If you are going to market your own CD successfully, you need a well-thought-out plan. Why? Because no one has all the money or all the time in the world, and you want to get the most return for your investment. Don’t rely on a shot in the dark when certain actions you can take will greatly increase your chances of success.
Before we begin, let me make a few important points.
First, a commercial CD is entirely different from a demo CD. The process for creating a demo CD might be similar, but a demo CD is not saleable. The purpose of this article is to discuss marketing commercial CDs.
Second, as you read through these steps, begin to outline and develop your own ideas. Then get a second reliable and professional opinion (or even a third) to ensure that your voice and final product would be commercially viable, before making such an investment.
Third, it should be clear that creating and marketing a commercially viable CD is no easy task. If you are not ready, artistically as well as financially, don’t take the risk. If you are ready, or would simply like to ponder the idea for the future, the following steps will serve as your guide.
Step 1: Determine Your Budget
No one can decide for you what your budget to make your CD should be; it is variable, depending on the type of product you mean to create. Studio time, the engineer, the orchestra or other professional musicians you hire, the packaging, the distribution, the advertising, etc., will add up to a considerable amount of capital. APG Media in San Francisco quoted a price range of $1,500 to $5,000 for a compilation with up to five accompanying musicians, without including the graphics designer fee or the cost of reproduction.
With every added layer or dimension, the price increases. Your budget will be determined by what you want to produce and how many benefactors are in your corner! [Editor’s note: for info on how to raise money, see the forthcoming February issue]
Step 2: Define your Target Audience
Who do you hope will listen to and possibly purchase your CD? This sounds very basic and commonsensical, but you should be able to write down on paper a description or definition of your target audience. Be as specific as possible, whether you have a specific target in mind (perhaps those who love Broadway hits) or a broader group (maybe opera lovers between the ages of 23 and 55). Marketing is based on getting the right customers to become aware of the products and services that would be of interest to them, and making those products and services easily accessible.
The more you know about your target, the more focused you can be in your marketing efforts.
Step 3: Define your Product
You might believe that the product is simply the CD itself—the music and your voice. The music is only a part of the overall product, however. Your product is actually a mix of “ingredients.” The other components may include the packaging, the image, your personality and energy, and even the live performances that complement your recording. In the end, all the ingredients function as one unit; each part influences the development of every other part.
To start, think about your personality and energy, and about the audience you aim to target. Your product is a combination of what your audience desires of you and what you can deliver to them.
If we agree that everyone’s voice is unique and that many are pleasant to listen to, what differentiates you from everyone else? What is your competitive advantage?
Once these characteristics are clear in your mind, you can use them to convince your audience that your product has “value.” Communicate to your audience through your image.
Use your image to choose your repertoire. Expand on your image to create a theme for your CD. Choose pieces that show you to the best of your abilities, but are in line with your specific theme. For example, soprano Robin Follman had decided to focus on rare Italian verismo arias produced from 1884 to 1934, because it was a unique project, and she felt that it reflected her voice well.
Elise Rotchford, a music librarian, summarized these concepts, saying that, “it is advantageous to come up with some kind of ‘hook’ that will catch your audience’s attention… [such as] music on the CD which may be thematic, or lesser known [works] of a popular composer, a particular period, etc.”1
Once you know what image you would like to portray, and what selections fit with this image, the packaging and CD cover design will be easier to create. Staying congruent with your theme is extremely important when it comes to the CD cover. Chances are your audience will look at the CD cover and make a quick judgment about what they are about to hear before actually listening to your CD.
Step 4: Set your Price
Think about these three factors when you set your price:
• Your cost, which is only used as a starting price, because you want to make a profit.
• The price range your target audience can afford. How much are they willing to pay for your CD?
• Your main competitor’s price, which is a good indicator of your target’s price range.
“Most single-disc CDs with 40 to 70 minutes of music sell for approximately $10 wholesale and $12 to $18 retail,” according to John Stiernberg, author of Succeeding in Music. Interestingly, he also says that “the relative popularity of the artist [may] have little effect on the selling price.”2 Keep in mind, however, that if you set a price higher than that of your competitors, your CD might be perceived as higher in quality—but you also might not sell as many.
Step 5: Find your Place.
