Should you make your own CD’s or have them pressed? There’s no easy answer to that question, so that’s what we’re going to talk about this month.

CD’s are not cheap unless you buy 1,000 or more. If you buy 1,000 CD’s, it could still be a problem. Think about it - how long would it take your band to sell 1,000 CD’s? Unless you’re a major Dallas band, it’s gonna take quite a while.
The main problems with having your CD’s commercially produced are the hidden costs, the time involved and who’s gonna take responsibility for following up on all the details? The simplest CD package with B/W graphics can run up to about $1,000, and a full color package can run around $1,800, usually more!!

Forget what the ads in the back of Guitar Player promise - they don’t give you the whole story. Do you have your own “films” ready? You don’t know what “films” are? Well, films are what they need to make printing plates and you’ll pay about $200 to $300 for them. Oh, you have your artwork in your computer? Is it compatible with their computer? No? Well, they’ll have to reset it - for a price. Need a bar code before your record store will take them? About $100 more.

Gonna do your own printing? How are you going to get it to the CD makers so it can be stuffed and shrink-wrapped? Who pays shipping? Who pays sales tax? Do you have a resale number? Is your DAT or CDR fully mastered? Not just from the studio, but from a mastering house that can increase the apparent level by 10 dB or more? Figure on $150 to $500 there.

It may sound simple at first, but having your own CD’s pressed can be a major headache - especially if you’re having it done halfway across the country to “save money,” or you have a small fan base.

You’re better off making a hundred or so CD’s at home, then using the money from sales to buy more. Like you’re not going to give away any of them, right? Sure, you will, but that’s a “BIG” mistake.

Most bands are too eager to “give away” their CD’s to friends and family. You should sell most (or all) of the first batch of CD’s, then give away some of the second batch. Get everybody in the band to autograph the first 50 or 100 CD’s and sell them for 25 bucks each, as a collector’s item. Sell them to your friends and family.

If your friends want a CD, they can either buy one from the first batch, or get one free from the second batch. If you have just 50 CD’s to start with (at about $2 each in cost) and you can SELL all of them at 10 bucks each, that will pay for 500 MORE CD’s You can afford to give away 50 of the CD’s from this second batch, and still have 450 more to sell.

If you sell the 450 remaining CD’s for just $10 each, that brings in $4,500. With that kind of money in your pocket, you can drop a few bucks on fancy graphics and some color, which would be a lot more impressive. Sell a few more CD’s using this technique, and you’ve paid for your next recording session, and maybe even the cost of a CD run.

Sending out CD’s to record companies is not a hard and fast rule, but always call the company first to find out what format they prefer or will accept. If they tell you that a CDR is OK, you’ve got it made. But make sure the CD’s looks professional and that the whole package has a professional feel to it - good graphics, easy to read, anything that would make a record company executive want to know more about the band.

Don’t hype the band to a record company. Just tell them a little about the band - influences, places you’ve played, reviews, comments, etc. If you really are the next Toadies, or Pantera, let the record company tell you. They kind of resent being told things like that.

Remember, labels are NOT in the business of making records. They are in the business of making money. They make money by selling records. If you can convince them that you can make a lot of money for them, congratulations, you just got yourself a record deal. Next month, we’ll talk about how to make your own CD’s at home, and make them look and sound professional. (Harvey Gerst), ITR Studios, http://ITRstudio. com