Budget
Studio Time - £0.00
I put that the Studio time for my EP was free because when recording I used studios from Universities and colleges to record for free. I know this won't normally be the case and I was very lucky to uses great facilities for no money. I think spending money on a great studio is really important especially for the type of music that I am recording because most of the sound and tone and energy all comes from the performance in the recording. It really helps to have a great engineer who knows the great studio you're working in.
The technician and producer was all one guy and this was really money well spent. He was extremely fast in protools and could chop takes and get everything moving really fast. It would have been really good to have had an engineer as well but as we were using the studio for free we were just paying for the engineers time.
Session Players - £0.00
There were no session players for this EP as it was all recorded by my band members and myself. I would have counted for session players but for this EP everything was playable by ourselves as there were no instruments are vocals parts that we couldn't cover by ourselves. Getting session players was very nearly a part of this EP as for the song Call Me Old Fashioned we were looking to get a small strings section in to record a few parts but it ended up being difficult to get the right musicians together at the right time. For my style of music its very common for bands to hire in session musicians because with drums bass and guitars sometimes its great to get a string section or a horn section over to really give that track some extra dynamic and interest.
CD Duplication x 150 & Sleeve Printing x 150 - £350.00
Another cost outside of the production is the manufacturing and distribution of the final product. The cost for the CD duplication is £250. I think this is a really good and useful purchase and a worth investment. I think that my type of music is very commonly listened to on CD's and it also gives me something to sell at gigs as a promotion tool. For a 6 track EP I think that I will probably sell my EO for around £5 each as they are costing more than £2 each to produce. Another reason why I think this is a good purchase because 150 copies is a good amount as its enough to keep going and make money from but its not too many that you're worried that you'll be left with loads left over with nothing to do with.
Posters & Flyers £0.00
For this EP project I have decided that posters and flyers would be an unnecessary cost as I am not putting on an EP launch show. Regarding the posters I would wait and see if it was something that fans were demanding for otherwise I see it as a waste. If it did prove that people did want posters then I would get some printed and probably sell them online and at shows. Maybe make a limited edition run of 50 etc. This way it keeps people interest and makes them want to have something that not everyone can get.
Vinyl x 50 £300
Printing vinyl was a tricky one and its a little risky because it really depends on your fanbase as to weather you will sell out this format. There are a lot of genres where this really wouldn't work because people who listen to a particular genre don't seem to even buy vinyl but there are a few pockets of niche genres that do manage to sell their music in vinyl and I think that a small run of these might be a cool way to promote the EP. You can also sell vinyl at a much higher amount as its a novelty item and also could be run as a limited edition item. I think this is a worth while expense because its something that your fans will like to own as a special item rather than the rudimental means of listening to the music as it will be available for download online too.
Stickers x 1500
I think that getting stickers would be a useful purchase for the EP as its a really cheep way of promoting/marketing your EP as you can stick them pretty much everywhere! You can give them out for free at gigs and its something that people will love to receive after seeing a band as a word of thanks and they'll remember you next time. They are so cheep top guy that it seems like a no brainer to get a few event just to send out with purchases of the EP or even to stick on your gear!
Music Video
I think a music video is a really useful promotional tool for the EP and well worth the expenditure. I wouldn't have to spend as much on a video as some people would as I can do most of it myself but I would still spend a bit of getting a good director and a good camera. Music videos are always going to come at a loss at first but If you produce something that is exciting and entertaining it can be memorable for people to watch and they will want to find out more especially if the song is good. I think this is a really good use of the budget for my EP as it will live on way after the EP and continue to be a good promotional tool for a long time.
Radio plugger - £0.00
I didn't feel that for this EP that a radio plugger was needed as much as the other things I have spent money on. The style of music that I have produced would benefit from a few plays on some good radio stations, I just think it wouldn't be money well spent unless I got a huge reach from the plays and its always an known weather your music will be played. Also i feel that if I was producing hip-hop or a more commercial style of music then it might suit the radio a little better and have a better chance of getting played across more stations.
Online promotion & Social Media adverts - £0.00
I decided not to allocate any money to online promotion as I know that there is so much you can do without spending a penny. Facebook alone allows you to promote your band or artist page in really great ways without costing you money. There are also loads of new site that are becoming popular to give artist ways to sell music or merchandise and promote music for free. For this reason I decided that I wasn't worth spending money on this because I know I can do lots before it will become worth while spending money on online promotion.
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