Common CD Release Mistakes

We've seen countless local bands release hundreds of CDs. Sometimes everything goes as planned and the event is a success. Often times the release gets re-scheduled. Most of the time there's little or no press coverage. Most of the time the whole process is done on the fly with little or no planning. By the time the CD release happens the band has been through months of studio work, mixing, mastering, etc. and they just want it to be done. While we don't blame them for this, we would like to help them to avoid the most common mistakes we see over and over again that local bands make when releasing a new CD.

• Don't set a CD Release date until after the manufacturing is completed and you have the finished product in your hands. Then, set the release date two months out, so you have adequate time to promote it. We laugh every time we see a CD release date published in the weekly rag and then find out the band is just finishing up with the mixing. Don't be stupid! Even if you have been through the process a dozen times, you don't know for sure how long it's going to take to get it mastered, get the artwork together and get the CDs manufactured. There are countless things that can go wrong or cause delays. If you must publicize something say "New CD coming out in a few months" or "...in the Spring." The mastering could take a long time. Nina Storey sent one of her CDs back to California for mastering four times before it came out right. (That one came out really really good, by the way).
  Many bands have had problems with the artwork. Matthew Moon spent two years putting together material for an album, but the first batch back from the manufacturer had several of the insert panels arranged in the wrong sequence. He discovered it the day they came back from the manufacturer, the day before his big release party. Too late to get it fixed in time.
  These kinds of issues sometimes happen in any manufacturing process, but they are much more likely to happen when that process is rushed.
  Years before they were signed, Love.45 scheduled a CD release party but the CDs were still at the manufacturer. They managed to get a couple hundred of the discs rush shipped in time for the show, but there were no jewel cases or inserts ready. They made do by signing each one and selling them as collector's items.
  By making sure everything is finished completely, you can avoid anyone having to know about these kinds of problems. Get them all taken care of then schedule the CD release party. If you have gigs before that, then you can sell them as "Special Pre-Release" copies.
  Having your CD ready ahead of time allows you to:
  • Mail out your CD to the press in time for them to actually listen to it and have something in print BEFORE your CD release party. Remember, as far as the press is concerned, you are competing with signed major label acts who are also releasing new CDs. They don't wait until after the CD is released to send out copies, they do it 4-8 weeks ahead of time. Your local music editor only has so much space and he can't cover everything, so he prioritizes. If your CD release date has passed by the time he sees it, he'll probably just throw it in the stack with the rest of the local CDs he may or may not ever listen to.
  • Get your CD into the local record stores in time for the official release.. Why promote it if you don't have product to sell? Some fans may not be able to get to the release party, but they might be able to get to the record store.
  • Send it to radio stations and pray for airplay. If you get some, you're whole release will be that much more successful. Here again the major labels drop a single to radio before the CD hits the streets. Why should you do it any differently?
  • Have posters, flyers, T-shirts, etc. printed up with the same artwork as on the CD.
  • Plan a big party without having to worry that the guest of honor might not show up.
  • Get samples up on your website and be ready to sell CDs online on the official release date.
  • Additionally, you can avoid pissing off the booking manager at the venue where you want to have your release by not canceling it at the last minute. You can go ahead and schedule a date early, in hopes that you might be ready to do the CD release, but if, as the date approaches, the release gets delayed, then you can just treat it as a regular gig and schedule another one.

• Don't underestimate the effort, time and money it will take to get the thing manufactured. Once it's mastered you've got to have artwork, a barcode, inserts designed and know where you want to have it duplicated. There are tons of competitive companies out there. Shop around. Many manufacturers will give you a barcode for free, and you need a barcode so that record stores can easily ring up the sale, but educate yourself. Those barcodes will show up as if you are on that manufacturer's label. It might be worth investing in your own block of barcodes. After the party, don't forget to fill out the soundscan form and fax it in, so your sales will be documented. The major labels watch that stuff.
• Write and distribute a press release, consider hiring a professional. Press releases are not rocket science, they are actually fairly easy and there are lots of resources on the Internet to help you out, but a professional will have relationships with the music editors and writers. He/she will be in regular contact with them and is more likely to have success getting some press for your release party and CD. There are lots of other companies out there. Find one that fits you.
• Update your website to reflect the new CD artwork. Use the same colors, fonts, and artwork on your website that you use on the CD. This provides a uniform new look and helps support your CD sales.
• Promote. Many bands feel like the work is all done once the CD is released only to discover that they now have 897 more copies in the garage that haven't sold yet. While the CD Release party signals the end of the long production process, it also signals the start of your new promotion campaign. You'll need to devote some time and money to making sure those CDs sell. Don't stop now, or they'll sit in your basement forever.

