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How to Create a Music Marketing Budget in 4 Simple Steps
How to Create a Music Marketing Budget in 4 Simple Steps
Dave Cool
Posted by Dave Cool on Jan 21, 2014 in: Music Marketing & Promotion, Music Career Advice
How to Create a Music Marketing Budget in 4 Simple Steps
One of the most important things you can do to prepare for the year ahead is to create a budget for your musical activities. Having a budget will give you a much clearer look at where you want to go financially, how you’ll get there, and what your progress is along the way.
We’ve broken down the process into 4 simple steps to help you create a budget:
1. Ask Questions
To help determine what your financial goals for the year will be, first ask yourself some questions:
- Will you be releasing new music this year?
[The Complete Guide to Selling Your Music Online]
- How will you raise money to pay for the production?
- How will you distribute your music to digital stores?
- How will you promote your music?
- Do you need new promotional photos?
- Are you creating any merch?
[The Ultimate Guide to Selling Band Merch Online]
- Are you going to buy any new equipment?
- Do you need a new website?
Try to get as clear as you can about everything you would like to do this year, and be sure to write it all down. Writing down your goals will help give you some direction and focus.
2. Determine Expenses
Once you know your goals, write down all of the expenses that you’ll need to keep track of:
Cost of Music & Merch
Recording/Mixing/Mastering: Many musicians now record at home rather than go into a studio, so expenses with recording can vary greatly depending on your approach.
CD Duplication / Vinyl pressing / Download Cards: Research how much it will cost to manufacture any physical versions of your album.
Digital distribution: Although minimal, depending on which service you use, there is either an upfront cost or annual recurring cost to distribute your music to iTunes, Amazon, etc.
Merch: How much will it cost to make t-shirts and other merch items?
Live Shows
Rehearsal space: Will you need to rent rehearsal space?
Equipment: Do you need any new instruments/amps/pedals/accessories this upcoming year?
Posters/flyers/postage: Although not as much as in the past, posters are still useful for putting up in the venues you’ll be performing at.
Food & Gas: Whether you’re touring or not, getting to gigs and eating before/after costs money.
Lodging: If you’re touring, will you be staying at hotels? Using Airbnb? Hopefully you’ll be able to stay with friends/family/fans, but that’s not always possible.
Conference/Festival fees: Are you applying to perform at conferences or festivals? There is often a fee to apply, and for some conferences, even if you’re accepted to showcase, it still costs money to attend.
Publicity/Promotion
Graphic Design: Some bands are fortunate to have a member that is a skilled graphic designer. If not, hire a professional graphic designer to handle your album artwork, as well as images you’ll need for your website and social media profiles.
Photo Shoot: We can’t stress enough how important it is to have professional photos, especially for your website.
Publicist: Will you be hiring a publicist to help with the initial launch and promotion of your new music? How about to help with online PR?
Website: Well, we honestly believe you shouldn’t have to pay thousands of dollars for a new website. With Bandzoogle, our Pro plan is just $200/year, where you can design a totally custom site, and sell music and merch directly to your fans, commission-free.
Mailing List: Email newsletters are still the best way to convert fans to paying customers. Most mailing list services charge a monthly fee, but if you’re using Bandzoogle for your website, a mailing list is included.
Videos: YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world, so chances are people will be trying to find your music on there. Making an official video is a good idea, but you should also upload simple lyric videos and other low budget videos.
Ads: Will you be buying any ads online to help promote your music, live shows, or latest video?
This may not be the most fun part of the process, but it’s important to have tangible numbers so you can realistically assess what it’s going to take financially to achieve your goals.
Also, these shouldn’t represent the entirety of your actual marketing plan. You should be using mostly free promotional tactics to engage your fans like using your website, blogging, email newsletters, as well as social media like Facebook and Twitter to create awareness about your music.
