Members Deeprig9 Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Consider this all stream-of-consciousness brainstorming, not well-thought-out ideas. There's a trend here for albums to be given away for free download. My band wants to sell the downloads on Itunes et al. There's a trend here for albums to be duped on CDRs with basic crappy inserts etc, and sold dirt cheap. The music and production is great, this isn't a knock at the art itself, but the packaged product is {censored}, trend-wise, around here, and sold/given away as such. Our band joked around last week "We should sell our album for $20 ha ha ha" but now I'm serious. I want to spend a good $5 per cd for a nice 8 page booklet, actual replication, screen printed discs, and sell for $20. How crazy is this idea? A band will pay $4 to $7 for a shirt they sell for $20, why is it ridiculous to sell a high-quality CD for $20 that cost $5 to manufacture, not including 136 hours in the studio and professional mastering. Sure, people who want the album could go to Itunes and pay $9.99 (Itunes sets the price), and they could burn it onto a CD and download album art and all that, or just pay the $20 for the real thing. $20 is not even a half tank of gas that will be burned up in 3 days, gone forever, why is $20 a ridiculous amount to ask for a CD to have and to hold indefinately? I have more, but I'll pause there, for responses. Slated for August release, being mastered in late July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted June 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Damn.... boards are slow today, not just this one, but my other online playgrounds too. Was there another terrorist attack or something? Should I turn on the news? I'm nervous.... some guy on the corner last night was screaming about the end times... he was pretty serious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sabriel9v Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 $20 is not even a half tank of gas that will be burned up in 3 days, gone forever, why is $20 a ridiculous amount to ask for a CD to have and to hold indefinately? (sigh) Deep, I'm always an advocate of charging what people are willing to spend. Keyword willing. If you feel your fans will go out and spend $20 for your record, go ahead and charge that price. However, we both reside in a college town with a local populace that has a lower average income than the surrounding counties. To be blunt, if the demand isn't there, charging $20 won't get you very far. If I'm Joe Blow music fan and go to Wuxtry records up the street and see 75% of the local releases are $10 and less, what makes your $20 record special to me? Nonetheless, I'd suggest taking a careful look at your fan demographics before charging that price. That's just my 2 cents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted June 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 If I was Joe Blow and saw all the other albums for less than $10, and one was $20, it would make me think. It would probably also get some press, negative maybe, probably, but press none-the-less. Like I said, they can get it on Itunes for $9.99 if they want. In a national market, by the time we get to the point there are stores all over the country stocking the product (and I don't mean CDBaby bull{censored}) then that's a different story. Then you've got distributors and a whole chain of other people involved, and at such a point we'd be in a position to make money through other avenues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sabriel9v Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 If I was Joe Blow and saw all the other albums for less than $10, and one was $20, it would make me think. It might make you think...but would these be positive thoughts pushing you in the direction of purchasing the album? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted June 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 If I don't have $20 to spend on an album, then I have no business in Wuxtry, I need to be mowing a lawn somewhere. People spend $20, $30, $40 an up up up for a bar tab that's gone in the urinal in 45 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted June 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 People will spend $7-12 to go to a show to see you over and over, but not $20 for the Debut Album? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sabriel9v Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 People will spend $7-12 to go to a show to see you over and over, but not $20 for the Debut Album? Yep, that's right. And you can't really break down or dispute the logic. People's behavioral patterns and purchasing habits are weird. It's going to be hard to sell a local release in our town for $20. I'm curious...how did you settle on $20 anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sabriel9v Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 People spend $20, $30, $40 an up up up for a bar tab that's gone in the urinal in 45 minutes. btw This is probably not your target audience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted June 30, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 Yep, that's right. And you can't really break down or dispute the logic. People's behavioral patterns and purchasing habits are weird. It's going to be hard to sell a local release in our town for $20. I'm curious...how did you settle on $20 anyway? Like I said, people can get it for the standard $9.99 on Itunes. If they want the actual CD, they should pay as much as they would for a shirt, or going to a show and a couple drinks, or the gas they spend to get to the show and back. It's not like REM charging $20 for the album, that would be snooty, but a startup band with a really good product? Buy it or don't. I think they will. The price tag will deter some people, no doubt, but not enough to justify charging $10. For example, 1000 people buy it for $5= $5000 Only 500 people buy it for $20= $10,000. If anyone thinks it's out of reach, again, they can go get the music on Itunes for $9.99 I think I'm being reasonable here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted June 30, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 btw This is probably not your target audience Actually, that is my target audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CLOCK13 Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 Consider this all stream-of-consciousness brainstorming, not well-thought-out ideas. There's a trend here for albums to be given away for free download. My band wants to sell the downloads on Itunes et al. There's a trend here for albums to be duped on CDRs with basic crappy inserts etc, and sold dirt cheap. The music and production is great, this isn't a knock at the art itself, but the packaged product is {censored}, trend-wise, around here, and sold/given away as such. Our band joked around last week "We should sell our album for $20 ha ha ha" but now I'm serious. I want to spend a good $5 per cd for a nice 8 page booklet, actual replication, screen printed discs, and sell for $20. How crazy is this idea? A band will pay $4 to $7 for a shirt they sell for $20, why is it ridiculous to sell