For under $1,000 you can get a recording unit, a few mic’s and some CD recordable discs to get the best possible representation of who you are as a musician onto a disc.

Clue: there is no easy way to find that, sometimes its magic between players and comes easy because everyone brings something to the table. And most of the time its just writing and recording until you break through and find a unique sound that works for you.

Once you have developed your own signature sound and style, start submitting your demo CD to producers and engineers to get their feedback and see if there is anything they can do to help you. You of course have done your homework and checked them out as well – listen to the CDs they have produced and artists they have worked with, both the before and after tracks  if possible. You want to see what they have done and hopefully give you some insights into the process. Talk to the bands and see if they were good to work with, did they follow a budget? Engineers/Producers get work thru word of mouth initially, then its based on their pedigree of successful CD sales and artists they’ve worked with.

Also if a producer works with you on the lyrics and music, they could expect a piece of the royalty from CD sales revenue, depending of course on their contribution – so work that kind of stuff out in advance. No surprises…

Another way to go is to record your CD tracks and if you are realistic and confident they are good enough, you could have them mixed. In the order of things you have the Producer who works with the Sound Engineer to record your songs and record the various band parts. Once that has been completed you need to take those tracks and have them mixed. This is where the levels are set, add effects and in general polish it up – sounds simple, but its magic if done right. Not that easy though, as this could be the most important part of the recording process.

I have worked with engineers and that is all they did and charged handsomely for the privilege. Mike Fraser mixed four CD tracks for a band I was working with, he gave me a deal and did for $1,000 a track – but what a difference, well worth the money – the difference in the before and after was huge – the big plus is it gets noticed at the record labels. Like I always say “it depends on who does the asking”, songs mixed by a recognized industry pro goes a long way to getting it heard by the radio stations and record companies. The thinking is that if the likes of a Mike Fraser worked on your project, he must have thought it worthwhile to add his name to the credits on your next CD release.

If you are recording songs other than your own then you need to get the rights to use them. In Canada just google the ”Canadian Mechanical Rights Association” (CMRRA) and in the US it’s the “Harry Fox Agency”.

If you are ready to manufacture your next CD release, you can get more information by visiting our site: in the US its www.icedigitalmedia.com and in Canada you can find us at www.onestopmediashop.ca.

Thanks for visiting, your feedback is important and appreciated, if you have any suggestions on future blogs, please let me know.

And so it goes …