Should bands make C.D.'s anymore?

[GoldieLocks]

What do you think the future of music product is? I'm questioning whether its worth it for a local band to make a C.D. anymore. Or are bands just going to record songs and stick them on the internet.
If I asked my 40 friends whats the last C.D. they bought they'd all say "I don't even remember its been so long".

I doubt I could sell 500 units anymore.

What are the goals of other local bands?

[Big John]

Given how little it can cost to get something finished and ready for sale isn't it a good idea to have some at gig's to sell 'there and then' before the audience get home and forget who you are and that they were supposed to 'download' something ?

It might pay for your diesel to get home too !

[Poppatwang]

If you can sell 500 units, then sell 500 units.
Here's another marketing angle. http://www.noiseland.com/soundtrax.html
Seems like you could DIY something similar. Lets you sell downloads at the gig.
I think it's going to be a hodge-podge for a while. I still buy CDs as well as vinyl.
No cassettes or 8-tracks though.

[pengipete]

I'll often buy a CD at a gig especially if there's no charge at the door - pub gigs and such like.

I've got some pretty good CDs from "unknown" singers and bands for the price of a pint or two - seems like a bargain to me.

[Nighthawk]

Good to have 'em at the gig.

[Oster]

No.

Ideally (some exceptions of course) a band shouldn't have to record or manufacture their own product at all.

If they're serious and good, someone else should step in and record them or they should just quit. Bands should just be better bands.

CDs, MP3s, LPs ...they're all the same.

So my basic answer is if there's a demand, supply the product. Until then, don't bother (or just post on myspace for free).

[vjf1968]

Originally Posted by GoldieLocks

What do you think the future of music product is? I'm questioning whether its worth it for a local band to make a C.D. anymore. Or are bands just going to record songs and stick them on the internet.
If I asked my 40 friends whats the last C.D. they bought they'd all say "I don't even remember its been so long".

I doubt I could sell 500 units anymore.

What are the goals of other local bands?

I do not think that a quick poll of 40 friends is a good gage of whether the making of CDs is worth it. Like Big John said, you should have them at the gig when the punters have the cash in hand and are still in awe of your rockability. I am not to crazy about the download thing either. Most people want a concrete product not a abstract.

[weiner71]

There are organizations out there such as "tunecore" www.tunecore.com that allows musicians to sell their music through the online MP3 vendors such as iTunes, MSN music, etc.

If you use something like tunecore, it might be just as effective to hand out a little flyer that says where your music can be downloaded.

[Just-Jim]

I am starting to think about stopping collecting CD's all together. I am finding my digital library has way out numbered my CD's. My plan was to convert my digital library back to CD's so I have both, but I just don't have that kind of time. So, from a dinosaur such as myself, that doesn't think much of keeping up with technology, even I would say digital would be the way to go. But that's just me.

Jim

[emu!]

What about using one of these:

http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_...&category_id=3

at a gig to record live? Would be a good alternative to expensive studio time, no?

[Big John]

Originally Posted by Oster

No.

Ideally (some exceptions of course) a band shouldn't have to record or manufacture their own product at all.

If they're serious and good, someone else should step in and record them or they should just quit. Bands should just be better bands.

CDs, MP3s, LPs ...they're all the same.

So my basic answer is if there's a demand, supply the product. Until then, don't bother (or just post on myspace for free).

Ummmmmmmmmmm, did i miss something here ?

Since when has getting a deal (whatever that means today) meant you are A) serious or B) good ?.

"If there's a demand, supply the product. Until then, don't bother"

Oster, you may be shocked to the very core to learn that markets are usually created for artists to fill, with respect, i think your quote should read "If there's a demand, supply the product. If there isn't then create the demand ! "

[chet]

I you can do it cheaply enough and make a profit then go ahead. Just make sure noone copies it and sells it somewhere else. That's what I'd be cautious about.

[Stackabones]

Depends on your crowd ... if they are over 35, maybe. Under 35, no way.

[chet]

See how much it would cost to make your own vinyl album. If it's good I'll bet it would sell whatever you made.

Maybe I'll make my own with some TDPRI buddies.

[strummin67]

CDs I thought were a great idea to give something to the audience to take home. These were two or three song samples of originals. Then they could rip it for their Ipods.

[surfoverb]

Yes...A friends band just put out some vinyl.

[charlie chitlin]

Radio stations still want a CD in a jewel case with your name on the spine.

[Little Ricky]

My friend makes hand drawn cassettes to sell to people. Reasoning is that the artifact is a piece of art, not just an archive of recorded music. Kind of similar to how people like vinyl because you can do better artwork on the larger surface. This friend does lo-fi noise rock, so sound quality of the cassettes is secondary to presentation.

