Your fans are your lifeblood as an artist. They’re the gateway from musical obscurity into nationwide success. And when it comes to fans, there’s no such thing as too many. You want tons. You want thousands. You want millions.

You know it’s doable, but how can you make it happen?

First, let’s get the obvious things out of the way. You’ve written great songs. You have a well-rehearsed and awesome live show that people want to keep coming back to. You have a website and are on all the appropriate social networks (plus you’ve told all your friends and acquaintances to become your fans and tell all their friends). You’ve started a mailing list and you add people to it at every show. You’ve recorded an album that you can sell at gigs and online. And you’re out playing and promoting your music as much as humanly possible. The hustle, the grind, the what have you… You’re out there living the musician life and not letting a minute go past without working on your songs and fan base.

Good start. At this point, you’ve probably got a fan base to start building from, even if it’s a relatively modest size. But here’s where you’re going to have to start getting creative, because now you have the chance to expand your fan base exponentially.  Here are a few ideas you might try to accomplish that.

Everyone Has a Success Story

Every successful band has a story. Every famous musician started from few fans and somehow managed to get tons of them. And the vast majority of the time, it wasn’t by accident! Start researching bands you know, bands you love, even bands you hate. Find out how they got where they are. There may be some valuable lessons there. Take, for example, the band I Fight Dragons. They went from obscurity to having thousands of fans and a major label contract within a year or so of forming.  One year. They never stopped working, and you shouldn’t either!

Pander to the Masses

This might seem somewhat obvious, but it’s worth mentioning: go after gigs that will expose you to the most people possible. That means finding local music festivals or getting on the bill with other bands that already have big followings. Opening slots are a great way for new acts to get some fan exposure, especially if you’re playing with a band that has a similar style to yours.

Did You Say “Free?”

Fans love free stuff. They love it so much that they try to find ways of getting stuff for free even if it isn’t. So give the people what they want: offer free downloads, T-shirts, stickers, albums, anything. The more stuff people have, the more they’ll listen to and think about your music. The more they do that, the more they tell their friends. Bam, new fans right there… And they’ll keep coming back for more free stuff!

Don’t Be Afraid to Go Commercial

I’ve brought music licensing and placements up many times in this blog. Not only are they a great source of revenue for the working artist, but they can be great exposure in the right circumstances. Sign up for a service like TAXI that gets you in touch with music supervisors. A well-placed song in a movie, show or commercial can instantly earn you thousands of fans.

Take It To The Streets

Street teams are groups of people around the country (or the world) who help you promote your music. They can hand out flyers or CDs, plaster posters promoting your upcoming show in their town, or anything creative you come up with for them to do. Of course, most of them will appreciate something like a free T-shirt for their efforts, but some fans will just like the satisfaction of helping an independent artist!

Take It To The Airwaves

Most radio stations have shows that feature local artists, so if you can’t get in their regular playlist, you’ll probably have a good shot at getting featured in the local slot. With a good reaction there, you can work your way into regular rotation.  And don’t forget satellite radio and online stations like Pandora (here’s how to get on Pandora).

Exploit What Makes You Unique

What’s unique about your music’s story? What is different about your songs, about your band history, that makes you stand out in the crowd? If you’ve got a good story to tell, make sure people hear it! Contact local journalists and have them interview you and write an article in the local paper or magazine. Music fans like to learn about cool, different backgrounds artists come from.

Get Charitable

People love promoting a charity event. If you find that your shows don’t get the promotion that you’d like, make it benefit a good cause. Turn it into a full-on charity event if you can, and contact local media to cover it. The public latches on to a feel-good story, so find a cause you believe in and give back—while getting more fans for yourself, of course.

Boldly Go Where No Band Has Gone Before

Many artists who get somewhere do it because they’ve come up with a unique idea that no one’s ever done before. Maybe they came up with a really interesting way to promote new music to fans. Maybe they made a really cool music video that went viral. But whatever they did may not work for you, for the simple fact that it’s been done already. Be original, be bold, and go blaze new trails!

