THE CHANCE TO CUT A COMMERCIAL CD IS THE STUFF OF DREAMS FOR MOST SINGERS. What singer hasn’t fantasized about the title for his or her debut solo CD, let alone the track list for that digital aspiration? While few are able to draft a consortium of money people together to fund their dreams, fewer still are picked by major recording labels such as Decca or Deutsche Grammaphone. So what of making your own CD with your own money? Soprano Jamie Baer Peterson has done just that, and in her interview with Classical Singer, she was open and optimistic as she shared her experiences and advice.
Inspiration
In 1999, Jamie was singing a performance of Messiah at Lincoln Center. Following the concert, a longtime friend approached her and asked if she had made a solo CD. Her response? “Right! Who’s going to finance me?” But as their conversation continued, his comments prompted Jamie to ponder the possibilities of cutting a CD. “He told me about his mother, who was a contralto with a modest professional career. She never made a recording and had recently passed away. His children would never know what kind of talent their grandma had. He said, ‘You need to do this for your children.’ It really hit me.… I was feeling at my vocal prime and even though I had lots of operatic demo tapes, I really didn’t have anything that would tell my children and grandchildren who I was.”
Two years later and eight months pregnant, Jamie found herself laying the tracks of her other baby—her debut solo CD, “Rejoice Greatly.”
Jamie’s career has found her singing on the opera mainstages of New York City (NYCO), Kansas City, Santa Fe, Utah (Festival), Omaha, Mississippi, and Central City, as well as with symphony orchestras in major cities, including Dallas and Atlanta. She has managed the ebbs and flows of her career with balance and focus. “Some years were busy and exciting, like my debut with L’Opera de Nice, and others were sustained by temping and regional work,” she said. Planning an outline and schedule for the CD, and coordinating everyone involved was something that utilized those management skills. “It took nearly a year from the time I began planning the project, to the completion of production. From rehearsal to the completion of production, it was six months,” she explained.
Jamie knew from the beginning that she wanted the CD to have a Christmas theme. “First of all,’ she said, “I love Christmas music. For the past 10 years I had been doing Christmas programs with orchestras and at churches. I had a variety of songs already in my repertoire, some of which were written specifically for me, which I could include in the programming. People really love Christmas music, plus as I did my research, I found no chamber music Christmas CDs. They were mostly choral or pop music.” Jamie’s was an important and gainful choice, and one that would affect her marketing approach later. For a singer considering a similar project, such forethought can determine the success or failure of a recording. Do we really need another collection of arias by Verdi and Puccini?
Preparation
Once she had decided on a theme, Jamie set about the task of commencing the project. “I first contacted the composer, David Fletcher, with whom I had worked in a number of venues. He had made a couple of recordings of his own music previously, so I really used him as a sounding board for a lot of my ideas.” David would also be her accompanist and arranger. “We discussed what type of Christmas songs we wanted to do and what type of arrangements. Then we contacted Winona Vogelmann Fifield (the violinist) and asked her to contract a string quartet.” Next came the booking of the venue. Should the recording be in a studio or a hall? Should it be done as an ensemble or individually? For Jamie, her focus and vision were clear: “I have had experience recording both in the studio and on a stage, and preferred the stage. I wanted the recording to feel?’live,’ so I wanted all of us on stage together, making music together, rather than adding track upon track. I felt like it was a more natural sound. Plus, in a studio I could never really hear myself and usually over-sang.?I knew I would not last for a three-hour session if we were in a studio.”
Jamie chose Discmakers (discmakers.com) to handle the job of manufacturing her CD. “In my initial research,” she recalled, “I asked a number of musician friends who had produced their own CDs, about their manufacturers. There were quite a few out there, but I felt Discmakers was the best. They had so many extras (for example, publicity, promotion ideas, editing features, and an agreement with Amazon.com) that it seemed clear to go with them, even if they weren’t the least expensive.” She chuckled as she continued: “They’re a good company although they are geared toward rock bands. You have to glean what you can from them, but I was very happy. If anything, I just wished that I had utilized the company more than I did.”
Through Discmakers, Jamie was able to use her own graphic designer, who also happened to be her aforementioned accompanist and arranger. “David was able to download all the programs he needed so we could fit within Discmaker’s format.” The design for the cover came from another friend, Kent Christensen. “This was a piece that he had done over 10 years ago and I had seen it and loved it, but of course couldn’t afford to buy it! I asked Kent if we could use the image for the cover and he was game.”
