Every once in a while I find a song that makes me cry. Usually it is a combination of what I call the "familiar feeling" that is part of my entire music collection and the lyrics hit home in such a way that I could have written them, and only wish that I had... The song I am referring to right now is "The Only Exception" by Paramore. I never liked this band but this song is putting their album in my collection. The only thing I don't like about this song is the last part of the bridge speaks about that premarital sex crap that pisses me off so much. TRUE love waits.
Here are the lyrics that speak to me:
When I was younger
I saw my daddy cry
And curse at the wind
He broke his own heart
And I watched
As he tried to reassemble it
And my momma swore that
She would never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love
If it does not exist
Maybe I know, somewhere
Deep in my soul
That love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways
To make it alone
Keep a straight face
And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable, distance
And up until now
I had sworn to myself that I'm
Content with loneliness
You, are, the only exception
And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, And I'm on my way to believing
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
The One About Pay To Play
Well it's been two weeks since my last post and I thought I'd write a little about what's been going on with my music. As I said in a previous post, I have a really well produced album in the DIY sense. I have found out though, as I have been trying to figure out how not to have my album shelved indefinitely while I raise money for production, that the industry expects you, with today's technology, to present them with a professionally mastered and produced album. It is the least you could do in their eyes. As I have also said before, pay to play is a whole lot more expensive than it ever was. Kurt Cobain had nothing to complain about. He had it easy. So, just to protect my rights as an artist and get the privilege of being listened to by any professional in the industry, I need to do the following:
1) have my album mastered at a minimum cost of $890
2) get individual ISRC codes embedded into each track on the master copy, which I have a sneaking suspicion also costs something and therefore will bring the mastering cost up
3) buy a bar code for only $20. I wish everything else was this cheep. This allows someone to keep track of sales so that I know how many units are sold. Great, except I can't sell anything I don't have a record or distribution deal. I've been told you don't need to be signed to sell albums, but when you are a one man band it's kind of the only way to get your name out there. This bar code needs to be part of the artwork so I need to redo my album art.
4) I can get my album art done professionally, which I'm going to have to do (sorry Nate) because I have discovered that the sizing and design for the type of release I want to do is way to complicated for a DIY to look good. Cost for this is $1890 but may be higher due to the fact that this is a double album and I can't get a price quote because double albums are now considered custom jobs.
5) use Discmakers to produce the album and sell it online. The minimum cost for a professionally pressed album including the packaging and promotion (100 posters and 24 shirts) is $4494 and also may be higher because of it being "custom".
6) I also need to copyright this and register it. I have no idea what the cost is for this. Discmakers will probably help with this.
Grand total (and this is a minimum estimate): $7294
Now the sad part for those that don't know. I'm a janitor. I only take home $12,000 a year. Thankfully, I have no debt, but the cost of living takes about 3/4 of what I make per year. So if I can manage to have no additional expenses like new glasses, tires for my car (which isn't even mine, I'm borrowing it. I just have to take care of it.), oil changes, eating out, etc., etc. So if I do nothing and spend nothing extra than the minimum to live off of, then I will be able to save the money for the cost of this in two and a half years. Even sadder is I didn't include the six singles I wanted to release at the same time. Sadder still, I have to do this just so I can have an acceptable album to submit to the record labels. Submissions also cost anywhere from $4 for a chance to get played on an internet radio station to $79 for a guy from a major label to listen to it not for a potential record deal but for his critique. I'm not joking.
1) have my album mastered at a minimum cost of $890
2) get individual ISRC codes embedded into each track on the master copy, which I have a sneaking suspicion also costs something and therefore will bring the mastering cost up
3) buy a bar code for only $20. I wish everything else was this cheep. This allows someone to keep track of sales so that I know how many units are sold. Great, except I can't sell anything I don't have a record or distribution deal. I've been told you don't need to be signed to sell albums, but when you are a one man band it's kind of the only way to get your name out there. This bar code needs to be part of the artwork so I need to redo my album art.
4) I can get my album art done professionally, which I'm going to have to do (sorry Nate) because I have discovered that the sizing and design for the type of release I want to do is way to complicated for a DIY to look good. Cost for this is $1890 but may be higher due to the fact that this is a double album and I can't get a price quote because double albums are now considered custom jobs.
5) use Discmakers to produce the album and sell it online. The minimum cost for a professionally pressed album including the packaging and promotion (100 posters and 24 shirts) is $4494 and also may be higher because of it being "custom".
6) I also need to copyright this and register it. I have no idea what the cost is for this. Discmakers will probably help with this.
Grand total (and this is a minimum estimate): $7294
Now the sad part for those that don't know. I'm a janitor. I only take home $12,000 a year. Thankfully, I have no debt, but the cost of living takes about 3/4 of what I make per year. So if I can manage to have no additional expenses like new glasses, tires for my car (which isn't even mine, I'm borrowing it. I just have to take care of it.), oil changes, eating out, etc., etc. So if I do nothing and spend nothing extra than the minimum to live off of, then I will be able to save the money for the cost of this in two and a half years. Even sadder is I didn't include the six singles I wanted to release at the same time. Sadder still, I have to do this just so I can have an acceptable album to submit to the record labels. Submissions also cost anywhere from $4 for a chance to get played on an internet radio station to $79 for a guy from a major label to listen to it not for a potential record deal but for his critique. I'm not joking.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)