Recently I've been approached by several emerging indie-artists anxious to get going on their first recording project. Each artist has expressed great vision for their music while communicating some confusion around recording. As I've begun producing a handful of talented artists, here are some of the tips I've shared with them. These tips are meant to help anyone starting out on their musical journey.
Know your audience
When starting out you need to think about finishing - think about who will end up with your final recordings. When defining a target audience new artists often respond, "I create my music for me." It sounds cool and artistic but it's too small a goal for your music. Stop hiding behind the, "I create to create" facade and think hard about who you intend to musically impact. Ask yourself, "Who would enjoy this song as much as I do?" Is your primary audience coffee shops, wine bars, clubs, churches, malls, schools, arenas, day cares, TV, or film? There's an audience for every song and for every artist. Define yours.
Know your budget
Once you define your audience you'll be able to imagine how they'll interact with your music. You should be able to estimate to some degree what sales will look like. This is important to understand as it informs how much you should invest into your project. A realistic goal on a first project should be to invest no more than you can get back through merch and ticket sales your first year.
When thinking of costs, artists need to think of recording costs, mix/master costs, and duplication costs.
Recording Costs
Divide your recording budget by the amount of songs you want to track. For instance divide your fictitious recording budget of $1000 by the 7 songs you hope to track:
$1,000 budget / 7 songs = $143 per song
In this fictitious example you're spending just under $150 per song on your 7 song EP. If you plan on tracking drums, bass, guitars, keys, and vocals for each of your songs then you can count on 15 - 25 hours of time invested in the studio per song. New artists often underestimate the amount of time it takes to get an amazing track. Yes, you can rush the creative process but you'll hear it in the end mix. Either the recorded performances will be less-than-stellar or the right tones/creative parts will be missing from the final recording. Good art takes time. In this example, you'd be planning to pay those involved a total of $150 for a week's worth of work. Probably not the best plan. If you find someone willing to work for that cheap... RUN AWAY. I'd recommend spending anywhere between $300-$500 per song for your first project.
Mix Down
Once you've tracked your amazing parts you need them mixed down. Mixing is an art form in and of itself. I've seen guys spend 2 days on just one song alone. As a side note, if there was one place I'd want to throw my money it would be at a good mixing engineer. These guys work serious magic and can polish just about any turd. God bless them.
Duplication Costs
Once you have your songs in-hand you'll need to sell them on one form of media or another. CD's continue to chart the highest in music sales with digital sales ramping up every year. CD's carry with them more overhead costs than digital sales. Determine what works for your audience and go bananas.
Know your team
I have recorded in SF, LA, and Nashville with great success. The main ingredient has always been finding the right producers, engineers, and instrumentalists. Your team will probably cost you a bit more than you wanted to spend but they'll help you take yourself and your music seriously. They usually have solid industry networks they'll extend to you in order to make your music its very best. Be weary of the "wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am" producers who quote low and deliver a quick and dirty product. Be equally weary of well-meaning relatives or friend-of-a-friend producers who lack the skills to take your music to its highest potential. Remember this project will be people's first impression of you as an artist. Surround yourself with a team that stretches you like a good pair of pleather stage pants.
Email me if you've got more questions. Music is a community-sport.
