Is it worth releasing music on CD?
I released a series of EPs. Requiem for Uncle, The Pills and Where are they...? If I wanted to have every single EP mastered by Helege Sten from Norway, who understands this kind of music very well, it would cost me 1000 euro per album. Even less for a single-track EP. So let's count 600 euro a piece. This year I would have already paid 1800 euro for a great final sound. As my friend Arve Henriksen says, it would take the music to the next level. But I thought of recording one more album "Echoes of hopeful Melancholy". I was inspired by the Woody Allen film "Vicky Cristina Barcelona". That would have cost me about 2800 euros already this year for the final sound of my recordings.
I wonder if it makes sense to invest this money...? I've found that up to 20,000 people will listen to my music on streams in a whole year (if I release an album with Arvo or Erik Truffaz in a given year). If not, something around 12 thousand. I get something between 30-60 euros a month from all the streams. That's it... If I pay for the record also for promo, press release production it's a pure remake.
About Cds
I saw an example in the podcast... If I visit a doctor friend of mine, I hand him a CD as a thank you. The doctor tells me he thanks me, but he has nowhere to put it. He doesn't have a CD player in his new car or on his computer anymore. He only listens to music on streams. And we're home...
CDs sell best at concerts. My musical colleague Paolo Raineri can sell 500 CDs (or more) if he plays 150 concerts a year all over Europe. It costs about 4 euros to produce a two-track digipack. That's 500 x 4 equals 2000 euros. For a CD you need to make a quality master, which is something around 1000 euros ( I'm talking in my case). That we have 3000 euros plus postage, SOZA and I forgot the graphic designer which costs around 500 euros. That is about 3700 euros.
Unless I play 150 concerts a year like Paolo who carries a sleeping bag and a mattress in his car. He and his band sleep on stage or in the car after the gig. I'm past those times.... I don't want to do that anymore. What to do with the cargo then? I prefer to play less, but at good venues, with good sound and service. I have to sell the CDs on my Bandcamp page, where sales are down to a couple dozen. What should I do if I release two albums and a soundtrack in a year?
3700 euros times 2?! It is a non-refundable investment. I'll get in my car and take the CDs to the few shops that are left in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland? I'll go back in half a year and ask the owner if they sold anything? Same with vinyl...
That's why I ask myself questions in podcasts... What should I give to the cardiologist? A David Kollar mug? A t-shirt or a pen? Should I tell him that he can listen to my new album on stream as a thank you?
Wouldn't it be better if each of my 20,000 fans sent me one euro a year? This is unrealistic...
I recommend listening to both podcasts, in which I wonder out loud how to proceed.
We have to come up with something...
David