Releasing an EP

” So you could sell $498 worth of music, but until you make that next $2, you won’t get paid.” – I think I’d get my credit card out and buy a couple of copies if that were me 😉

I disagree with D-Jam. Although I don’t have any personal experience with this, I know if I were in that circumstance I would be more concerned with exposure and what I could put on a resume than with making money. I would shop around for a label. Once one bites, not only would you have them advertising for you as well, but you are now “signed” and finally have something to put in parenthesis after your own name and your release’s title (i.e. Mike Check — Checking Levels EP [Bring the Noise Records]) which, to me, is completely worth the extra time it takes to get a proper release. Also, assuming you’re looking for gigs, it is much better to say “my EP was just released by Bring the Noise Records” rather than “I just released my first EP,” as you hand the promoter your sharpie-covered CD-R.

A proper release also gives you a reason for increased levels of shameless self-promotion (i.e. “Hey guys, make sure you look out for my new EP being released on Bring the Noise Records one week from today! Here’s a little sample…”) other than the usual (at least it’s usual for me) “Hey guys, here’s a new mix/track I made! I know this is the third time I’ve posted about it this morning but if you just listen once you may be surprised and see I do have a little bit of talent and if you could tell all your friends about it too that would be great and…”

There are hundreds of labels out there. Nearly every day I see one that I’ve never heard of. Not to say you should aim for some small, possibly struggling, no-name, but just that the opportunity is certainly there provided your production is release worthy. Again, I may be way off being as I have never experienced this myself, but I would go about contacting some independent labels with music similar to yours as soon as possible and look around for a month or two before considering releasing it myself.

Frosh, post: 24673, member: 1351 wrote: I disagree with D-Jam. Although I don’t have any personal experience with this, I know if I were in that circumstance I would be more concerned with exposure and what I could put on a resume than with making money. I would shop around for a label. Once one bites, not only would you have them advertising for you as well, but you are now “signed” and finally have something to put in parenthesis after your own name and your release’s title (i.e. Mike Check — Checking Levels EP [Bring the Noise Records]) which, to me, is completely worth the extra time it takes to get a proper release. Also, assuming you’re looking for gigs, it is much better to say “my EP was just released by Bring the Noise Records” rather than “I just released my first EP,” as you hand the promoter your sharpie-covered CD-R.

A proper release also gives you a reason for increased levels of shameless self-promotion (i.e. “Hey guys, make sure you look out for my new EP being released on Bring the Noise Records one week from today! Here’s a little sample…”) other than the usual (at least it’s usual for me) “Hey guys, here’s a new mix/track I made! I know this is the third time I’ve posted about it this morning but if you just listen once you may be surprised and see I do have a little bit of talent and if you could tell all your friends about it too that would be great and…”

There are hundreds of labels out there. Nearly every day I see one that I’ve never heard of. Not to say you should aim for some small, possibly struggling, no-name, but just that the opportunity is certainly there provided your production is release worthy. Again, I may be way off being as I have never experienced this myself, but I would go about contacting some independent labels with music similar to yours as soon as possible and look around for a month or two before considering releasing it myself.

I agree with you here. If you can get someone else with a label of many releases selling your music, that’s the best.

However, if you’re on your own, then I’d look out for yourself and go with the route that gets you the best ROI both in a monetary and marketing sense.