Members Karma1 Posted January 1, 2010 Members Share Posted January 1, 2010 I recently saw someone on TV saying that they were releasing a 5 song EP that would be a teaser and generate some buzz for a full length CD to follow eventually. They also said that the shorter length, lower cost EP is becoming more popular these days. Anybody have any comments on that statement? Are more people releasing EP's now? I'm working on some music with a well known recording artist in the ambient/ new age music genre and we are considering the strategy mentioned in the first sentence above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 Seems like a lot of people around here do release EP's. As to whether that is a better marketing idea than just releasing a CD, I have no clue. I'd be interested in hearing more, though, if that is the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 Bottom line is that you don't want any fat on your records anymore and if you can get 5 really strong tunes and put it out it's a better idea in this musically disposable era we live in. Also, people's attention spans are much shorter now and it's easier to digest an EP. The last thing is that there is no reason to have years between releases now and some think it's better to keep the music flowing. So bands put out a couple EPs a year to keep the fans satiated. Makes sense if you think about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 since fewer people are buying CDs and using CD players, and more are just dumping their songs onto an ipod and buying their music ala carte, the full length CD is becoming a relic, or soon will. I can see music going much the way TV programming has- instead of doing a 13 week season straight through, more programs are doing their seasons in 3-5 week blocks-new shows for awhile, in the fall, then a few new ones in the winter, then a few more after the holidays and wrapping up by spring. I don't see why this model couldn't benefit musicians more in the future- instead of releasing 14 songs at once, release 4 or 5, followed by 4 or 5 more in a few more months, followed by 4 or 5 more in 6 more months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 What you guys say makes a lot of sense. The only thing that doesn't make sense, to me, is the EP on a CD. When it comes time to manufacture CD's, whether you do it yourself or have it done, it's the same price to do 5 songs as to do 10, but you can charge twice as much money for 10. So speaking as an artist selling CD's at gigs, if it costs me $3 to make a CD, would I rather sell it for $5 or for $10? Unless the EP on CD is packaged wicked ass cheap, like a paper sleeve with a sticker on it or something. Then I guess that makes sense. But I can totally see why people would be attracted to the idea of 5 new songs at a time, a few times a year. I don't believe the full CD is going away, though. People having short attention spans isn't new to 2010. And I remember when MTV came out and everyone was saying "The music video will totally replace audio recordings. In the future ALL music will be video based." And of course that turned out to be wrong. Actually, I think if it weren't for YouTube, the music video would be all but gone by now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 What you guys say makes a lot of sense. The only thing that doesn't make sense, to me, is the EP on a CD. When it comes time to manufacture CD's, whether you do it yourself or have it done, it's the same price to do 5 songs as to do 10, but you can charge twice as much money for 10. So speaking as an artist selling CD's at gigs, if it costs me $3 to make a CD, would I rather sell it for $5 or for $10? Unless the EP on CD is packaged wicked ass cheap, like a paper sleeve with a sticker on it or something. Then I guess that makes sense. But I can totally see why people would be attracted to the idea of 5 new songs at a time, a few times a year. I don't believe the full CD is going away, though. People having short attention spans isn't new to 2010. And I remember when MTV came out and everyone was saying "The music video will totally replace audio recordings. In the future ALL music will be video based." And of course that turned out to be wrong. Actually, I think if it weren't for YouTube, the music video would be all but gone by now... No one, and I have talked to a lot of people, gives a {censored} about CD packaging anymore so why spend $3 on a CD. You can get nice CD's done for $1.70 through Kunaki, 2 page insert all color, all color on disk, shrinkwrapped...or Pay less for replicated, pressed CD's..Are you including cost of recording as well? I thought you did that yourself? The thing with EP's is that it's just another menthod..I would mix up Full CD's with EP's, singles, etc..The point is to keep putting the music out there if people are interested. Another thing is it's easier for people to pony up a 5 spot then a 10 in these trying economic times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nearthemusic Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 This is something I've been thinking a lot about as well. Honestly, one of the strongest advantages of the EP as I see it is the ability to churn out new material at a much faster rate. Being able to contact fans twice as often with the release of new music seems like a pretty big plus to me. It's also a good way to generate interest for shows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members startingaband88 Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 5 strong songs beats the hell out of 10+ song album, esp. in this era. make sure you include your youtube and official website of your band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 No one, and I have talked to a lot of people, gives a {censored} about CD packaging anymore so why spend $3 on a CD. You can get nice CD's done for $1.70 through Kunaki, 2 page insert all color, all color on disk, shrinkwrapped...or Pay less for replicated, pressed CD's..Are you including cost of recording as well? I thought you did that yourself? I'm talking about either making them yourself, OR having someone make a small batch (100) for you. You can get CD's made for a buck each, yes, but you have to order 1,000 of them. I wish I had a dollar for every artist who had 1,000 CD's made and sold less than half of them. If you order 100 CD's from Kunaki... actually, I don't know that you can. If you were to order 100 CD's from Discmakers and pay tax and shipping, it's coming to come to almost $300 whether you have 4 songs on the CD or 14. One could argue that if you can't sell 1,000 CD's you shouldn't have made it, but that's BS. You should make a CD if you want to make a CD. How many you sell or give away is up to you and other people's opinions do not matter. On the other hand, if you could figure out how to quickly make an EP CD at home that didn't cost a lot of money, it might be a cool idea. You can make a good looking regular CD at home but it's not wicked cheap. Start with an inkjet