Production
The decision was made to record in three-hour recording sessions on four separate days, within a two-week period; a schedule based mostly around the available session time at the hall, and the coordination of the musicians’ calendars. “I drew upon my own experience for coming up with the number of sessions,” Jamie said. “I knew that I could record one or two songs per studio hour, and since we were recording 14 songs, I figured we could do it in 12 hours. We ran into the problem of losing the cellist from the quartet two days before the recording, so Winona had to scramble and book a different cellist for each day.” Over the next two weeks, things began to come together. “The recording process took tremendous concentration,” she remembered, “but the producer (again an old friend) tried to keep everyone relaxed. We did at least two complete takes of each song. Basically, the more musicians there were, the longer it took to record. This was one of the problems of doing it in a hall as opposed to a studio, where each musician could’ve been miked separately. I should mention that by the time we had been recording for two and a half hours, everyone was fried.” Although it was a bit of a task getting all of the musicians together at the hall on the same day, and keeping them focused on her vision of the product, all in all it was a satisfying experience. “I always get a thrill making music, knowing that five or six different people can get together and produce something that is so beautiful!”
With the producer, Jamie listened to each take, made her editing decisions, and approved the engineer’s final results. “By the way, this was the most time-consuming part of the recording. I really struggled with certain takes. Should I choose the take where the ensemble was the best, or the take where I sounded the best vocally, but the violist was flat on two notes?” Finalizing the programming order was also a complexity. “Figuring out the order of songs took the a lot of time when working on this CD. I really stressed about that. I was really anxious, and I went through three different orders.” Jamie’s main concern was that the final product be one that people would truly enjoy. More importantly, she wanted it to be a true representation of herself and her talent.
Distribution
When it comes to promotion, finding and understanding the specifics of the target audience is key to success. “I was glad that I had done research in this area,” Jamie said. “Marketing is probably the most challenging part for an unknown singer. The first thing I did was send my CD to well known conductors, composers, and directors that I had worked with, so they could review it and give me ‘quotable quotes.’ After acquiring three quotes, I made up press packets with my CD and sent them to various newspapers. I got write-ups in several newspapers as well as a very nice review. Of course, getting this to happen took lots of follow up work!” Jamie followed her print success by placing the CD in stores. Local music and record stores agreed to stock it, as did gift stores in her parents’ and in-laws’ cities. “I really tried hard to have a distributor pick it up and after a series of ‘almosts,’ it did not happen. That was probably the most frustrating part.” However, through her manufacturer, Diskmakers, she was able to have the recording picked up by Amazon.com. “Actually it was pretty easy, as Discmakers had a deal with Amazon. Mind you, it wasn’t guaranteed that Amazon would show it; they had to review it first. Dealing with them was fine. They made a nice page for it but never did put up any sound clips—this really annoyed me. I did not make much money from Amazon; I sold quite a few but they take a big cut. It was helpful, though, for selling nationally and internationally plus other stores and reviewers were impressed with this.”
Using the Internet was something that Jamie quickly learned was an inexpensive and convenient way to promote her CD. “Discmakers had a great booklet on Internet marketing,” she said, describing how she setup her own Web site at “jamiebaer.com,” designed specifically for the CD, and began to contact other sites. “With the Internet, you can really connect to other Web sites. I scanned the Web and found several sites where that I could link up, that were within my target audience. Music sites such as Listen.com, GoGirlsMusic.com, and religious sites like Crosswalk.com, and LDSmusic.org.” She also contacted OperaMom.com to ask for a review, and was offered a featured-artist article.
Jamie did a lot of promotion work as well. “I did a lot of concerts at churches and got a lot of press. I sang soirees in the homes of well-connected friends who would sponsor CD parties for me; you know, like a Tupperware party. I had an advantage with a Christmas CD. People love to have music at Christmastime, so they bought them for gifts. I would sell at least 100 CDs at those parties, so it was a good bang.” Laughter punctuated her next comment: “Making a profit has been the most unexpected surprise in this entire process!”
Compensation
Is funding the costs of making a CD within the realm of possibility for most singers? Were Jamie’s experiences typical? As she has demonstrated, utilizing one’s contacts and resources is fundamental to cutting costs. Because Jamie and her husband decided to fund the entire project on their own, a strict budget was drawn, and choices were made accordingly. “I worked out a fee with all the musicians that was decent, but not union scale,” Jamie explained. “We agreed upon rehearsal time and recording time, and included that in one fee. David would not accept money. Instead he wanted to be paid in CDs.” Copyrights were an additional matter. “When we were planning the CD, copyrights became another cost issue. That’s why I used so many that were by the arranger. Singers really need to do their research to make sure that the music is in common domain; otherwise they (the publishers) will hunt you down!”