The fact is, there’s no one guaranteed way to get fans, but the tips on this page should help you gain many more on your way to 100,000. It won’t be easy, but you knew that already… Right?

With Studio Pros, you can at least be sure you’ll have a professional, radio-ready recording to use as a tool to promote your music. Start a production today!

How do you keep your fans coming back for new music? Do you give them a constant stream of new songs to download? Do you release a killer album once in a long while and make them wait and anticipate your next full-length release?

In a recent post, I talked about a survey from Tunecore that asked musicians what kind of gigs they prefer. In a different survey, they asked how musicians should release their music. The results were pretty evenly split between yearly new album releases, EPs every few months, monthly singles, and “other.” Actually, “other” topped the votes at 30%, and one can only speculate what musicians meant when they voted for it. (Maybe they were thinking about life-size edible gummy skulls with USB sticks embedded in them?)

Anyway, the consensus seems to be pretty split among the ideal format for today’s musicians, whether it be releasing new albums, EPs or single songs. They all have their advantages.

Keep Your Fans Wanting More

Albums are still the classic format. They are what most musicians are recording and releasing today, even if many fans are seeking out individual songs on iTunes. An album has several advantages. In my band, we find that using the album format as a framework to work within gives us artistic focus and direction. An album as a work of art can dictate your songwriting process and creative inspiration. If you’re a band like Pink Floyd, albums are just about the only way to do make music. Their songs work best as experienced in the context of the full album, often with epic results.

One advantage to releasing albums is that you’ll build lots of anticipation among your fans for when you’ll be recording your next CD.

Make Your Fans Happy with Regular Releases

Sometimes an album is just too much. Sometimes they take too long. If you’ve ever felt this way, EPs might be the way to go. Instead of putting all the time, effort and money into recording a 12 song album that will take much longer to release, keep your music fresh in your fans’ ears by releasing songs in groups of 4 or 5 more frequently. Some well known bands are leaning towards the EP route, including Radiohead. Although their most recent album The King of Limbs was closer to full-length at 8 songs, they have said in the past that the full album format just doesn’t work for them anymore.

You can still have the mentality of an album without going all out and recording a full one, and your fans might appreciate the more regular EP releases to satiate their undying appetite for new music.

Give Your Fans a Constant Stream of New Music to Devour

Maybe you want to forget about albums and EPs altogether. Many artists are doing just that and simply releasing songs by themselves. It’s easy to sell them through your website with Bandcamp or getting onto iTunes. You never have to think about how each song fits in the context of an album. And you can give new music to your fans constantly instead of making them wait. If you’re an artist that loves writing hit singles and pop tunes, this could be the best bet for you. If you constantly have ideas for new songs and just want to get them out into the world, you can easily do it. Best of all, you don’t have to worry about manufacturing costs when you’re not making CDs.

Keep your music fresh in your fans’ minds by releasing singles frequently.

There’s no right or wrong way to release your music. It all comes down to what you feel is best for your songs. But no matter which method you choose, Studio Pros can help you get there. We often work on full albums with artists, and others prefer to record one song at a time whether it’s to suit their budget or to feel like they’re keeping things fresh. Contact us today and a Studio Pros producer will talk to you about your next project.

Do you make money from music? Does anyone you know have a self-sustaining music career? When I interview artists to feature on the Studio Pros blog, that seems to be the ultimate goal of most of them: turning their passion for music into a sustainable, full-time career. So what exactly is the right way to go about reaching that goal?

You could sell millions of CDs, but that’s pretty tough for unsigned musicians.

You could go on tour nonstop and play tons of paid shows that cover your rent and bills, but it can be hard for lesser known musicians to get gigs that guarantee payment.

In a recent post on the music blog Hypebot, they summarized how most non-famous musicians make careers out of music. Since most of us fall into the “non-famous” category, I was curious to see how my musical peers were covering life’s expenses without the luxury of star power. According to the post, most artists are generating income by playing in cover bands and wedding bands, teaching up to 40 students per week, directing music activities at their local church, or simply joining so many bands that they have regular paid gigs most days of the week.