As far as typical bands go, I still like to buy CDs to see the artwork to get a glimpse of the musician beyond the songs, and I like to look at it while I'm listening. I think the cardboard fold-out CD packages are the best because they have the most printable surface and they're eco-friendly.

It's nice to give CDs out at shows too. Better than saying, check my myspace. I'm going to start bringing a laptop to shows and tell people to bring their mp3s and I'll let you download our songs from the laptop for a buck!

[Little Ricky]

Originally Posted by emu!

What about using one of these:

http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_...&category_id=3

at a gig to record live? Would be a good alternative to expensive studio time, no?

I use a Fostex VF-160 to record live shows. One condenser mic on each side of the stage, and maybe, extra mics on vocals or amps, but usually just the two are great.

[Dave_O]

I think that CD's are like any other gig merchandise... If you ain't got 'em, ya can't sell 'em. And once you've got the recording, they're dirt cheap to make; here in Aus, I pay $2.50 (give or take) per copy, and sell them for $10. Did the recordings at home on my son's computer (cost-$0.... he offered!!). That's 300% profit on only 50 units. Do it, it won't cost your first-born!!

[Dave_O]

Originally Posted by Little Ricky

It's nice to give CDs out at shows too. Better than saying, check my myspace. I'm going to start bringing a laptop to shows and tell people to bring their mp3s and I'll let you download our songs from the laptop for a buck!

you a GENIUS Little Ricky!! Seriously. That is a very cool idea.

[esteban]

YES.

And I agree with having them at gigs. Takes out the hassle of finding a music store willing to carry the album. A band can do that in addition to TuneCore (which I think is only $10).

Many of my CDs recently have been bought at gigs by local bands. It works. Sometimes, they're even free!

[kidA]

Originally Posted by Stackabones

Depends on your crowd ... if they are over 35, maybe. Under 35, no way.

or if they're under 17... i bought so many cds at local shows and had the band sign them right there when i was growing up.

CDs still need to be made, if only as everyone's saying, to sell at shows, or for the die hard fans that demand a physical copy with album artwork. Also, for the audiophiles out there that demand the uncompressed copy. Then again, this last one assumes that your production is up to snuff and merits an uncompressed rendering.

But I really wanted to respond to above who was talking about how a band shouldn't have to record and put their own stuff out there. That just HAD to be trolling sarcasm, I wouldn't think that anyone could be serious about that, especially given the abysmal state of the "music industry" at the moment on all fronts, but especially anything you'll see on mtv, vh1, bet, and cmt or hear on the radio, if anyone listens to radio anymore.

The CD isn't dead, but the big CD sales driving the marketing for a band and getting the word out there is dead. We've moved far beyond "hey listen to this cd!," it's a simple link to a myspace, blog, youtube video, etc. the future is independent bands bending genres, innovating, and amassing fanbases however they can. it just so happens that the internet is the fastest and most effective way to market yourself these days and the result is thousands of bands, all of which could become overnight hits if they get picked up by the right blog. Further, everyone including big acts are moving away from "deals" and paying for their own recording fees, look at what Radiohead or NIN did with their latest albums. Hopefully all the money the greedy RIAA punks are losing to illegal downloading will serve as a reality check, that their way of doing business, of degrading music to another extension of the mass produced market isn't going to work because people want music and they won't just take it lying down.

[Beatbx]

Originally Posted by Oster

No.

Ideally (some exceptions of course) a band shouldn't have to record or manufacture their own product at all.

If they're serious and good, someone else should step in and record them or they should just quit. Bands should just be better bands.

CDs, MP3s, LPs ...they're all the same.

So my basic answer is if there's a demand, supply the product. Until then, don't bother (or just post on myspace for free).

cranky, cranky, cranky...

I kind of agree that bands should always try to improve, but with your rationale nobody should even play music if Capitol records isn't knocking down your door.

[vjf1968]

Originally Posted by Little Ricky

My friend makes hand drawn cassettes to sell to people. Reasoning is that the artifact is a piece of art, not just an archive of recorded music. Kind of similar to how people like vinyl because you can do better artwork on the larger surface. This friend does lo-fi noise rock, so sound quality of the cassettes is secondary to presentation.

As far as typical bands go, I still like to buy CDs to see the artwork to get a glimpse of the musician beyond the songs, and I like to look at it while I'm listening. I think the cardboard fold-out CD packages are the best because they have the most printable surface and they're eco-friendly.

It's nice to give CDs out at shows too. Better than saying, check my myspace. I'm going to start bringing a laptop to shows and tell people to bring their mp3s and I'll let you download our songs from the laptop for a buck!

His name isn't Eugene Chadbourne is it?

