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This week, Budget,  Let’s go -  

My mantra is “It starts with the art….but ends with the sale.”  What that means is, the music or the story starts when you create it; it ends it cycle when it sells. Your budget is one of the most important things you can sit down and create; yes, it’s as important as the content.  

So let’s start with the content. I for one believe in singles that lead to EP’s. An EP (or Extended Play Album is shorter than a full length album) and has roughly 5 songs; 5 songs for 5 dollars always sounds good to me. So how much does it cost to go into the studio and record a single. Now maybe you have a hook up for studio time, or can get it for free, but let’s just say you can do it for 1,000 bucks; that’s studio time, engineer, musicians, producers, mix, master, copyright, PRO registration, gas money and lunch for the team. Multiply that by 5 (some of these are one time costs but let’s keep the math simple ok) and you got $5,000 for an EP. Now comes the fun part, you have about $5,000 you got as a family loan, and you are gigging so you got another $500. Which means you have about 500 bucks left after your EP to duplicate, gain digital distribution from CDbaby, Bandcamp, Distrokid, TuneCore, etc. Now this won’t cost a ton of money, some are even free, because they take a percentage of royalties. Research them and see which is best for you. They in turn place your music on Spotify, Pandora, and all the places you want your music heard. That’s where you get paid!! But wait! The distributors do not market your music. So what are you going to do? You've got about $400 bucks left if you’re doing an EP. Well you can call up a publicist, a promotions company, a label services company, and marketing company and say, "hey I don't have much money, but the song is hot, and this is a movement, not just another artist with a song, and as soon as I get paid, you get paid…” Yeah that does NOT work! Additionally, most professionals will not let you pick their brain for free as to how to market YOUR song. You have got to have a budget. That’s why I say, just put out a single. Get some traction on social media, email and even text marketing which all cost. If you are bent on getting it on traditional radio well that’s even mo money, mo money, mo money. 

You are looking at online advertisement, and a team to take it to market and publicity. Most service companies will charge by the month with a 3 month minimum, some are longer or shorter, you just have to talk to them. You will be looking at, on a low end, about $2,500 to bring in a small team. You want to do it, because it frees you up to be the artist you are meant to be. A good source to find these services is the indybible or you can go Unda The Hat and contact me.  

This week's Independent Artists of the Week is Indy artist with Christmas Music all the way through Christmas. Click on the name, scroll down the page to hear, buy and support.  

For more information or to hire Unda The Hat as your brand or label consultant send a message via undathehat.com. See you next week.