Hi guys!
I'm in the middle of my album's production (actually, there's 10 songs out of 12 that are mixed so far) and i have to tell you that i learned so much during these 3 last months... VST's, AU's, DAW, mixing, mastering, recording tips, how to market an indie album, building an entire website, setting up an e-commerce solution to sell my album online, Subscribing to a release-on-demand cd pressing company, doing all the album artwork on Photoshop, Youtube tutorials, Blogs and groups advices, midi configurations, preparing a press file for medias, preparing 3 official launchings, organizing schedule to arrive on-time with the master to have the CD ready for the launchings, how to use social networks (Thanks John!!), arranging songs, high pass filters, low pass filters, Compressors, limiters, spreaders, and so on...
Man, that was a lot of work! and there's still some to complete so far... I need to record 2 more songs, mix them, and after all, do the mastering, and all this for the 31st! This is what my schedule says and i'll do it, i'm not afraid of that... But the most interesting part of that project, i guess, is that i did everything myself and it is go cool! I have to admit that for a first album, i will be completely satisfied, and i have to tell you that i'm a freaking perfectionist!!
The most surprising thing in this is probably the fact that, after 17 years of doing absolutely nothing on the music related side, my writings and singing has improved so much, well, this is what i personally think...
I would really try to help people here if they have any related questions or advises to ask about making an indie album and how to promote it. A lot of people helped me by giving me some good informations, i wanna do the same in return. As for an example, the release-on-demand cd press company was absolutely something i didn't have a clue of the existence, and it is so, so, i mean so nice to be able to deal with those guys... I don't know if you already did things with one of them, but mine (Indie Pool) is giving me the opportunity to have 2 major options, here they are:
- SMRT setup: they organize everything for your cd to be produced. They do a file check on the artwork with possibilities to verify 3 times for approving. They provide you a CUP code to put on your album. CD's are Digipaks and they are shrink wrapped. They can be produces in any quantity (from 1 to 2000 if you want, it will always be the same price for one cd! Quality is very nice. They give you cart buttons, checkout buttons, everything you need to put on your website to sell your cd (hard copy). Let's say 8 people check out for a cd on my website, automatically Indie Pool receives at the end of the day a report and they will produce the cd's on demand under 48 hours! They even ship the cd directly to the customer and apply to them the regular shipping rate for it! At the end of the month, they keep a small amount by cd for them and that's it! They send you the rest!
- Digital distribution: They put your album on 40 different affiliated album sellers sites (Amazon, Chapters, Itunes, Napster, HMV, etc...). They even put your album inside a catalogue which is distributes throughout 350 music stores in North America and music stores can order one or more if they like, even on a customer' special demand!
For those two options, you have a once-on-a-lifetime subscription fee by album and it is a ridiculously small one! The album will be there for life! You can decide to not doing business with them anymore by cancelling under a 30 day notice without any fee. They don't keep any rights on your music, they're just helping you to distribute it. They keep 20% of the cd selling price (for hard copies) and send you the rest every month. That's all it costs!
For the digital distribution, you have to deal with the percentage of every single reseller's site, but Indie Pool don't make anything on those. They just help you to distribute your music, that's it!
So far, i'm really satisfied with the sample i received (they made me a sample for approval). It looks really professional! Now the album release will be on November 19th, and from there, it will be available for ordering online on my website, but i can even order some myself for my launchings for the same price (20%) + the small shipping fee they're charging me.
If you'd like their infos, i can provide but they're located in Toronto, Canada...
Anyway, stay tuned to my website if you would like to hear some samples of my songs after the release ( 2 are featuring right now, but they are only rough mixes, no masters for now) and if you like what you hear.... :-P
Thanks guys and hope that this topic helped a bit and will help in the future!
Pascal