I just returned from mastering my new CD and I am glad that this part of the process is finished. But there are many more steps for releasing a successful album. So for me this just means to switch gears and focus on the next steps.
I made a list of all the things I want to have in place by release date 3 months from now.
- Photo shoot
- CD cover and booklet design, credits
- Live arrangements / backing tracks
- Copyright and performing rights registration of new songs
- Music Video shoot
- Promo videos
- Create secondary product(s)
- Setup social media campaign
- Press releases
- Update website
I will address these points one by one in the following weeks in my blog series.
Depending on your situation there might be additional items you need to get together or pay attention to. If you are fully independent you will have to press CDs and find distribution, and design a marketing, advertising and radio campaign. If you don’t have a press kit yet, then you better get on it. If this all sounds overwhelming you might benefit from the expertise of an expert like Kim Giles of Independent Artist Services. http://www.independentartistservices.com
Kim has been working with many independent artist to give them guidance and direction to get their careers going. And she is an expert in helping them plan an independent CD release and marketing campaign. Her fees are reasonable and are well worth the investment, since she also can obtain discounts for her clients for some of the services needed.
For myself, first on my list is a photo shoot. I will need new photos for the album cover, for my website, for press photos and for an internet campaign. I want to go with my friend Jürgen Reisch (www.jurgenreisch.com) to make that happen. Jürgen is an outstanding photographer. He has a photo studio in Hollywood where he does a lot of fashion photography but also has some quite impressive credits for album covers, like Prince, Earth Wind and Fire and Nils ( Pacific Coast Highway and Ready to Play) :o) 
Once I have the photos, we will have to get on the design of the album cover and booklet next.
For the cover I want a photo that will stand out through color and design. That photo then will be worked over, manipulated, cropped and played out with album title and artist name. This is the most important part of the process , because the cover is the calling card of the CD. I always try to imagine what my CD will look like in a rack amidst various other CDs. If it draws my eye to it, it’s a great cover. I am also a good idea to create a unified look from web site to album cover to fb page etc. It’s part of a branding strategy and will help to re-enforce the image.
For the booklet I already assembled the album credits and wrote my Thank You-s. I always create a file with production notes, while I am working on a CD. That file includes budget, song titles, Publishing info, a to-do-lists and also the players that played on each track. A album production can easily take a year or even longer and sometimes it is be hard to remember who played on which song, if you use different musicians. Designing the layout for the booklet, the back cover and the CD face can be a very creative and fun process. I enjoy it, but I’m not always the best suited for the job. I am lucky to have help from the record label, when my graphic design skills just don’t cut it.
All this can take a couple weeks or more to get finished, and then there is the time it takes to print the booklet and art work, so don’t underestimate how long this can take.
In my next blog I will address further points on my list, so stay tuned. And if you haven’t joined my mailing list. Please do so and be part of the fan club. It comes with various perks, gifts and discounts. you can join at www.nilsguitar.com
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