Ebay, DIY Record Label, and You...

     Ebay? WTF? Yes, ebay. One of the easiest ways to get your music out to the masses and still make a profit. This will be one of the easiest marketing activities on your list. Let's explore.

     So, you have released a cd. Now what? You could just throw it up on cdbaby or amazon and hope it sells. Perhaps you have a website. Nice, but who goes to an indie bands website except the people that already have your cd or fucked your hot bass player...? Not many.

     Amazon is cool...but not only do they charge $30 up front every year, remember those 500 cd's you sent to college radio? Half of those discs ended up being put up on amazon if not sold outright to local record shops. Undercutting your sales.


Visit Countess at:  http://www.thehollywoodrxrecords.com/

CountessGrotesque.com

     What's a band with little to no real online presence to do? Get a partner. That partner is ebay!

Let's look at the numbers.

Your selling your new ten song for $10.00 disregarding cogs and fixed expenses.

                                                    Host SRP     -      Their Cut. (%)    =    Your Net Profit

Amazon                                     10.00                      5.55                                  4.45

Cdbaby                                      10.00                     4.00                                   6.00

Local Record Store                  10.00                     5.00                                    5.00

Hot Topic                                  10.00                     7.00                                    3.00

EBAY!                                       10.00                     1.40                                    8.60 

     Let's take a real close look at each. First there is Amazon. Out of your cut you will be paying for shipping the cd's to them( 5 cd's priority mail $5.20 or 1.04 per cd), factor in the $30 annual fee and if your lucky enough to sell 10 cd's a month that's another .25 cents per disc.

AMAZON NET:  3.26 P/U

     Cdbaby is probably the most indie friendly but still a better deal is to be had. You still pay to ship, so that will be $1.04. The Fee per disc is $39 so sell 100 cd's and your per unit cost there is: .39 cents. Better than Amazon, Less visibility.

CDBABY NET:    5.57 P/U

     Your local record store is a good place to have your cd's as a vanity vehicle but how many local artists have you bought lately? Thought so.  Usually they want a 50% commision/consignment deal. This isn't bad so take it.  Hope they let you put your gig posters up and you might sell one this month.

LOCAL RECORD STORE NET:   5.00 P/U

     Hot Topic has been trying to build an indie friendly name for itself,  But all i can say is: BLINK 182.  Lets drop the fuel costs to get to the store because you were cruising for thirteen year old emo sluts anyway... Same Goes for the hour you wasted on the phone trying to get a MUSIC
BUYER on the phone...They MIGHT give you as much as 4.00 per unit if you beg. Though the higher you go the less discs you will sell they will price you out of the market.  To even compete you gotta sell these wholesale $3 or less

HOT TOPIC NET:   3.00 P/U

      Last and in my word the best bet EBAY!  Auctions are free...set it at .99 and shipping as high as allows. You do this with one disc only... See how high you can take it.  Worst case scenario your cd doesn't sell and you are out nothing.  Put up a listing for 30 days. Buy now or Best offer. $12.99.

Here are your costs. .50 cents for the listing for a month! The shipping is paid for by the buyer and you might profit from that. If your item sells you pay ebay .90 cents. You pay paypal .41 cents. Charge 2.50 shipping and handling and your...

EBAY NET:     8.79

     Assuming you did the smart thing and ordered your cd's glass mastered in bulk. Keeping your costs down by taking advantage of scalar economics your cogs per disc is around $1.20. Take a REAL close look at your margins now. Ebay should definetly be in your marketing and sales strategy and structure.

Here is HRX Records EBAY page...  We cannot keep cd's and shirts up long enough!

We even do a charity drive...

So stay creative and stay in the game...

HRX RECORDS LAUNCHES EBAY PAGE!Please Take a Look at our Item List Page. I'm sure you'll find something really special whether you are buying  as a gift or lookig for something just for you!
A percentage of the proceeds go to Charity (AHF*).

Please take a look...

http://shop.ebay.com/thehollywoodrx/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

Releasing Cover Songs; The Pros and Cons

     So you or your band are thinking about releasing a cover version of a popular song.  Visions of your big break dance in your head. Your reminded of countless big name artists such as: Marylin Manson (sweet dreams), Aerosmith (mama kin), Jimi Hendrix (name a Dylan song), Van Halen (you really got me, your no good, insert Motown classic here)...  The List goes on and on.

     Well here to burst your bubble as usual, reality walks through the door.  Perhaps you may gain a foothold to a broader Internet based following due to more views in search engines. A flattered musician that happened to come across your tribute may take you under your wing (right). That aside you, well at least i do not have the multi-million dollar budget of a major corporation to push a release into the arms of pop-culture.


    But wait you say, i can just self release the song and follow the compulsory license instructions here at CDBABY! [see bottom]  Well let's do some simple math. Assuming you have no overhead such as studio costs or session musician fees here are the numbers for selling 100 downloads on I-Tunes.(for a song under 5 minutes with no negotiated lower license fee)

100 dpd's sold (I-TUNES) x .694 = $69.40

Sounds good eh....you didn't even need to put a note to staf!

now for the fun part...



100 dpd's x .091 (statutory royalty rate) =    $9.10  ad that to the $9.00 upfront to CDBABY and thats

$18.10 COGS

ok so $69.40 - 18.10 =  $51.30

looking good right?

Now get out your abacus class.
   


  Let's assume that all these downloads happened to be spread evenly throughout the year.
You are required to make monthly statements of account to the Publisher or copyright owner.


That's:   

stamps                           12 stamps x .44 =   $ 5.28
certified                         12             x  1.15     13.80
12 envelopes                 12             x    .12       1.44
Return rcpt.                  12             x   1.10     13.20

Total Mailing Costs:                                   $33.72

ok....  $51.30 - 33.72 =  $17-FUCK-MY-MOTHER-WITH-A-VIBRASLAP- .58

$17.58 not a bad profit for a year. That's if you can sell 100 downloads, and trust me i know some bands that can't. Also, speaking of bands you guys all split the earnings evenly right?

Don't get me started on your fixed costs like Internet service ( around $600 a year) Mechanical License Fees ( if you plan on producing tangible copies of this release) and at the end of the year you need to have the anual statement auditied by a licensed CPA( you know someone that will do that for free, right) .



"gratuitous seminude model break"

   Elena Bathory http://www.bloodgoddess.com/

Now for the PROS!

You look cool.

You may get some residual sales from exposing new people to your old catalog.

You really flex your production chops working on a classic song.

You have a new catalyst for connecting with audiences online and off.

and the number one and only reason that truly matters...

YOU WERE GONNA DO THIS ANYWAY!

So in closing have fun building your dream one brick at a time...

SELFLESS SELF PROMOTION:
My Band Ellipsis' Version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Tuesday's Gone

Ellipsis - Tuesday's Gone

(Lynyrd Skynyrd with a prog twist
featuring Dino P. from Vicious Fish, and
Frank Avalon Jr. [Frankie Avalon's son])

http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2011/01/how-to-legally-sell-downloads-of-cover-songs/