I’ve personally never had much of a knack for teaching, and building up a clientele to the point of making a full living can take quite a while. But for those of us with formal music training, it can certainly be a way to pay your heating bill with something music-related. If you have aspirations for playing your own music professionally, the scheduling side of teaching can be a bit restrictive when it comes to rehearsals and touring. I would imagine, though, that helping a child discover the wonders of playing an instrument could be quite the rewarding experience and may make it all worthwhile.

Playing in cover bands for weddings, parties and cruise ships can be a very well-paid gig, but it also leans toward the less glamorous side of playing music. Would you feel fulfilled if you were playing other artists’ music every day for the rest of your life? For some people that might sound like a lot of fun, but to me it seems like it might get old pretty quick. I’d also expect the job to be rather thankless. I’ve played my fair share of drunken frat parties, and I have to admit that it isn’t too fulfilling in the long run, even if the crowd tends to have a pretty enthusiastic response to hearing their favorite songs.

So what if you’re like me and you want to make some money from your music but don’t want to exhaust yourself by having to play cover shows in three different bands five times a week?

I think that although this list sums up many of the ways non-famous musicians make a living, it doesn’t include all of the possibilities. There are tons of great opportunities for the modern independent musician to make money through licensing opportunities, getting their songs placed in films, TV shows and commercials.

The above money making avenues all have to do with performance, but there’s no mention of the compositional side of things. With services like TAXI helping to connect artists and composers with music supervisors, it may be the best option to make some cash for those of us who may not be up to surrendering our entire free time schedule to rehearsals and gig

In order to get song placements, you need two things: a great song, and a great recording.

The great song is probably the harder part. It can take a lot of practice to come up with a tune that will capture the imagination of the masses. But you don’t have to do it all alone. Submit your song to our free project consultation, and a Studio Pros producer will listen and give you professional feedback on your music to help you get on the right track.

A great recording is easier than ever. With Studio Pros, all you have to do is give us your song and we’ll provide you with a team of Los Angeles session musicians, producers and engineers who will get you a broadcast quality recording that you’ll be proud to shop to music supervisors. Get started on your project today!

Have you ever noticed that gig opportunities can quickly go from exciting to confusing? When you first start playing shows, just about any gig sounds like a good one.

- Playing a 15 minute open mic night at the local coffeshop.
- Performing one song at a local talent show.
- Jamming at a friend’s birthday party for free.

Anything is good, because it gives you some performance experience and gets your music in front of people who can provide valuable feedback on your show.

But as time goes by, you’ll probably find yourself less inclined to do certain shows that don’t pay much (or at all) or don’t give you your ideal set length. There are probably a couple main reasons for this.

1. You may have grown a little weary of the time and effort that goes into gigging, both physically and emotionally. You want to make sure that for all the work you’ll be putting in, the show will be worth your efforts.
2. Your fan base and reputation may have expanded to the point where you have outgrown certain performance settings such as open mics and pro bono gigs.

Whatever the cause, as you get further in your music career, a gig opportunity tends to transform from an instant, no-questions-asked “yes” to a “what’s in it for me” situation.

Once you get to this point, it becomes increasingly important to choose your gigs wisely.

But how do you decide which gigs to take and which to turn down? You certainly don’t want to turn down a gig that could further your music career, but you also don’t want to keep accepting gigs that offer little benefit to it.

In a recent poll of musicians by Tunecore, they asked if artists would rather play a show to 20,000 people but lose $1,000 or play to 10 people and make $5,000. The response was split 60/40 in favor of playing to lots of people and losing money, which isn’t a huge difference. This perfectly illustrates the conundrum of gig selection.

Playing to 20,000 people could be fantastic exposure, but losing $1,000 isn’t always an option for artists operating on a shoestring budget, especially if they’re on the road and paying for travel expenses. Making five grand could benefit just about any musician—studio fees, promotion, van rentals, etc.—but playing to 10 people doesn’t exactly blow up your mailing list numbers.

This poll shows the two sides to the gigging coin:

- On the one hand, you want to be playing to as many people as possible, even if it means no financial gain (or losing money).

