Tell us about the lessons learned Gary. Would be good information.
Thanks
Pauly
I think the main thing I'll do differently on the next one is do more of the editing/mixing myself. I think that it's a process that benefits from musicianship more than (or at least in concert with) technical ability. Might also help keep costs down next time. I've got a home studio set-up, so it would be an option.
Most people don't like talking $$, but it might be helpful to anyone else looking to do it, so here's what it cost me (all figures in CDN $):
- Recording / mixing: ~$1500 (bear in mind I laid down the majority of my tracks at home with the Axe, so it was primarily drums and some bass that took the most studio time.)
- Mastering: ~$1500 (I splurged on a pretty high-end place, so you could do this for much less)
- Duplication: ~$1600 (1000 CDs in full-colour digipaks, includes shipping. I used CD Baby - there were cheaper options, but not nearly as easy)
- Publicity: ~$1500 ($750/month for the 2 months leading up to the release, which is May 12)
- Digital Distribution: ~$40 for the year with Distrokid. I opted for the 2nd tier membership so I could specify the release date. I'm hoping to release music more frequently in the future, so this seemed like a better deal than other distributors.
So all told it ended up being about $6k (~$4.5k US for you stars & bars folks). At $10 a CD, I'll need to sell 600 to crack even. If that happens, I'll consider it a success, just for the learning experience. My wife already pre-ordered it on Amazon, so now I only need 599! lol
Anyways, if that helps anyone out there looking to do their own album, great! Happy to answer any questions, although bear in mind this was my first kick at the can, so not an expert by any means.