a high-quality CD for $20 that cost $5 to manufacture, not including 136 hours in the studio and professional mastering.Sure, people who want the album could go to Itunes and pay $9.99 (Itunes sets the price), and they could burn it onto a CD and download album art and all that, or just pay the $20 for the real thing. $20 is not even a half tank of gas that will be burned up in 3 days, gone forever, why is $20 a ridiculous amount to ask for a CD to have and to hold indefinately? I have more, but I'll pause there, for responses. Slated for August release, being mastered in late July. For that price it needs to be a double cd. Maybe you should give them some type of bonus disc packaged in with the album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members masterbuilt Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 Deep, sounds like your mind is already made up. So, try the $20 and see what happens. Good business sense tells me that I can always lower a price much easier than I can raise it. Still, the "volume sales" argument can be strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrm27 Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 I personally find it easier to sell 2 Cd's for $10 a piece rather than 1 cd for $20. But go for it man. it might work for you guys. then let us know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cygnus64 Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 People will spend $7-12 to go to a show to see you over and over, but not $20 for the Debut Album? People spend $20, $30, $40 an up up up for a bar tab that's gone in the urinal in 45 minutes. So what? Its really not your concern. You cant dictate to people how to spend their money. How crazy is this idea? It really reeks of desperation. When you get a new girlfriend, all of a sudden another girl will show interest in you. Why? Because you arent giving off the desperate vibe:lol: Dont treat your prospective audience like idiots. They are not. They will know right away that you are desperate. Deep, sounds like your mind is already made up. Yeah, it seems that way. Good luck, but keep in mind that if it were that simple, everyone would do this. Sorry, it aint a-gonna work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poker99 Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 How crazy is this idea? A band will pay $4 to $7 for a shirt they sell for $20, why is it ridiculous to sell a high-quality CD for $20 that cost $5 to manufacture, not including 136 hours in the studio and professional mastering.Sure, people who want the album could go to Itunes and pay $9.99 (Itunes sets the price), and they could burn it onto a CD and download album art and all that, or just pay the $20 for the real thing. $20 is not even a half tank of gas that will be burned up in 3 days, gone forever, why is $20 a ridiculous amount to ask for a CD to have and to hold indefinately? Yes its ridiculous, but that's how things and people are. Kids think buying cds is stupid. If you market it to older people, maybe you have a chance. Sadly, there will be no coming back. People will never want to pay again for recorded music on cd format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sabriel9v Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 Actually, that is my target audience. So you're targeting the frat kids? ...they rarely give a {censored} about local bands, whether they're good or bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 I've sold plenty of cd's for 20. at corporate gigs. I started out asking 15. but was always fumbling for a 5. bill for change. One of the guys in the band said just charge 20.-no one will care. he was right. OTOH, we did a gig at a bar in a college town and people balked at 10. It really depends on the audience, their perspective, and how bad they want your cd. A booklet or not isn't going to make any difference IMO. A nice cover, a well played, written, recorded, engineered, and mastered cd will. Cd's sold at live gigs are all based on the performance. Kick butt and you will sell them. As far as those sold in stores, starbucks, i-tunes, etc, there's got to be a ton of things that factor into those decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poker99 Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 So you're targeting the frat kids? ...they rarely give a {censored} about local bands, whether they're good or bad. +1 they want the hot new single that everyone know about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pjrake Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 just keep in mind that once you set the price it's going to be harder selling it at a lower price later on. i know if i paid $20 for a CD and then a couple of weeks later it's at $10 i'll be upset. -PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jaxn slim Posted June 30, 2008 Members Share Posted June 30, 2008 For example, 1000 people buy it for $5= $5000Only 500 people buy it for $20= $10,000.If anyone thinks it's out of reach, again, they can go get the music on Itunes for $9.99I think I'm being reasonable here. I don't think it's a reasonable assumption that half as many people will pay for the CD if you quadruple the price. CD's are luxury items and have a very steep demand curve. And I doubt people would find it to be worth it to pay $20 for a disc and booklet versus $10 at iTunes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sabriel9v Posted July 1, 2008 Members Share Posted July 1, 2008 just keep in mind that once you set the price it's going to be harder selling it at a lower price later on.i know if i paid $20 for a CD and then a couple of weeks later it's at $10 i'll be upset.-PJ I understand where you coming from...but that's kind of a moot point. If you've already spent $20, why should I worry about you? I already have your money. But other potential consumers will be turned on by the drop in price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pjrake Posted July 1, 2008 Members Share Posted July 1, 2008 If you've already spent $20, why should I worry about you? I already have your money. because you want a long-term fan, and i'll think twice the next time you put out another album. -PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CLOCK13 Posted July 1, 2008 Members Share Posted July 1, 2008 Deeprig9: Maybe you could save money by compromising? Release say a 4 or 6 page cd booklet instead of 8? Maybe you could keep cutting things untilll you get the price down to $15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sabriel9v Posted July 1, 2008 Members Share Posted July 1, 2008 because you want a long-term fan, and i'll think twice the next time you put out another album.-PJ Yeah...but price cuts happen all the times in stores. It's very easy to shrug off any type of accountability for those actions onto the retailer. If your cd was $20 one week and $15 the next, just say the store slashed the price. Who's going to argue with that? Moreover, if you purchase a local band's cd for $20, chances are you're a hardcore fan. Most people just aren't willing to pay that price in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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