3. Project Income
Now the fun part: projecting your income. Do your best to estimate how much income you’ll be bringing in over the course of the next year. Here are some areas where you can earn income:
Music
CD Sales: If you’re going to be playing live shows, having CDs on hand is still a good idea. They make great takeaway souvenirs that can easily be signed by band members.
Vinyl Sales: Vinyl sales surged 30% in 2013. Again, if you’ll be playing live shows, printing a small batch to have at your merch table can help generate extra income.
Digital Sales: You should be selling digital music through your own website to make the most money, but also through online retailers. Keep in mind for your budget that online retailers take a percentage of sales (ex. iTunes takes 30%, Bandcamp takes 15%), and some digital distributors that get your music into places like iTunes and Amazon will take a cut on top of that.
Streaming: Although per-stream payouts from streaming services can be rather small, they can add up over time, and these services can also help new fans discover your music.
Publishing Royalties: You should be signed up to a performing rights organization so you can collect royalties on your music, including public performance royalties (radio, TV, live venues), mechanical royalties (sales through retailers, streaming, etc.), and sync royalties (commercials, film, TV).
Digital Royalties: Whenever your music is played on services like SiriusXM radio, Pandora and webcasters, they must pay royalties. You should sign up for a free SoundExchange account to make sure you’re getting those royalties.
Licensing: If you get your song placed in a film, commercial, or TV show, chances are they’re going to pay you a licensing fee. These fees depend on the budget for the project, and how badly they want your song.
YouTube: On YouTube, whenever your music is used in videos that are running ads, YouTube pays a portion of that advertising money to the rights holders of the song. Audiam is one company that can help you collect this money.
[How to make money from your music on YouTube]
Live Shows
Money made from live shows can vary greatly. But the bottom line is that performing live is a great way to earn income, sell merch, build your mailing list, and connect with your fans. Be sure to read our blog post 14 Ways Musicians Can Make Money from Live Shows to make sure you’re getting the most out of your gigs.
Merch: Income from merch can really depend on the amount of live shows you play. Just be sure to have some t-shirts, as well as smaller items like buttons and stickers that you can sell to fans after the show. For more tips about merch, read: The Ultimate Guide to Selling Band Merch Online
Other Revenue
Crowdfunding: A crowdfunding campaign can help generate enough money to offset the cost of producing your album.
Day Job / Teaching: Many musicians either teach or work some kind of day job on the side. The disposable income can then be used to help pay for expenses related to producing and marketing your album.
[18 Ways Musicians Can Make Money]
4. Track Progress
Finally, you’ll want to track your progress. Create a spreadsheet that lists all of your expenses and income projections. You can use Google Docs, Apple Numbers, OpenOffice, or Microsoft Excel to do this.
Make sure to have 2 columns for the numbers, one for Projections, and one for your Actual results. That way you can see if things are costing above or below your projections and you can adjust accordingly throughout the year.
Also check out: The Complete Guide to Marketing Your Music Online
Make more money as a musician! Keep 100% of your revenues when you sell music, merch, & tickets through your website. Sign up free with Bandzoogle now.
How Much Does It Cost to Release an Album?
How Much Does It Cost to Release an Album?
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Man using audio mixing board
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BY HEATHER MCDONALD Updated November 03, 2018
Thinking of releasing your own record or starting a record label? There are lots of things to concern yourself with—promotion, distribution, pressing and so on—but the one thing it all comes back to is money. So just how much is this endeavor going to set you back?
Well, that depends. Album release budgets run the gamut from bargain basement to top of the line. It all comes down to the choices you make. Suffice it to say that you should have a realistic idea about how much you can afford to spend in advance, and you should take advantage of every cost-cutting measure you can find along the way. Regardless of the choices you make, here are the costs you'll have to find a way to cover:
Recording Costs
If you're a musician putting out your record, obviously the recording costs are going to fall on you. If you're a record label, especially a small indie label, sometimes the musicians will come to you with a finished product. If they don't, you may have to spring for some studio time. As an indie label, this is a good time to be honest with your signers about your resources. For instance, it doesn't serve anyone if you empty the bank account on recording and then don't have anything left to spend on promotion.
