Let's get down to business

Pssst... If you have any fundraising suggestions, there is a comment box at the end of this post to leave your genius fundraising methods. Leave them there, please? (:

I started a new cover song today (hopefully this one will come out as I want it to, unlike the last one I tried earlier this week...), but I didn't finish it. Today was much more focused on the "business" of this project. You know, like how I am going to get these CDs to be made and distributed and paid for and legally sound.

I am working on obtaining licenses through Harry Fox for the songs I have already completed. While I have asked the copyright holder of every song I have done so far, very few have even responded... and none of them have been able to waive a licensing fee for me. I thought that maybe, since this is a school charity project, that might be a possibility, but so far, not so much.

However, the big breakthrough of day was looking into different companies to create my CDs. I am leaning towards CD Baby at the moment because they have relatively affordable rates, lots of options for customization, and I can order any number of CDs that I want. (I can also get a second order of my CDs if I sell out of my first batch.) CD Baby is specifically for indie musicians, too! Sounds like a match made in heaven, yes?


I made some basic, but crucial decisions about the product, besides choosing CD Baby as my probable-CD manufacturer. I definitely want to sell physical CDs because I like the idea of holding the project you worked so hard on. Plus, I can design the cover, the CD itself, and the booklet to go with it. I feel like buying a physical CD just means more, for some reason. I'm not sure if that makes any sense... but the bottom line is that I won't be selling the songs on iTunes or any other digital music store.

I used CD Baby's custom quote calculator and this was the result:

Click on the image to enlarge it!

In doing all of this, the many high costs of creating an independent album became a reality for me today. The licensing fees, the price of the CDs, the price of the CD cases and booklets, the shipping fees for the CDs... and I'm sure more are to come. I am not sure where I will get all of this money from... but I'm glad I never spent on cent on instruments, a recording studio, or equipment! I'm also glad that I researched the "business" aspects sooner rather than later during this process so that I can prepare to cover these costs.

All in all, the project has given me a few challenges, but I enjoy it so much, it doesn't matter to me at all. Researching CD manufacturers and CD case/booklet styles get me so excited for the future of this project!!! Now if I could just decide on a track list...

How about leaving me a comment or opinion or suggestion or something? Any fundraising ideas would be appreciated, too!