My first album is coming soon.
As with most other firsts in music, I learned of many, MANY responsibilities of which the general public is completely unaware. Because this information is not widely available on the internet, and since one of my goals is to help you guys learn from my mistakes so that your experience may go a little smoother, I have compiled a checklist of items to have in order before submitting to your distributor.
Notice that I did not say before your album releases, but before submission… more on this later.
1. HAVE PATIENCE
As an independent artist, you are the CEO of your own company, and you have a lot of power as to when things get done. At the same time, as an independent, you will still be dealing with a team that you may have to wait on.
In addition, getting everything together may take you some time. And do not allow yourself to be defeated by your own ambition. In the words of Steven Pressfield,
“The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming out in each individual work. He knows that any job, whether it’s a novel or a kitchen remodel, takes twice as long as he thinks and costs twice as much. He accepts that. He recognizes it as reality.”
2. MONEY
Don’t get too antsy to release your album once it’s done. You’re going to need some cash, even as an independent, to push your work out there. Here are some costs to consider:
- Online distribution fees: $200+
- Physical distribution: $200-500
- Promotion: $100-500
- Video production: $500-800
- Copyright filing fee: $55
Don’t get overwhelmed, but do be grounded in reality. Whether you need to save up for a couple of months, sell some items, or wait until your tax refund comes in, make sure that you have everything in line before putting your work out there. You worked so hard on this project that you want to make sure that you do it justice!
3. Copyright each song.
Contrary to popular myth, your songs are not copyrighted by dropping them onto Spotify. Yes, it does have a nice little copyright symbol at the bottom of your artist page, but that is essentially there to let people know that you own a copyright. Ahem:
THE ONLY WAY TO COPYRIGHT YOUR MUSIC IS THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT COPYRIGHT OFFICE.
That’s it. Fortunately for you, it used to take 14 months to receive your copyright certificate, not too long ago actually, when paper forms were required. Now, you are able to file online and receive your certificate in the mail in a matter of just a few months.
When doing this, you will have a few options of how to list your work. If all of your music and lyrics are original, you will probably not prefer to list as a sound recording. This category is specifically for songs that are a performance or derivative of another work. If your main goal is to protect your music and lyrics, choose the creative work category. You will be able to list all of your songs for one fee, as well.
4. Register your songs with your PRO
A PRO is a Performing Rights Organization. They make sure that all of the royalties for your music are funneled to you regardless of where your music is performed (in industry terms, a performance is any public broadcast of your music), whether at a restaurant, on the radio, or at shows.
Since America is still pretty capitalistic, we do have a couple of options for PROs while other countries have a monopoly. This is good for you. Unless you have been invited to SESAC, you have a couple of options: BMI or ASCAP.
I’m not going to go into how to choose one: That’s another article for another day (and several Google searches). Someone tried to lasso me into BMI because there is no entry fee, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. I really paid attention to which artists chose each PRO before I decided.
5. Promotion
One of the biggest mistakes an artist can make is to spend all of his budget on production and leave nothing for promotion. These allocations should be evenly distributed. What’s the point in having a glorious video if no one sees it??
You can do your own promotion, but I strongly recommend getting one or two good representatives to promote your music as well. The best spotify promoter I know is Streamlord. He does playlist pitching and song placement. Check out how to get your songs placed here:
6. Artwork
If you want to get paid as an artist, pay people. You reap what you sow. Pay beatmakers, pay promoters, and pay artists. Your art can make or break how well your project goes.
Decide on whether you would rather go with photos or with graphic design, then find the right people in your network to make it happen within your budget.
If you are going with photos, schedule the photo shoot far enough ahead so that the photographer can also finish his creative process in time for distribution.
Also consider shooting a video for promotion. This step is optional but could add immense value in the current digital landscape.
7. Social Media Marketing
I cannot emphasize the value of social media coverage enough. Major labels are currently signing people with zero musical talent based off of the sole attribute of a high following.
Building up followers, as peripheral as it may seem, is one of your main jobs as an artist (I understand you already have 50; what’s one more?).
Consistent engagement is key in social media. It is even possible to run some ads. Depending on how serious you are, you can add an Instagram promotion for $5 or pay a digital marketing company to handle all your social for you for $200 monthly.
Conclusion
In no way is this meant to be a cure-all for the album release process, but it should be a helpful guide. Check out the RAW album on Spotify and iTunes, and feel free to write any questions that you may have in the comments. I am certain that your project is going to win!
MusicHead 