Radio Programming - The Heroin Theory

OK, I'm not a radio programmer. I'm not a DJ (or on-air talent as they are called today) and I've never worked in the radio business at all. But I do listen to the radio and I have attended several radio industry conferences and sat in on some of the programming discussions. At first, I was appalled that they could spend so much time, energy and money and still pump out such crappy programming. But then, I had to stop and ask myself: "What would I do differently?" That's when I came up with this theory.

Radio programmers spend a considerable amount of time analyzing ratings and polls. They ask regular listeners what they think of particular songs, if they want to hear them more, if they even recognize the song, or if they've heard it so much that they can't stand to ever listen to it again. Everyone knows what that last part means. We've all heard a song by Dave Matthews or the Indigo Girls so many times we just can't stand it anymore. Programmers measure this and call it the "Burn Ratio" They actually use that number and decide what percentage of listeners has to be burned out on a song before they start reducing the number of plays (or rotations) that song will get. That fact astounded me. How could they look at numbers showing that even 10% of their loyal listeners hated a song, just from it being played too much, and still wonder why people were switching to other stations.

I recalled my decades of radio listening and thought about why I had ever changed stations. I realized that I only changed stations when I got bored with the programming, or sometimes because there were too many commercials. I'm sure most radio programmers would love to have the too many commercials problem. It means they have great ratings.

The burn ratio is also why new radio stations, even with a similar format are popular at first. It's because they have a fresh playlist that people are not sick of, yet. The basis for this kind of programming comes from one misguided principle. The programmers are trying to give the listeners what they want. They look at the polls, ratings and requests and try to figure out what people want to hear. Sounds reasonable, on the surface. Right? So then ask a programmer why he is still playing a song that has a high burn rate and he will tell you something along the lines of "Because lots of people want to hear it." He has numbers indicating that lots of people aren't burned out on it and, in fact, are asking that it be played more. He's just trying to give them what they want.

This is where my theory comes in. If you are a parent and your kids keep asking you for candy, you might give them some. Not too much, though, because you don't want to spoil them, ruin their appetites for dinner, or make them sick. And we all know, from having been kids ourselves, that if you give them as much candy as they ask for, they will get sick and puke or just tire out on candy altogether and start asking for expensive video games instead.

A better analogy for radio programming is heroin. Every radio programmer wants listeners to become addicted to their station; listening all the time with little chance that they will change to another station. The programmer must be the wise heroin dealer. He/she must know that if you give the addicts as much as they ask for, they will quickly overdose and either die or land in rehab. That's not good for business. A wise dealer doesn't want to lose customers, he wants to keep them coming back regularly for another fix. The dealer builds and maintains his customers, providing each one with as much as they can afford, but not more than they can handle. He never wants them to lose their addiction, but he never wants them to overdose either.

The problem with radio programmers today is that they are not being wise about how much the listeners can handle. They are routinely overplaying songs, like they were candy on Halloween. The wise programmer must learn that this is too much. Listen to the old showbiz adage that still rings true: Always leave them wanting more. In other words: Don't give the listeners as much candy as they ask for, make them beg before you put something into regular rotation and make sure that it isn't gonna play more than once or twice a day. They'll be listening attentively waiting for you to play their new favorite hit. This also gives you tons of space on your playlist to play cool new music, exceptional local music, and oldies that people are not still sick of.

How do I know this works? Simple. That's the way it was when KBCO built a huge fanbase and gave rise to a whole new format, back when people used to love that station and they had unprecedented ratings. I remember sitting with friends waiting impatiently for KBCO to play a CSNY song. It wasn't gonna get played on any other local stations, they were busy overplaying other formats. We had no choice. We listened all the time and called frequently to ask them to play it more often. Did they listen to us? Nope. But we listened anyway and didn't change the station even once.

By David Barber
Commotion Music Promotion, Inc.