marketing cd learning curve

[rdance]

i posted here a few months ago, asking taxi peers how they would approach putting together a marketing cd. thanks again to those who responded, and to sir michael laskow, who was kind enough to consult me on the weekly u-stream show last week.

i have concluded that i should NOT market myself as an 'all around guitar slinger', but a guitarist who writes in a particular genre. he gave the example of matt hirt who (at one time) specialized in latin music and things took off from there for him.

this is helping me pick 10 tunes out of 40 or so of my various styles to put on the cd. this first cd will probably be called 'vol. 1, groove guitar'. leaves the door open for vol. 2, etc. in other guitar genres.

i also decided to create a proper cd with photos, nice graphics, record label, etc. (like a performing artist), vs. a 'demo' cd...so when i hand it to music supes at the rally, they see a professional presentation. plus i now have a list of 50 or so music supes in the industry who i will also mail it to.

also helps to have a proper cd when i submit it to 'music connection' magazine for a review.

the cd will also do triple duty for retail sales on cd baby, itunes, etc., though i only consider any results from that as icing. i mean, how many folks will actually by a cd of guitar instrumentals? no matter, cd baby gets it out there globally for sixty bucks or so. viral is key, no?

very interesting figuring out one's way through this crazy business in the 21st century. gotta love the challenge...and gotta love taxi! what a unique journey each of us is on in film/tv music!

[ochaim]

Thanks for posting this!

I think I had spread myself too thin trying to do a few genres more than I should have, that I wasn't as familiar with as rap music. Your post makes a lot of sense to me. I live and breath rap music. I gotta be that rap guy people go to for anything rap related.

Manufactured CD's is a good look too for the conference.

For releasing music have you looked into Tunecore?

[VTrails]

For a release that you are expecting only limited sales for, CD Baby's one-off fee + ongoing percentage is a better deal than Tunecore's annual fee, so you're not paying more than is coming in just to keep it "live" on iTunes, spotify etc.

[ochaim]

thanks for that clarification, andrew. I didn't realize cdbaby was a one-time fee.

[rdance]

yep, cd baby is great! last time i put out a new cd with cd baby, in less than 30 days it was global, on itunes, amazon, and many other music buying sites. cost was less than $50 and they only needed 4 copies to have in their warehouse for hard copy sales (until you become famous). that was about three years ago, not sure what it costs now. guess i will find out in a few weeks with the new cd i'm preparing.

[coachdebra]

this is helping me pick 10 tunes out of 40 or so of my various styles to put on the cd. this first cd will probably be called 'vol. 1, groove guitar'. leaves the door open for vol. 2, etc. in other guitar genres.

I recommend using genre terms that are generally recognized. Because this is marketing, branding. "Groove guitar" doesn't say a specific genre to me. R&B Guitar Grooves would be better (or whatever the genre is you're niching yourself into).

As my coach says, "The confused mind does not buy." So, unless you're planning on spending a fair amount of time/money/energy to educate your market place, you will find using broadly accepted terminology to be more effective.

[rdance]

good food for thought, thanks debra!