- On the other hand, you are at least trying to offset the many costs of life as a gigging musician, if not trying to make a living from music.

Every musician needs to learn how to choose their gigs wisely at some point.

There’s no specific rule when it comes to picking a show, but your situation may help dictate your choice. You might want to record a demo soon, so you lean towards the cash gigs. Or you may want to promote your album by playing for lots of people and not worry about the money. Overall, I think the 60/40 split in opinion might be a pretty good percentage for your decisions: most of the time more exposure is better. But don’t count out a gig that pays just because it may not be artistically satisfying.

Make sure at your next gig you’ve got a product to sell your new fans.  Submit your music to our free project consultation and you’ll speak directly to a Studio Pros producer about your next recording project!

We love working with artists from across the globe. Although many of our customers live in America, we are always recording music projects for people in Europe, Asia, South America—just about anywhere besides Antarctica, really. We also regularly work with musicians who don’t speak English as their first language. Take Andrea Iorio, for example. He speaks some English, but we recorded several of his songs in his native language of Italian. (If you check out the link to his feature above, you can hear our session vocalists Racquel and Michelle doing a great job singing in Italian!)

Still, there may be artists out there who are afraid that the language barrier could be a problem. How can you communicate what you want for your song if you don’t speak fluent English, or any English at all for that matter?

At Studio Pros, we believe that when it comes down to it, we’re all speaking the same language: music.

Which means that even if you don’t feel confident in conveying what you want for your project in words, we can still find a way to record the song you’ve always wanted.

The fact is, whether you live in Mumbai, Paris, or Mexico City and want to hear your songs on American radio or in Hollywood films, we can help you get there. We’ll do everything we can to work with you no matter what language you speak. Our team will use Google Translate to interpret your feedback and instructions. Even if the translation isn’t perfect, we’ll go the extra mile to understand your request and make sure your music is recorded just the way you like it. We’ll use reference tracks to hear examples of what you want out of your recording.

In order to conquer the music market that sets the trends for the world, you need the session players, engineers and producers who live and breathe that music scene day in and day out. We’ll hook you up with those people to help you take on the American music scene. Contact the Studio Pros team today in your language, and start producing your demo with Los Angeles musicians and engineers.

Hitting the road is a lot of fun, but the expenses can add up. Being away from your day job, high gas prices and constantly eating out are just a few of the things that might make touring seem like a financial strain—especially if you’re not guaranteed to make money at every gig. So you may be wondering if it’s at all cost effective to rent a van to transport you and your gear.

I run into this situation all the time with my band. We’re constantly hitting the road for tours of various lengths, sometimes a couple of days, other times a few weeks. At this point, we’ve gotten it down to something of a science when deciding whether or not we need a van. Here are some touring tips to help you decide what’s best for you.

A few things to note before we begin

Just so you have a good idea of what my band is working with when we’re getting ready to hit the road, here are a few key facts about us that factor into our decision:

- There are six of us total (five band members and one manager)
- We live in Los Angeles
- It takes three cars to transport us and our gear anywhere when we don’t have a van

Now it’s time to ask yourself a few questions.

How many people are going?

How much sense a van makes will depend greatly on the size of your band. I would assume that if you’re a solo artist who just sings and plays acoustic guitar, you’re probably not reading this post, wondering if you should be renting a van! As I mentioned above, my band takes six people on the road each time we tour, so the smallest vehicle we can all cram into is a 15 passenger van with a couple of seat rows taken out and all the gear stuffed in the back. Accounting for a drum set, guitar amps, a keyboard case, bass rig, and all of our clothes, it can be pretty tight squeezing all of us in, but we manage.

Your first step is to figure out what van size you need. How many people are traveling? How much gear is coming along? How close are you willing sit next to each other for long durations? If you would rather put people in the van and gear in a trailer, that’s an additional expense to take into account when budgeting your trip. Also, don’t forget that you’ll have to drive a little slower when towing a trailer, so that might mean more nights staying in hotels during the trip.

How far away are you playing?