You might consider structuring a deal so that the musicians share recording costs with you. Do these deals really happen? Yes, they do.
Recording costs can get out of control in a hurry. If you can call in some favors and keep your costs down, do it. If money is tight, save the six-week session in an out of town studio for your sophomore release. Keep the cash in check by turning up well rehearsed and ready to go. Keep the distractions (and distracting people) outside of the studio, and have all of your arguments about new parts and what have you before you show up to lay down the tracks. (Oh, come on, you know it's going to happen.)
Pressing
Manufacturing may be one of your biggest expenses. There are a few different ways this can go down.
Obviously, going all digital is the cheapest way to go since it cuts out this cost. If you do decide to press physical copies, try to keep your spending in check. In other words, special packaging, colored vinyl and things like that may be fun, but they also jack up your costs. A common mistake is to assume that if you shell out extra for these kinds of bells and whistles that your album will sell more. Probably not. "Oooh...cool" doesn't pay the bills, and nifty packaging isn't what is standing between you and stardom.
Another thing to keep in mind in terms of pressing costs is being smart about how many copies you manufacture. Sure, you'll get a better per unit price for larger orders, but it's a good idea to press what you think you really have a chance of selling. Pressing 500,000 copies to save 30 cents per unit is a false economy if 499,500 end up sitting in your mom's garage. Want to be really depressed? Open your credit card bill while looking at 250 boxes of unsold CDs.
If you have a distribution deal, your distributor may pay for manufacturing up front and then recoup the costs from sales. This kind of deal is getting harder and harder to find, though, and don't forget that this setup means it may be a long time before you see any money from record sales. The upside of this kind of deal, apart from easing your cash flow concerns upfront, is that the distributor will get a better price from the manufacturer than you could on your own because they are likely to have a standing relationship with them.
Otherwise, you simply arrange for manufacturing yourself. Usually, a manufacturer will not extend credit to a new customer, so you're likely to have to pay for the whole order up front.
Or, skip manufacturing completely and go for a completely digital release.
Promotion
Promotion is your most important cost. If manufacturing and recording are "save" expenses, promotion is your area to splurge. Promotion costs are campaigns to earn radio/press coverage of your release and advertising costs. You can save money by doing your press and radio promotion yourself, or you can hire a PR company. As a general rule of thumb, it is more difficult to break into commercial radio without the help of an established radio promoter than it is to handle print/web promotion yourself—something to keep in mind if you only have money for one such "pro" campaign.
On the other hand, don't expect PR companies to work miracles. Is radio a good fit for your release? Is your audience listening to the radio? The key to spending wisely on promotion is to know your audience and make sure you're targeting them.
So, bottom line, how much is it going to cost to release your album? In many ways, the answer is up to you. The expenses listed above will all need to be met, but there is a lot of wiggle room within each category. The key is to take a long-term view and spend enough to give this project the push it deserves while making sure you don't set yourself so far back financially that you don't have any cash leftover for a follow-up.
