Bed 'n Breakfast - My First Official Album!

[Reist]

You could call this my finally finished AAW, but it's not technically an AAW since I spent much more than a week on it. I am about to order one to check out the quality, but if anyone wants to order now, go right ahead! (By the way, all the cd art was made by me!). Low quality sound clips are available if you click on the below link.

Here's where you can buy it!

[Reist]

ps - You may not want to order this yet, as it's quality has not been confirmed yet. I'll notify you all when I've got my copy - if I'm happy, then I'll be okay with you guys spending money on it.

[Project-D]

Checked out the artwork and liked it a lot, if you had written the title in ketchup or some condiment it would be perfect.

[starfinger]

$15!

[Reist]

$15!

Too much?

[Märk]

$15!

Too much?

You should start with $5.

[Reist]

$15!

Too much?

You should start with $5.

If that was possible, I would, but cafepress sets up a minimum price which is higher than $5. I definitely could lower the price if people think it's outrageously high ... however, this cd is full of original music that I think is the best I've made in my life. We'll see how it sells.

[HeuristicsInc]

Cafepress is problematic that way... they keep a lot of the money.
-bill

[GlennCase]

$15!

Too much?

I tend to look at it this way.

When you make a CD of material, you are technically competing with every piece of recorded music in existence. I tend to ask myself "What am I offering to people on this album that makes it worth the money?"

Just recently, I bought Spoon's new album "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" for $9.99 at my local Target store. I bought it because I like Spoon, and I felt that $10 was quite reasonable for a CD of music from an artist that has made music that I like a lot.

With this in mind, charge whatever you want. People will buy it, or they won't. I will say this: When the Half Racks CDs are finally completed? People will be able to buy them at our shows for $7 each, or $12 for both of them. I think it's especially important to have a competitive price when you're just establishing yourself, but maybe that's just me.

Of course, the bad side of this attitude is that I am feeling like the Half Racks albums need to be PERFECT before they are released. If people are going to spend money on the CDs, I feel like the recordings better be incredible first.

ROCK!

Glenn Case

[sausage boy]

i flog my cds off for $10 (which is about $5 or so for you yanks). However, I don't do any of this cafe express bullshit, my independent artistic flair would not allow it! Personally, I don't like any control of how the end product will be presented to be stripped from me. Minimum cost requirement!? Fuck you! I'll sell the CDs for a sack of shit if I want.

I set up and source all my own printing, cases, discs and whatever else I need (for the MGF tribute album, I had to source a company that could make a clear red plastic slipcase. That was a task unto itself. I ended up getting a florists accessories company to make them). Paint Yourself Green And Throw Forks At Her cost me around $500 to get the print material, jewel cases and CDs, which wasn't too bad. I ended up with 200 albums.

I have sold one, and given about 50 away. But thats what its for. If it was a money making venture I would be selling music that is good, not Sausage Boy.

Sorry about the tirade, but I get very precious about CD artwork and whatnot.

[wages]

Here's your sine....As far as making money with music goes, don't the big profits come from ticket sales and touring merchandise?

And here's your tangent... The album is kind of like the fragrance at the entrance to a mall store: it draws you in, but if the band don't rock, you won't be paying to see 'em. And if they don't rock when you pay to see 'em, you definitely won't pay again.

And cosine.... So unless you're releasing the next "Dark Side of the Mooon", "Dookie", "In Utero", "Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness", "Led Zeppelin I, II, III, IV", then you probably won't make shit, so why not start the disc at a lower price that would encourage people to gamble on you?

And long division.... Often when I'm at festivals, I've had guys walk up to me and just give me their band's CD. Some sucked, but some were good (and some I still haven't listened to). That seems like a pretty good strategy.

Algebra... (CD*Price/10) + (tickets*Price*#ofshows) - (buttuglydrummer*3) = Chaching

[Caravan Ray]

i flog my cds off for $10 (which is about $5 or so for you yanks). However, I don't do any of this cafe express bullshit, my independent artistic flair would not allow it! Personally, I don't like any control of how the end product will be presented to be stripped from me. Minimum cost requirement!? Fuck you! I'll sell the CDs for a sack of shit if I want.

I set up and source all my own printing, cases, discs and whatever else I need (for the MGF tribute album, I had to source a company that could make a clear red plastic slipcase. That was a task unto itself. I ended up getting a florists accessories company to make them). Paint Yourself Green And Throw Forks At Her cost me around $500 to get the print material, jewel cases and CDs, which wasn't too bad. I ended up with 200 albums.

I have sold one, and given about 50 away. But thats what its for. If it was a money making venture I would be selling music that is good, not Sausage Boy.

Sorry about the tirade, but I get very precious about CD artwork and whatnot.

I was listening to your CD in my car the other day Sausage Boy - and I was impressed by what a professional job it was. Did you do that all at home, or did you have it professionally mastered or something? It sounds like a real CD - albeit a real Sausage Boy CD - but a real CD nonetheless.

[starfinger]

why not start the disc at a lower price that would encourage people to gamble on you?

This is a great way to look at it.

$15 + shipping is more than you'd pay at the mall.. for something you knew you liked!

-craig

[Caravan Ray]

$15!

Too much?

Not enough.
Caravan Ray merchstarts at USD$50 for a Tshirt, up to $150 for the G-String.

I want my face on the A-List only. No scum, no losers, no ugly people. My people have been talking to Paris, Lindsay, Brad, George... they are all very excited. I would ask that if any Songfight kiddies do save up the cash for one of my exclusive creations - please don't wear it out in public. I have my brand-image to think of.

[jimtyrrell]

I've been tempted more than once to use Cafepress for CDs and shirts and such, but the pricing is just a killer. Here's what I've got going on:

I've been selling a couple CDs at shows this summer. The CDs are available on my web site, but it's the live shows that get them into people's hands.