If we have a show booked in San Diego, we never rent a van. The drive is only a couple hours from LA, and with three cars fueling up about once a trip, it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever for us to throw down all the cash for a van. We’ll do the same for San Francisco gigs, which are a bit of a longer drive at around six hours, but driving ourselves still works out to be more cost effective than renting a van.

Determine the number of miles you’ll be driving. Factor in how many cars you need and what their gas mileage is. Use this to figure out if driving your own car makes more sense than renting a van. Remember to factor in the rental cost, the cost of gas for the van, and any other costs like parking in a garage if you don’t think you can find a street spot for a van.

How long will you be gone?

Last but not least is the duration of your trip. As I mentioned above, we don’t usually rent a van if we’re playing a one-off show in San Fran, but we will rent if it’s just one stop in a 10-date tour. We tend to like having a van for the longer trips so that we can all spend time together and only one person at a time has to drive. We can even be productive by having band meetings together on during long trips!

Budgeting

Now that you’ve answered the three big questions, you can estimate how much a van will cost you for the trip versus taking multiple cars. Factor in the money you expect to make on the trip, and you should get a pretty good picture of which option makes more sense for you. My band tends to rent a van when we have shows that help us pay for the costs of transportation, such as college shows.

Look out for yourself

When finding a van company to rent from, make sure you use a service that you trust. We’ve had several debacles with vans on the road (flat tires, busted transmissions), and have had very different experiences with various companies. Try finding a company like Bandago that specifically gears their service towards musicians. They’ll understand your needs and the types of situations you’ll find yourself in while on tour. Music-related van rental services also regularly rent vans to people who will be driving very long distances, and not just for local purposes.

You’ve spent so much time focusing on making music, you may not have even considered an important part of your CD or demo: album art.

But even though most people download MP3s and your CD art tends to be relegated to a tiny square in the bottom corner of iTunes, it’s actually a more important aspect of your demo than you may think.

Setting the Tone

Like it or not, your CD cover sets the tone for the whole experience of listening to your music. The phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” springs to mind, because most people really do judge things by their cover—your demo CD included. In a lot of ways, the art is the first impression you make on potential fans. So if it’s no good, you could turn off listeners before they even hear your recording! Cool, eye-catching art is the first step to getting music fans interested.

Professional or Amateur?

Besides wanting your artwork to be cool, the single most important thing is that looks professional. You already put so much effort into professionally producing your songs, don’t write off the art as something that you don’t need to put the same level of effort into. This goes hand in hand with the point above about first impressions. If the average music fan’s first impression of your album is that it looks unprofessional, they’ll be way less motivated to listen to the recording because they might assume the music doesn’t sound professional either.

You’ve hired professionals for your mixing, engineering and CD mastering. You may have worked with professional music producers. You probably worked with professional studio musicians, too. If you’re not able to make a CD design that doesn’t look amateurish, consult the professionals there as well. More on that later…

Not Just Album Art

You still may be thinking about my previous comment on art being tiny and looking insignificant in today’s music buying experience, but don’t mistake that for meaning it’s irrelevant. Even if you’ve decided not to make physical CDs at all, there’s still another thing for you to take into consideration: it’s not just album art that we’re talking about here.

Yes, it is the cover of your album. But that’s not the only place where artwork pops up in your music career. You hopefully have a website (and if not, check out our guide to making a killer musician website), which means you’ll have photos and design elements prominently featured for all your fans to see. Most artists like to incorporate the art for their albums into their websites and overall look and feel for the band’s image and merchandise: stickers, T-shirts, press kits, etc.

Art is part of your image, your identity as a musician, so it’s extremely important to make sure it makes sense with your style and conveys the essence of your music. It’s all about establishing your brand.

How to Get Killer Art

We can all agree now that art is important for fans to get a feel for your style, to present yourself professionally, and to create a uniformity in your online (and offline) presence. So how should you go about getting yourself some awesome art for your CD?