如何正确地发行自己的原创音乐作品？
如何正确地发行自己的原创音乐作品？
万云帆
万云帆
音乐人，欢迎访问qq音乐或网易云主页收听关注
6 人赞了该文章
在这个科技日益进步的时代，我们接触音乐的方式逐渐便利化以及多元化。很多人特别是青少年已经不满足于仅仅去欣赏音乐，他们更多地想要去创作音乐，拥有自己的原创音乐作品，这也将逐渐成为当今中国音乐界的一股潮流。
但是，很多人创作了音乐作品却不知道该如何发行自己的音乐作品。音乐的发行包括数字发行和实体专辑发行。音乐的数字发行是指音乐作品无需借助实体介质，而通过互联网等在线方式进行发行。简单不严格地说就是将作品上架至qq音乐、网易云音乐、酷狗音乐等平台。
而实体专辑发行是指将音乐作品进行光盘的压制，并且由出版社进行实体出版发行。下面我将为大家详细地讲解该如何对自己的原创音乐作品进行数字发行？
音乐的数字发行方法共有三种，不过我只推荐最后一种，但是三种方法我都会给你们介绍，看完这篇文章你就会知道我为什么会这么说。
一、最愚蠢的方法
平时我们都喜欢逛淘宝，因为淘宝功能强大，所以有一部分朋友在入库歌曲的时候自然地想到了淘宝。一般在淘宝搜索歌曲入库的时候会有很多做这方面的商家，一般一个平台入库一首大概在三四十元左右，帮你申请音乐人还有额外的费用。
大家都觉得这种方法简单好用，非常方便。但其实它的缺点很多，有如下两个方面：
1、实际上发行是不需要费用的，后面会为你们介绍。网上那些公司都在借着你们的作品来赚钱，他们只是提交了下而已，轻轻松松赚到了这些钱。
2、你的作品安全无法保证，网络交易你看不清对方是谁，可能把你的作品拿来修改修改就成了别人的作品，你的音乐版权无法保证。
至于我为什么说它是最愚蠢的发行方法，看了后文你就会知道。
二、较为一般的方法
随着音乐市场的逐步发展，很多音乐平台开通了音乐人开放平台，这让很多音乐人可以自主入库自己的音乐作品。下面我将为大家介绍一些开放平台。
1、网易音乐人
网易云音乐是目前国内最大的独立音乐人平台，是很多独立音乐人的栖息地。
那么如何入驻网易音乐人呢？打开网易云音乐的官网，滚动到底部，点击独立音乐人的按钮，你会进入到音乐人入驻界面。
此时点击加入，按照它的提示操作即可。申请成功后，你的网易主页头像右下角会获得音乐人专属标志。网易音乐人平台可以自行完成歌曲在网易云音乐的发行，还可以查看自己的音乐人指数、歌曲收听量等数据，还可以开通单曲赞赏功能，获得相应的收益。
2、腾讯音乐人
qq音乐是腾讯公司推出的一款网络音乐服务产品，它拥有海量的音乐版权，是国内较大的音乐平台。
打开qq音乐的官网，滚动到底部，音乐人入驻有两个按钮，一个是上传音频按钮，这个是老版的qq音乐人平台；另一个是腾讯音乐人平台按钮，这个是新版的qq音乐人平台。
如下图所示，这是老版的qq音乐人平台。它和网易云音乐人平台一样可以进行qq音乐歌曲的入库发行，个人和公司都可以注册入驻，还可以查看一些收听量、粉丝量等数据。根据提示输入信息审核成功后方可使用。
这里插播一则教训警示后人：
这是我本人亲身经历的事件，看了之后希望你们别走和我一样的弯路。我第一次做音乐时是来到天津的一个棚进行歌曲的录制。老板王骗子利用我做音乐的渴望让我上很贵的声乐课，并且还和我说念及师生情帮我免费入库，说真的当时我挺感动。他说他那边是一个音乐工厂，从歌曲制作到入库都行，他跟qq音乐是有协议的，很牛掰。后来我发现他就是把自己那个棚注册的小公司开通老版的qq音乐平台，然后帮别人入库，也从来不说可以自己申请。他以为这是商业机密，也不告诉我。后来我自己发现了，我也和qq音乐可以有协议，于是我问他既然念及师生情为什么不告诉我，关键是之后我的青春年少时那首歌的混缩还被做的一塌糊涂，以后还得重做。这可能也是我写这篇文章的一个小原因吧，希望你们都能看到，别被忽悠。不说不开心的了，继续介绍。
