Pointers on making an EP

[THOA]

Hi guys,

Is there any thread that has been previously posted with regards to tips on producing and distributing EPs? As in things to look into like budget and distribution and label signups and/or stuff like that. I mean like really "EPs for Dummies" stuff. Can point me in the right direction?

 

[Kerr]

er... dont do EP... Record and distribution company dont like them because have to sell low price. Workout a few more songs and record an album. DEBUT ALBUM IS MUCH better sounding then EP.. EP thrend are goners...

Been there done that....

 

[THOA]

Hmm.. makes sense. Heh. Ok. So now an album then. Has there been a thread that discussed the tips on making one?

The current situation is that there is enough songs to make an album, and I believe with a bit of hard work, the budget for printing of the cds and cd covers too. But what else does one have to look into?

 

[slapwalkpop]

hmm. are you signed on by a company ?

 

[suspend_thought]

The biggest assumption would be that he isn't, eh.

 

[THOA]

That assumption would be correct.

 

[slapwalkpop]

i dunno.. but to me it seems quite hard to produce a debut album without a company. even if you got money to record the album and mass produce it, how you gonna sell it ?

 

[teraslasch]

for distro, u can kindly approach stores and ask if they would mind if they just give u that small space to put ur CD.. :lol: .. but u wont earn much..

 

[EgocoreTM]

If you're a new band, an EP is usually to introduce yourself to the scene besides playing in as many gigs as you can.

You record a debut album only after the audience response is satisfactory.

What's the point of going straight to record a debut album when no one knows about your band or what music you play.

Recording an album is quite costly so if very little ppl know about your band, the cd sales won't be enough to cover the cost of album production.

 

[THOA]

i dunno.. but to me it seems quite hard to produce a debut album without a company. even if you got money to record the album and mass produce it, how you gonna sell it ?

I'm not dismissing the idea of being signed to a company. In fact I would be thoroughly grateful.

In the end what I want to know is just basic pointers on producing a physical release; be it EP or album. I'm not particular as to what kind of physical release it is. The A to Z of it is to have a physical release and be heard. So I would like to know more about what are the things one has to consider, and/or what is the best approach to do it.

 

[soft]

Recording budget for 1 song ($500 per day)

Drums (2 hours)
Bass (1 hour)
Guitar (2 hour)
Keyboard (2 hour)
Vocal + backups (3 hours)

* if sound engineer no need eat and go toilet, it can be squeezed into 1 day. there will be some initial set up time. half a day.

so if you do 12 songs, it would be $6000

Mixing about $300 per day, 12 songs about 12 days. so $3600.

Pressing 2000 CDs with simple inlays would be around $3000

Let's total that
Recording - $6,000
Mixing - $3,600
Pressing - $3000
Promo - $400

For distribution, see where you target audience are likely to hang out. No point selling at CD-Rama when you know their customers are not your target listeners.

* where do YOU usually buy your cds? or where do you hang out? that might be a good place to start. :wink:

if you earn $7 each cd, you need to sell 2000 to breakeven

 

[AgingYouth]

1) Distro deal with major label = You sell your finished product, i.e. pressed CD to them at a price (for example, $10 - 12).

The label will take the product and push it into stores, trying to sell them to the retail stores. If they like it and take it, the CD will be marked up to $18 - 20. That's the retail store's profit margin. In addition, the label will draw a 20 - 30% commission off the retail price from the artist. So effectively, you are only getting $7 - 8 per unit CD.

And the label has only a distribution deal. So no marketing (or minimal) effort will be spent on you.

2) Record deal (licensing deal) = The company takes you under their wings and 2 scenarios might happen:

a) You become an employee. That means, you work when the company tells you to work. You dance and sing like how they groom you to be. You take home a salary (don't be mistaken that this might be a huge sum even if you are at the peak of your career and you are shit hot famous.) Good marketing dollars will be spent on promoting you though. Of course, if you are not making it after a while, your contract will be terminated and it's back to reality.

b) If you are those acts who are 'creative' and want to be seen as artists, you sign a deal where the company will finance your album, music video, photo shoot, etc. But you'd only get 5 - 10% (if you are very lucky) off all profits. Why so miserable? Cuz they are spending a lot of money on you what... And if you finished up the hours allocated to you for recording, you can ) either pay out of your pocket to carry on yourself or b) finish the rest of the album using sessionists which is still on your tab, of course.

All 2 contracts with the labels are often binding for a few years. If you decide to carry on with the label, you are not allowed to sign with another label for a stipulated amount of time, eg. 3 - 5 years, effectively killing your career.

Was hanging out with the embryo last night and chatting about this. His industry experience is pretty wide. We agreed that when it comes to the music business, the music often is the least important thing of all. Of course, all this talk is moot if the A&R guy decides your music is turd and chuck the demo into the bin...

 

[AgingYouth]

Pressing 2000 CDs with simple inlays would be around $3000

Boss, can be cheaper than this. Do a 4-pp fold and turn all your printing/ silkscreen to 1C and you'd save quite a bit as well.

 

[Kerr]

Well just do a full 10 songs or even 9 for the album... you can maybe do 3 songs demo to distribute around to get gigs. Find some friends with home recording can help. These days the technology is good and dont come that expensive.

If a EP of 5 songs you release then to make a debut album you hv to do everything again. Unless you wanna repeat the 5 songs in the album.

All the Best! Cheers!

 

[THOA]

Ah... thank you thank you

Recording: Other than some one man vocal reworks... done. So say that takes 1 hour per day. I have 8 songs. Does it still count as $500 per day?

Mixing: Hmm.. A requirement. So $2400

Pressing: 1000 is good enough for me. But inlays is something I wanna spend abit more. So say for that... $2000?

Promo: Guerilla style. Lol. Bring budget down to $300.

So total (minus recording) = $4700.

I'm not looking to break even, just lessen the loss as much as possible. What's more important is to get the physical out.

EDIT: Ok I didn't see the rest of the posts after Soft's before I posted this, so thanks guys!

 

[Kerr]

The Demo songs are good on your website....

I like Streak's incomplete ... bring me back to those "filter days"

 

[THOA]

Lol. Streaks and Catastrophe are very old songs.

Thanks for giving them a listen. Newer stuff on soundclick.

 

[AgingYouth]

Send us a copy of your EP/ LP when it's out. Thanks!

 

[THOA]

Will do