[tiktok]

If you're going to record (and you almost certainly are), then I'd press up some CD's. It's only another grand or so, and there's plenty of places who want a physical product. Of course, these places may expect you to give them the CD for free, so I'd regard CD's as a promotional effort which might break even. If you can turn a profit, great, but every band I've been in has to give away a few hundred for booking agents, press, family, friends, etc.

[GoldieLocks]

Thanks guys...good responses.

Sure would be cool to press some Vinyl.


I've noticed that some bands are releasing Live shows in just basic Brown Cardboard jacket. (Pearl Jam/Grateful Dead/ Ratdog etc). I believe the Booklet still costs more than the C.D. at most places.

[chet]

Originally Posted by tiktok

If you're going to record (and you almost certainly are), then I'd press up some CD's. It's only another grand or so, and there's plenty of places who want a physical product. Of course, these places may expect you to give them the CD for free, so I'd regard CD's as a promotional effort which might break even. If you can turn a profit, great, but every band I've been in has to give away a few hundred for booking agents, press, family, friends, etc.

A grand or so?

Why not burn your own CD's and print up your own labels? That would be far less than a grand.

[ce24]

Originally Posted by Beatbx

cranky, cranky, cranky...

I kind of agree that bands should always try to improve, but with your rationale nobody should even play music if Capitol records isn't knocking down your door.

+1



Ce24

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by chet

A grand or so?

Why not burn your own CD's and print up your own labels? That would be far less than a grand.

Depends on the packaging level you want, and the impression you want to make with the target audience.

Burning and assembling 500 CD's is time consuming (I've done I don't know how many over the years--put it this way, I now own three cutting boards for making inserts), I'd certainly rather pay someone a grand to give me something that's more polished looking.

[Colt W. Knight]

Well you can't sell em if you aint got em. That expression holds true, and anyone with a labtop can make pretty nice audio files and burn them to a CD. With some inexpenisve software and inexpensive bulk CDs, you can turn out CD's for almost nothing. If you are able to sell CDs, and I mean more than 10 or 15. Likes thousands a year, then you have a good band with a marketable sound, and I think a band in that situation should try to market larger and larger venues. Otherwise, if selling CDs is more of a hassle than a benefit, then no, you shouldn't worry about making them. I am not saying not being able to sell CDs makes you a bad band, Im just saying being marketable drives CD sales. When I was in school in Lexington, Kentucky, I noticed a lot of smalltime artists gave away magic marker labeled CDs. That way fans had a copy of the music, and he had demos to give out to interested parties who might want to join the band or whatever.

[petebradt]

We paid for a 500 CD license on the songs we recorded. If we sell them out, I'll buy licenses 25 copies at a time, and the rest will be digital downloads. We'll keep a few around to sell at gigs but most physical copies will go to CD Baby. I'd like to not have to deal with CDs at all, but there does seem to be some demand. We're available as digital downloads at CDBaby (where you get the artwork) and iTunes (where you don't).

I only buy CDs if they have sentimental value (a friend is the artist, or plays on it) or if it's not available as a digital download at iTunes, Amazon or Emusic. Other than that, it's all digital downloads.

[WickedGTR]

Last I heard, (currently) 75-85% of all people who buy music do not buy digital downloads.

[strummin67]

Originally Posted by chet

See how much it would cost to make your own vinyl album. If it's good I'll bet it would sell whatever you made.

Maybe I'll make my own with some TDPRI buddies.

Seriously, who is going to buy vinyl these days?

[surfoverb]

Originally Posted by strummin67

Seriously, who is going to buy vinyl these days?

hipsters for one...Lots of people buy vinyl. My friends band put out vinyl namely because they are a lo-fi garage/60's type band and vinyl is coolness.

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by strummin67

Seriously, who is going to buy vinyl these days?

The real question is "What percentage of your audience is going to buy vinyl, versus some other format, and how much of your manufacturing budget can you devote to each format?"

[strummin67]

Ok. Define a hipster. Give me an estimate of how many people are going to want to keep track of a record during a show and keep it from getting trashed.

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by strummin67

Ok. Define a hipster.

"In the 1990s and 2000s, the 1940s slang term hipster began being used in North America to describe young, well-educated urban middle class and upper class adults with leftist, liberal, or libertarian social and political views and interests in a non-mainstream fashion and cultural aesthetic. While definitions vary, hipsters are often associated with alternative music, "indie" culture (indie rock and independent film), and other non-mainstream products, such as vintage clothing."

[strummin67]

I don't know any of those.
The band I was in only had enough time/money to burn a package of CDs to give away. There were two songs plus one hidden track. I thought it was much easier/smaller/lighter to transport 100 CDs as opposed to 100 records.

[chet]

Most bigname bands sell CDs and t-shirts etc. at thier concerts. If you can make up some cool t-shirts as well then sell those too.

Redd Volkaert sells his CDs and DVDs at his shows.