新版的qq音乐人平台与老版的功能有些不一样，如下图所示。它也和网易音乐人平台一样可以进行歌曲的入库发行，还可以查看一些音乐人指数、收听量、粉丝量等数据。但是它可以直接入库到qq音乐、酷狗音乐、酷我音乐及5sing原创音乐四个平台，比较方便。它也和老版的平台一样根据提示输入信息审核成功后方可使用。
上面为大家介绍了网易、腾讯两个音乐人平台。其实还有很多其它的平台，比如酷狗音乐人、百度音乐人、虾米音乐人等等。这些平台的操作方法及功能大都类似，故不再赘述。
很明显，这种方法肯定要比第一种好，但还是有些不足之处：
1、这些平台目前针对音乐人的歌曲收益是没有的，虽然它开通了各种赞赏等功能。这就相当于用你的歌曲放进曲库里让它赚钱，而你什么也没有，只有歌曲入库的满足感。一般唱片公司进行歌曲的发行都会有收益的，这是根据歌曲的收听量、下载量等数据确定的。
2、沟通很不方便，不利于及时地解决一些问题。由于你是在音乐人平台入库的，并不是和平台编辑直接对接，你只能反馈问题，操作很麻烦，而且反馈的问题石沉大海的可能性比较大。
3、平台相对较少，不利于歌曲的传播。虽然现在很多平台都已经开通了音乐开放平台，但还有更多的平台没有开通，海外的平台就更别想了。
这就需要你们看下第三种方法喽!
三、推荐你们使用的方法
我觉得最好的方法还是和唱片公司联系进行歌曲的数字发行。与唱片公司合作发行可以获得歌曲的收益，并且要与唱片公司分成。比较好的是唱片公司发行比较快，问题也会反馈地更及时。但是我们在选择唱片公司时一定要擦亮自己的双眼，以防被骗。下面我给大家介绍两个我自己合作过的公司。
1、北京音尚律动文化传媒有限公司
北京音尚律动文化传媒有限公司于2012年01月06日成立。公司经营范围包括：组织文化艺术交流活动（不含棋牌）；影视策划、企业策划；承办展览展示；会议服务、礼仪服务；产品设计、电脑动画设计；经济贸易咨询；版权贸易；版权代理；演出经纪等。当你要进行歌曲的发行时，你需要在该公司旗下的爱原创音乐网注册登录上传自己的原创音乐作品，然后联系编辑授权发行，授权都是电子证书授权，具体的细节可询问编辑。
在该公司旗下发行收益是五五分成，版权还是归于音乐人自己，三年补充一次授权。
爱原创音乐网：http://www.52om.net/
编辑QQ：3283445750
2、欢唱网络科技（上海）有限公司
欢唱网络科技成立的［看见音乐］是一家全新的音乐生态公司，总部坐落于上海市虹口区。主要聚焦新生代音乐人群体，致力于通过构建完整的音乐人服务体系，帮助音乐人和唱片公司管理和发行音乐，并提供宣传、演出、法律等增值服务，帮助音乐人搞定复杂的事儿。看见音乐旗下［星球发行］是亚洲专业的音乐发行与管理服务平台，音乐人可以通过该平台将作品发行到全球。
第一次发行时，还需要签订纸质合同并寄送到看见音乐总部。然后在星球发行注册账号并上传需要发行的歌曲进行审核，有问题可以联系官方邮箱，会有编辑和你对接。在该公司旗下发行的歌曲收益是八二分成，版权还是归于音乐人自己，五年补充一次授权。
星球发行地址：http://star.kanjian.com/
联系官方邮箱：customer@kanjian.com
明星们发歌一般都是和唱片公司对接发行，这第三种方法与明星发歌有些类似，但是你可没有明星的待遇哦！所以，会遇到一些问题也是正常的，耐心点！另外，如果你的歌曲热度没达到一定程度的话收益会比较少，别抱太大期望，不过有总比没有的好！
到目前为止，三种方法都已经为大家进行了详细地介绍，具体怎么发行自己的歌曲得看你们选择什么样的方式。祝各位在创作的路上越走越远，加油！
编辑于 2018-02-06
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