All in all, her costs—from starting fees to promotional concerts in rented spaces—totaled under $8,000. Could a CD be made for less cost than what Jamie paid? “Yes, of course,” she said. “It depends on so many aspects. The number of musicians involved, artwork or photographs, the number of pages in your insert, color or black and white insert, how many colors you want printed on the CD itself, and of course, the number of CDs you want to produce.” She broke down the costs this way: “Discmakers will not produce anything under 300 copies. So, if I spent $1,500 on recording time and used only a pianist, had a one page insert and only two colors on the CD, and black and white on the CD cover, (costs would be considerably less.) Let’s say your pianist charges you only $500 and Discmakers would charge you around $1,600 … that’s $3,600 for 300 CDs.”
Domestication
Producing one’s own CD is challenging. Producing one’s own CD with two children and one on the way is heroic! “My husband Mark was very supportive from the start of this project,” Jamie said. “From the moment the idea was presented, he was very much behind it. He has known me as a singer all along and knows that this is a part of who I am. He felt that I am at my prime and wanted to make a preserved record of that.” Producing a CD is a big financial investment, and although Jamie’s husband works with numbers and funds for a living, he did not get too involved initially. “Mark helped me figure out a budget, which I honored, and he was extremely helpful with overseeing the graphics and the marketing. It was a delicate act to keep him involved and supportive, and to know when to shut up because he was sick of hearing about it and thinking about the new windows we could have put in instead of funding the CD.”
It was particularly important for Jamie to remain focused, a point that she has stressed repeatedly. “For the three months prior to recording, I was meeting every Saturday with David. Once recording began, it was ‘crunch month’ for my husband. I would spend the entire day rehearsing, recording, editing, and being fully mentally engaged so that we weren’t wasting time in the studio.” Jamie was able to get a lot of help from friends with babysitting, in order to lessen the stressful effects. “The kids would be with the babysitter all day, and my husband would pick them up after work. I would come home at 10 p.m.—high from the day—and would want to talk about it with him, but he would be too tired to talk about anything.” However, once Mark saw and heard the finished product, and others’ reactions too it, he was less stressed. “To say the least, he was just giddy when we broke even and then made a profit on this project. I cannot imagine doing something of this magnitude without help and support from my family.”
Despite her professional successes, Jamie’s family remains central to her happiness in life. Juggling a singing career with children presents its challenges, but Jamie is adamant: “I don’t want to say it’s the best thing … but it is! There’s nothing more rewarding than having kids. I mean, my life is really in a wonderful groove right now. I’ve had joyous moments like that occasionally on the stage, but nothing compares with the daily joys and triumphs you get with your family. It’s these memories, that stay with you your whole existence.”
Reflection
Looking back, Jamie said that were she to do things again, she would approach the production stage differently. “I made a lot of choices based solely on my financial plan. We had set our budget and began to kiss the mark. Now for $200 more we could’ve fixed certain things, and now I wish we would’ve done that.
“For example, doing postproduction with Discmakers would have been ideal. Also, David did the graphics for me, but I wish that I had Discmakers do it. When the final result for the cover was completed, the print was darker than the prototype that I had sent them. Discmaker’s attitude was, ‘We didn’t do the graphic design, so we aren’t going to take as much responsibility for it.’ Those things really bother me now. All in all, it would’ve been about another $500-1,000, and to me it would’ve been worth that extra amount.”
Other advice that Jamie offers is for singers to be firm about what they want. “It was interesting to work with so many different people, as everyone had their own priorities. Oftentimes I had to step back and say, ‘I am paying for this project and this is my gig. I am paying you.’ I had to keep reminding myself, ‘This is mine and I want it to reflect my vision, and not someone else’s.’” It is easy to lose one’s focus when so many opinions are flying about. Jamie remembered that “people would say, ‘It’s fine. This is good enough,’ and because money was an issue, I agreed with their satisfaction, although I myself was not fully satisfied. There were little things that I wish that I hadn’t compromised, like tempi or sound levels.” She stressed the importance of asking lots of questions, and insisting that the results are satisfactory. “Were I to do it again, I would?make sure that the balance was exactly how I wanted it on every song, before we left the studio. This was a problem on the numbers with more than three people. Also, I would have contracted all the musicians myself.”
Yet despite her list of should-have’s, Jamie is pleased with the final result. “Even though the CD has no operatic arias on it, I think it covers my range, my vocal strengths and personality. I am now sending it out to various conductors and specifically mentioning which tracks to listen to.” Would Jamie do it all again? “Absolutely, but not this year!” For Jamie, the most rewarding part of the process was the knowledge that she was fulfilling a dream. “I was really proud of the finished product,” she said. “It really represented who I am: A very positive and joyful person; a woman of faith. I think this comes through in the CD. If I were to die tomorrow, I would want people to say that I was an outgoing and positive person, a devoted and kooky mom … and a pretty dang good singer!”