Professional photos – Even if you’re not planning on having a picture of yourself on your album cover, you’ll probably at least want a few photos for your website and promotional materials. This means high resolution, professionally-shot photos, not a few pictures that your friend took with your point-and-shoot camera. Set up a photo shoot with a professional photographer to get photographs worthy of incorporating into your artwork. Many aspiring photographers will offer discounted (or even free) sessions when they’re trying to build their portfolio.
Find an artist – Unless you’re a gifted artist in addition to being a musician, you’ll probably need some outside help in making your album art. This could be an artist or a graphic designer, depending on what you want your demo to look like. Just like photographers, young artists and art students will often offer discounted services.
CD design service – Another option is to use the design service of a CD duplication company. Many CD replication and duplication services such as Discmakers offer design service by a team of graphic designers who specialize in creating album art in the style you want.

Do you still need a professional recording to make artwork for? Get started on a full production with Studio Pros’ team of Los Angeles-based session musicians, producers and engineers today.

You may have heard of companies such as ASCAP and BMI. These are called Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) and they exist to help you as an artist get paid whenever you get film placements, TV placements, and other music licensing opportunities. If a cell phone company uses a musician’s song in one of their commercials, for example, that songwriter will get paid through whichever PRO he is a member of.

Different Performance Rights Organizations

There are several PROs in the United States that you could join. Most songwriters join either ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) or SESAC (originally known as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, but now known only as SESAC). SESAC is the most exclusive of the three. Based in Nashville, TN, it has the smallest roster of artists and is the only PRO that doesn’t run as a not-for-profit organization. ASCAP and BMI are much larger companies.

What PROs Do

A PRO is important to musicians because they monitor public performances of compositions and collect royalties for their members. So if you’re a member of a PRO and you see reruns of the “One Tree Hill” episode that featured your track, you can rest assured that a royalty check will be headed your way. This is why any musician who is interested in pursuing music licensing opportunities and any artist who hopes to get signed to a music publishing deal should become a member of a PRO.

Do I Need to Be in a PRO?

While joining a PRO is a must for many artists, you may not have to bother with it at all depending on your situation. If you don’t have any recordings finished, for example, you might want to wait before you sign up with a PRO. Or if you’re not interested in pursuing music licensing and would rather focus on playing live shows and going on tour, there may not be any benefit to you joining. But if you have any aspirations for getting your recording on TV or on the big screen, you will need to become a member.

Which One Should I Join?

Different PROs have their own benefits, so there’s no one way to tell you how to choose which one works best for you. Reading up on their websites and checking out member benefits (often including insurance discounts and other musician-friendly services) is the best way to figure out which one you should join. As mentioned above, SESAC is the most exclusive of the bunch, as they’re the only PRO that listens to all submissions and approves only artists they want to work with. Neither ASCAP nor BMI require any screening process to join.

How to Become a Member

Processes will vary between PROs when becoming a member. SESAC has a selective screening process, but ASCAP and BMI can be joined by signing up through their websites with some basic information about yourself and your music. ASCAP does charge a one-time processing fee of $35, while joining BMI is free. None of the organizations require members to pay yearly dues.

Remember, you’ll need a polished, professional recording before you join a PRO and try to get song placements. Let Studio Pros help you get your songs professionally produced!

We’ve already discussed how to get your music on Pandora Internet radio, probably the holy grail of online radio services. But there are plenty of other radio stations—Internet and otherwise—that might have a spot in their playlist for your latest track. One resource for potential radio airplay is satellite radio stations on SiriusXM radio.

Sirius vs. XM? Not Anymore.

It used to be that there were two competing satellite radio services: Sirius and XM radio. But in 2008, the two companies merged to form SiriusXM radio, with a huge selection of channels that were originally exclusive to one or the other. Boasting well over 200 stations that can be heard anywhere in the country and nearly 20 million subscribers, satellite radio could be a huge resource for unsigned independent artists to get a little music promotion and exposure. That’s why up and coming artists shouldn’t ignore the numbers and should realize that getting on satellite radio could help them reach millions of music fans.