It is not surprising that you should probably distribute your CDs to outlets where your target market (as well as everyone else) goes to purchase CDs. If you do not have an agent or connections with a record company, you might want to start by contacting small, independent CD stores in your area. Other ideas include setting up a website, getting a toll-free number, or creating a brochure—complete with ordering coupon—that you can send to people on your mailing list, and distribute at your performances.
You might also consider selling your CDs on your website. A company called PayPal can make that easy, allowing your customers to simply click on payment buttons to purchase your CDs. (More information on this process is available at www.paypal.com.) CD Baby is another organization that makes it easy to sell your CDs, allowing your customers to use a credit card to purchase your CD. CD Baby ships the CDs directly from its warehouse to your customer. For this convenience, CD Baby charges you $4 for every CD you sell off their website, www.CDBaby.com
Step 6: Promote your CD
Let’s break down your options. There are only two kinds of advertising: paid and free. Paid advertising involves ads you pay to place in traditional media, such as radio, television, print publications, and the Internet. Your CD gets free advertising when an organization writes a review for a print publication, or does a story on your product or on you for the local TV station, for example.
Obviously it is much more difficult to start off your promotion campaign with free advertising, so you need to balance how much money you have to invest and what media will be sufficient to reach your target.
Again, this is the area where knowing your target becomes very important. What publications does your target read? Where do they spend their time? What kind of websites do they visit? What entertainment are they interested in? From there, you can intercept them.
You will find that you achieve greater results if you place a few strategic advertisements rather than spend extra money to place many ads at random (presuming you don’t have the budget to cover all the areas you would like.) Without a record contract with a large company that would allow you to advertise on an international level, you have to think within your range of capabilities. Pat Moore, who is employed with a recording studio in Campbell, Calif., adds that, “usually an independent person doesn’t have the resources to cover all the bases… But the Internet is taking a lot of that over.”
If things go well, your paid advertising will generate enough sales to inspire someone to write a review or promote your CD in some other form. One of the main marketing goals of every campaign is to create this kind of cycle: Paid ads generate sales, which lead to free advertising, increasing your sales, which allow you to place more ads, creating more awareness for your product, which leads to more free advertising, and so on.
Ideas for paid advertising include posters and banners (at places where most of your CDs are being sold), flyers at nearby locations, print publication ads (that are within your budget and are in line with what your target market reads). Another good idea is to sell your CDs at your concerts. An advertisement could be placed in the program or near the entrance.
A combination of these marketing efforts might prove to be most effective.
“You have to direct the market to your fan base through the Internet, local outlets and at performances,” writes soprano Robin Follman,3 adding that she used both her website and a toll-free number to increase sales.
Brandon Sturiale, a classical composer who self-produced his own album, Midnight Story, has also gone through this process. First, he advertised online on message boards and in chat rooms.
“After I started to sell more copies,” he explains, “I realized I needed a website. I went to Angelfire (www.angelfire.com)… It is very time consuming and detail-oriented, but you have to have a website. You have to. Hire someone to do it for you if you must.
“Once you have one, submit it to every search engine you can think of, especially Google. Be sure to use keywords that accurately describe your music, not just things that will generate more hits.”
Sturiale admits that “the Internet is probably the most frequent place my CD is sold, just because of the sheer number of people you can reach.” Brandon’s website, www.brandonsturiale.com, could serve as a great example as you design your own website and decide what components to include.
This step-by-step process will help you outline your marketing campaign, and set the stage for you to brainstorm new ideas and start thinking outside the box.
Recording and marketing a CD, and doing it right, will enhance your career.
“As soon as a singer has a professional CD on the market, it increases his or her value,” said Adrian Hollaender, a European agent. “If a singer has a professional studio recording, with orchestra and preferably a good conductor, then his or her credentials are more impressive.”4
Remember, ultimately it is up to you to give your audience the chance to hear you, and let them know you are out there5
1 Follman, Robin. “Making It Happen.” Classical Singer May 2002: 10-13.
Andrews, Lynda. “Market Your Own CD.” Classical Singer Dec. 2001: 24-26.
2 Stiernberg, John. Succeeding in Music. Backbeat Books, 2001.
3 Follman, Robin. “Making It Happen.” Classical Singer May 2002: 10-13.
4 Necula, Cristina. “A Tale of Two Managers.” Classical Singer September 2003: 31.
5 Lathrop, Tad and Pettigrew Jr., Jim. This Business of Music Marketing & Promotion. Billboard Books, 1999.
