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If you are an unsigned band looking to get your music out into the world, releasing an album is a great way to help spread your sound and build your fanbase. Just because you don’t have a record label to do some of the legwork for you doesn’t mean that your album can’t be a big hit, but you may need a little bit of guidance if you’re doing everything yourself and you’re not sure where to begin.
Some people are under the impression that the CD is a little bit of a dead format now that streaming is so popular, but in actual fact, CDs generated a revenue of £468m in 2015 according to the Financial Times. Different formats are of value to different groups of music fans, so putting your album on CD is something that you should definitely still consider doing.
We thought we’d put together a little bit of a guide to help you release your own album on CD, with everything you need to know to do it yourself.
Put together a plan
Before you begin, take the time to sit down and plan out the whole process so that you know exactly what you need to do, and give you an idea of your timelines.
As a rough guide, this will involve:
- Recording and mixing the music
- Designing the album artwork
- Band photoshoots
- Registering to receive royalty payments
- Getting your album mastered
- Putting it on CD
- Distribution
- Promotion
You’ll need to think about how exactly you need to schedule all of the above early on, as for example, you’ll need to make sure you have your album artwork ready before you have your album mastered.
Establish rights
You’ll need to make sure you register with the right organisations to make sure you have the rights to your music and will receive royalties.
Here in the UK, you’ll want to register with PPL, PRS, or MCPS. They all do slightly different things, but PPL will also assign you with International Standard Recording Codes, which is something that you’ll need before you master your music and at various other points throughout the process, so you’ll definitely want to register with them.
If you’re not sure what any of this means, or have never heard of any of these organisations, then this article is very helpful for giving you more details.
Get your CDs made
Finally, you will want to find a company to make your CDs. A reputable company such as VDC Group (who are an official UK Partner of Sony DADC) will have a wealth of knowledge and experience if you need any help or advice, and they have a quick turnaround time.
They offer both CD duplication and replication services, so you’ll want to figure out which is the most appropriate for your own release. For fewer than 500 CDs, duplication tends to be the most cost-effective option, whereas replication gives a more professional end result.
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