that can print on CD's. Buy the glossy blank CD's from discmakers that actually look good when you print on them. Then jewel cases. Buy double-sided glossy photo paper for printing the front and back. You can make a pretty darn good looking CD and it will cost you between 2 and 3 bucks. What would be cool would be if you could buy - I don't know what you'd call it - really heavy stock paper that was glossy on one side (so you could print on it) and then you could take a cardboard sleeve apart, trace the pattern, and make one yourself that looked good. I think the trick to selling anything at gigs is that it has to look really good. If it LOOKS like you made it with crayons, so to speak, people will take you for a hack. People don't care about CD packaging... once they get it home. But when they have it in their hand, it better not look like your 5th grade brother made it or they'll put it back on your merch table. And CD's still sell at gigs. But it WOULD be cool to have an EP at a lesser price point. I really like the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 One could argue that if you can't sell 1,000 CD's you shouldn't have made it, but that's BS. You should make a CD if you want to make a CD.True, unless your goal is to sell CDs. If you can't sell 1000, you probably are in the wrong business. That goes for downloads, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 I'm talking about either making them yourself, OR having someone make a small batch (100) for you. You can get CD's made for a buck each, yes, but you have to order 1,000 of them. I wish I had a dollar for every artist who had 1,000 CD's made and sold less than half of them. If you order 100 CD's from Kunaki... actually, I don't know that you can. If you were to order 100 CD's from Discmakers and pay tax and shipping, it's coming to come to almost $300 whether you have 4 songs on the CD or 14. One could argue that if you can't sell 1,000 CD's you shouldn't have made it, but that's BS. You should make a CD if you want to make a CD. How many you sell or give away is up to you and other people's opinions do not matter. On the other hand, if you could figure out how to quickly make an EP CD at home that didn't cost a lot of money, it might be a cool idea. You can make a good looking regular CD at home but it's not wicked cheap. Start with an inkjet that can print on CD's. Buy the glossy blank CD's from discmakers that actually look good when you print on them. Then jewel cases. Buy double-sided glossy photo paper for printing the front and back. You can make a pretty darn good looking CD and it will cost you between 2 and 3 bucks. What would be cool would be if you could buy - I don't know what you'd call it - really heavy stock paper that was glossy on one side (so you could print on it) and then you could take a cardboard sleeve apart, trace the pattern, and make one yourself that looked good. I think the trick to selling anything at gigs is that it has to look really good. If it LOOKS like you made it with crayons, so to speak, people will take you for a hack. People don't care about CD packaging... once they get it home. But when they have it in their hand, it better not look like your 5th grade brother made it or they'll put it back on your merch table. And CD's still sell at gigs. But it WOULD be cool to have an EP at a lesser price point. I really like the idea. I've done 3 projects with Kunaki...you do everything...Submit it all online with an app they have..it's all automatic and it's 1.70 a CD no matter if you order 1 or 10000000 The product comes out very good...Discmakers is too expensive so I don't use them for short runs. I've done it every way, from at home, inkjet printed CD's, books, and jcards, putting it all together in Jewel cases, shrink wrapping it myself etc...I've had 1000 CD's replicated at a time a bunch of times, and I've used Kunaki...for short runs, Kunaki wins hands down..Cd's come very nicely packed and shrinkwrapped..When they first started it was 1.50 a CD!! retail ready..Oh yea and you can get a barcode as well. Check em out Richard..definitely viable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 True, unless your goal is to sell CDs. If you can't sell 1000, you probably are in the wrong business. That goes for downloads, too. Totally agree 100%! But if your goal is to sell CD's as your business, then you are also probably in the wrong business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 I've done 3 projects with Kunaki...you do everything...Submit it all online with an app they have..it's all automatic and it's 1.70 a CD no matter if you order 1 or 10000000 The product comes out very good...Discmakers is too expensive so I don't use them for short runs. I've done it every way, from at home, inkjet printed CD's, books, and jcards, putting it all together in Jewel cases, shrink wrapping it myself etc...I've had 1000 CD's replicated at a time a bunch of times, and I've used Kunaki...for short runs, Kunaki wins hands down..Cd's come very nicely packed and shrinkwrapped..When they first started it was 1.50 a CD!! retail ready..Oh yea and you can get a barcode as well. Check em out Richard..definitely viable. Sweet! I definitely WILL check them out. I had no idea they were that cheap! I'm glad you mentioned it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Giorgi Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 Totally agree 100%! But if your goal is to sell CD's as your business, then you are also probably in the wrong business. Nice one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted January 3, 2010 Members Share Posted January 3, 2010 Totally agree 100%! But if your goal is to sell CD's as your business, then you are also probably in the wrong business. If your goal is to be a professional performer doing your own music, selling CDs is essential, and 1000 CDs is only a small start. If that's what you want to be and you can't sell 1000 CDs, you got problems. That's all I'm sayin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted January 3, 2010 Members Share Posted January 3, 2010 If your goal is to be a professional performer doing your own music, selling CDs is essential, and 1000 CDs is only a small start. If that's what you want to be and you can't sell 1000 CDs, you got problems. That's all I'm sayin'. If your goal is to be a professional performer doing your own music, you're in the wrong business! No, I get what you're saying and I agree. Actually, the figure I calculate that you'd need to sell in a year is less - about 833 CD's per year. That's per year, though, not all time. But as I started typing it all out, I decided that it really should be in a different post. So I'm off to post it under the Music Biz forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted January 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 5, 2010 Thanks to everyone for all the responses so far - much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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