One is a six-song EP of Irish-type stuff (Three Pints Irish). That one is self-produced, and I sell it at shows for five bucks. I 'make' less than two dollars on this CD.

The other is a full-length disc of original material. It's 14 songs (plus a hidden track), and it clocks in at just over 40 minutes. I had the thing mastered, pressed, and shrinkwrapped at Diskfaktory. My unit cost on these is higher: about $5.65 each*. I sell them at my shows for ten bucks.
I knew that I'd have to charge this much for the disc, and I was a little self-conscious about it. So I put a lot of work into the packaging, and I ended up with something that sounds pretty good, looks slick, and has a couple songs on it that are generally well-received at shows. I Know My Rights is the song that gets most people to pony up for a disc.

But that's another thing. A lot of people are prepared to compensate me just for being there, via the tip jar. Now, instead of giving me a tip, some folks will buy a CD. It's arguable that I might do better economically (at least short-term) if I had nothing to sell. But like most musicians, I'd rather people heard my stuff. In fact, on the rare occasion that someone drops a 20 in the jar, I make sure they get a CD for it, at least.

(Side note: signing CDs is an extremely strange thing to do. And I get asked to do it about one time in three when I sell a disc. I mean, I'm not famous or anything, so it seems purely speculative to me. I always ask, "should I make this out to Congratulations Ebay Auction Winner?")


*I did a run of just 100 CDs. Larger quantities = lower piece cost. Also, the cost of mastering is figured in to that price, so reorders would be less expensive for this reason too.

[jb]

People will be able to buy them at our shows for $7 each, or $12 for both of them. I think it's especially important to have a competitive price when you're just establishing yourself, but maybe that's just me.

Of course, the bad side of this attitude is that I am feeling like the Half Racks albums need to be PERFECT before they are released. If people are going to spend money on the CDs, I feel like the recordings better be incredible first.

You have the correct attitude, but to keep things in perspective, in any given month many people will spend more than $7 on fast food they don't even finish.

I think there's more involved in your thought process than "people are spending their hard-earned money". I suspect that you are still of the opinion that people are doing you a favor not only by purchasing your CD, but by listening to it. And you want them to get as much return for that favor as you can provide. I don't think this attitude goes away, and it's basic fan-appreciation on the part of an artist. Unless you're one of those guys who makes a show of hating on his fans (you're not, I'm just cataloguing types now.)

[sausage boy]

I was listening to your CD in my car the other day Sausage Boy - and I was impressed by what a professional job it was. Did you do that all at home, or did you have it professionally mastered or something? It sounds like a real CD - albeit a real Sausage Boy CD - but a real CD nonetheless.

I am surprised that your ear didn't bleed into your brain, causing you to crash and get horribly mutilated.

Its a complete home job, with the exception of I Wish I Was Ron Hitler-Barassi which had a small bit of mixing work done by 3k Short.

Other than that, it is all sausage.

[GlennCase]

I think there's more involved in your thought process than "people are spending their hard-earned money". I suspect that you are still of the opinion that people are doing you a favor not only by purchasing your CD, but by listening to it. And you want them to get as much return for that favor as you can provide.

BINGO! That's exactly how I feel.

ROCK!

Glenn Case

[HeuristicsInc]

One is a six-song EP of Irish-type stuff (Three Pints Irish). That one is self-produced, and I sell it at shows for five bucks. I 'make' less than two dollars on this CD.

The other is a full-length disc of original material. It's 14 songs (plus a hidden track), and it clocks in at just over 40 minutes. I had the thing mastered, pressed, and shrinkwrapped at Diskfaktory. My unit cost on these is higher: about $5.65 each*. I sell them at my shows for ten bucks.

I recently bought both of these and I can say that they're THE BOMB.
Everyone should buy one! Or several! Fun for the whole family!

My own CDs are $10 incl. shipping from my own website and $10 (not incl. shipping) from CDBaby and some cost set by iTunes at iTunes. Mine were prob about the same cost as Jim's. When I did sell them at a show and in person I generally ask $8 since shipping isn't an issue.

That said there is one Brainpipe CD that's JUST $1
-bill

[Reist]

I have no plans for ordering up 100-200 of these (for the better deal per cd), as I don't play shows (how many shows can a one-man band play?), and I have virtually no fan base aside from my family and friends (most of whom are willing to part with $15 dollars, since they know me). If I sold the album for $10, I would make about $1 per cd, due to Cafepress keeping lotsa money. I may put some cash towards later albums, which I'm hoping could be Diskfactory-worthy projects, however - I need to take into account that 18-year old kid's home-produced cds are terrible business ventures. Spending nothing on creating a Cafepress album is the only safe business move I can take. Sorry if you don't want the album because of the price. I may drop it a dollar or two, but that's the most I can do.

[jimtyrrell]

(how many shows can a one-man band play?)

A whole bunch. I've recently set up some backtracks of my original material to play to, but I've only used those for one show. My act is one instrument (guitar or keys) and voice, and I'm pretty busy, at least in the summers.

There's plenty of opportunity for the solo musician, if you're really interested in doing that sort of thing. And there's nothing wrong with NOT wanting to play out, of course. Sometimes, when I'm doing Margaritaville for the third time in as many hours, I wonder if it's worth it.

But that has little to do with the point that I WANT TO ORDER YOUR CD so I'm gonna go do that.

[sausage boy]

have virtually no fan base aside from my family and friends

Thats why I made up the 200 CDs to palm off on poor, unsuspecting saps. Not everyone is up with this internet music thing, and just shoving a pretty disc at them and sending them on their merry way is an acceptable solution.