Have a Professionally Produced Demo or Album

If you want to be played in the big leagues, you need a big league-worthy product. Record your album as professionally as possible to compete with the other major label productions that are played on the radio. If you don’t feel like you have a broadcast quality recording, start up a production with Studio Pros. We can help you get to the professional level with our world-class session musicians and Grammy-nominated mixing and mastering engineer.

You’re also gonna need a complete press kit. This is the music promotion tool that you’ll be submitting, and it includes your demo, bio, photo, and any press clippings you may have. You can find out more by reading our guide to making a great press kit.

Find a Station

SiriusXM has an impressive list of stations (around 250 at the time of this post). You might start by trying to find a station that plays similar music to your genre, or any that specialize in independent music. For example, XMU plays indie rock and The Verge specializes in unsigned and independent bands from Canada. Other stations, like Little Steven’s Underground Garage, might also have opportunities for unsigned bands.

Submit Your Music to the Programming Department

While you might be able to contact specific stations directly, the official way to be considered for SiriusXM radio airplay is by sending your materials to their Music Programming Department in New York City. Get your press kit together and make sure everything is in order and write up a cover letter introducing yourself. You might even want to mention some of the stations you think your music would be a good fit for. Mail your package to:

Attn: Music Programming Department
SiriusXM
1221 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

If you’re not sure if your recording is good enough to submit to satellite radio, send it to us for some feedback through our free project consultation form.

After all the writing, recording and post-production you’ve taken on for your recording project, you may be left hoping there’s nothing left to put work into. The job isn’t quite finished at this point, but you’ll be happy to know that the hardest work is already behind you. Writing some great songs and recording a professional demo is no small feat, and you probably won’t have to expend quite as much emotional energy when designing and manufacturing the album. But now that you’ve put so much of yourself into your recording, it’s time to make the final decisions on your demo CD.

One of the last steps is CD duplication. Or is it CD replication? Both terms get thrown around a lot, but are there any actual differences? Is it important to know what those differences are?

The answers: yes and yes.

What’s the Difference?

While it’s more common (and sometimes sounds more natural) to say you’re getting your CD duplicated, it’s actually more likely that you want to get it replicated instead. CD duplication involves burning your demo onto CD-R discs. If that sounds like something you can do at home, that’s because it is. There’s really no difference between getting your demo “professionally” duplicated and burning a CD with your PC. The main reason you might want to pay for a service to duplicate is for quantity; duplication services will burn hundreds of CDs quickly. Imagine burning 300 CDs yourself instead! Additionally, CD duplication services often offer on-disc printing, so your demo will look a little more slick without your handwriting all over it.

CD replication, on the other hand, uses an injection mold from a glass master to actually print discs from scratch—no burning involved. For those of you who remember actually going into music stores to buy music (or even if you just prefer ordering physical CDs online), all of the CDs that you get from your favorite artists are replicated, not duplicated. Replicated CDs usually have 3-color on-disc screen printing for professional-grade looks.

Which Should I Choose?

Now that you know the difference, you may still be wondering which one is the right choice for your CD. This decision comes down to a few key factors:

1. Professionalism

If you want to make a professional looking album that looks like it could be at home sitting on the shelf next to major label artists, you’ll definitely want to go with replication. If you’re just recording a demo and aren’t necessarily looking to have a record store-quality product, CD duplication might be the way to go for you.

2. Quantity

CD duplication is usually reserved for smaller quantity runs, like 100, 300 or 500. This especially makes sense if you’re just making a demo to hand out to industry people and venues and aren’t looking to sell thousands of units. Smaller quantities also means that duplication has a quicker turnaround. If you’re looking to get a shipment of a thousand or more discs, you’ll want to (and probably have to) go with replication. Bulk pricing usually applies as well, with price breaks being applied with larger orders.

3. Budget

Last but not least, you’ll have to factor money into the equation. If your budget is small, CD duplication may be the only thing you can afford. But keeping in mind #1 on this list, you may want to save up to pay for replication to get a polished, professional product you’ll be proud to sell to your fans.

Do you need a professional recording before you send your demo off to the presses? Let Studio Pros help you get started on a radio-ready production.