CD or not CD?
Few days ago i bought a new CD issues by a major label by an Italian band i am a fan of.
It was a long time since i bought the last one since it's months that i buy (real) indie music online. I spent 18 euros (!) and this is what i had: 1. a plastic jewel box CD packaging (!), with poor booklet inside. And i mean, besides lyrics, not "easter eggs" on instruments played, funny tales and all that information we love to find in booklet. Just a usual "old" booklet with some photos, lyrics and thousand of names in the "thanks to" section. 2. The sound: even if (of course) the sound is perfect, it's far away from being alive. I mean, tons of post-productions completely cover the "soul" of the songs, as all the guitars play just like ten thousands of guitars out there and so do the drums. 3. A stupid "copy-protection" that made difficult to rip the CD even in my iTunes library. So the answer to my question "CD or not CD?" at this condition is a black labelled "NO THANKS". CD will probably loose maket shares again in the future, younger kids probably do not even know what a CD is right now, so i don't see how they will be able to buy one in their future. However, surely, this process is accelerated by the "standard-poor-all alike" CD packagings that majors keep printing. So, my dear new independent musicians, be aware! I am not saying not to print CDs at all, but i am saying to do something that is worth the money fans will spend in buying your finished products.
Forget about standard jewel-box cases, but look to the more elegant digi-pack or digifile, take care of the appearence of your CD, of the quality of the paper, give your fans a truly rich booklet, with good pictures and tales, poems and whatever you feel will be appreciated (sign it, for example!). Think of what YOU would have seen when you bought CDs from your favourite bands during the 90's. As music will be more and more digital, start giving something "unique" - you don't need to sell 100,000 copies, after all. 1000 is more than enough, but let them be some memorable 1000!
It was a long time since i bought the last one since it's months that i buy (real) indie music online. I spent 18 euros (!) and this is what i had: 1. a plastic jewel box CD packaging (!), with poor booklet inside. And i mean, besides lyrics, not "easter eggs" on instruments played, funny tales and all that information we love to find in booklet. Just a usual "old" booklet with some photos, lyrics and thousand of names in the "thanks to" section. 2. The sound: even if (of course) the sound is perfect, it's far away from being alive. I mean, tons of post-productions completely cover the "soul" of the songs, as all the guitars play just like ten thousands of guitars out there and so do the drums. 3. A stupid "copy-protection" that made difficult to rip the CD even in my iTunes library. So the answer to my question "CD or not CD?" at this condition is a black labelled "NO THANKS". CD will probably loose maket shares again in the future, younger kids probably do not even know what a CD is right now, so i don't see how they will be able to buy one in their future. However, surely, this process is accelerated by the "standard-poor-all alike" CD packagings that majors keep printing. So, my dear new independent musicians, be aware! I am not saying not to print CDs at all, but i am saying to do something that is worth the money fans will spend in buying your finished products.
Forget about standard jewel-box cases, but look to the more elegant digi-pack or digifile, take care of the appearence of your CD, of the quality of the paper, give your fans a truly rich booklet, with good pictures and tales, poems and whatever you feel will be appreciated (sign it, for example!). Think of what YOU would have seen when you bought CDs from your favourite bands during the 90's. As music will be more and more digital, start giving something "unique" - you don't need to sell 100,000 copies, after all. 1000 is more than enough, but let them be some memorable 1000!
