Many songwriters ask me how they can distribute their material online after completing their productions. Distributing your materials online is a very easy way to broaden your listening audience and make your music accessible for purchase throughout the world. What would we do without the internet?
What Is Digital Distribution?
Digital distribution, when it applies to music, is selling your content online in digital mp3 format. Instead of purchasing a physical copy of a cd in an old school record store, consumers are now able to purchase recordings online. This is a sad reality for record stores, but at the same time makes distributing independent music much more accessible! Currently, the world’s largest digital music company is iTunes. Ever heard of it? I thought so. iTunes has changed the music industry with their model of providing digital music for sale across the globe through their online sales.
How Do I Get My Recordings On iTunes?
Believe it or not, digitally distributing your materials for sale online through iTunes is easy! Any independent songwriter can post their music for sale online if they take the proper steps. Just another reason why independent musicians have much more advantage than 20 years ago when the need for label support was more necessary in making your recordings accessible to the public.
Which Companies Offer Digital Distribution?
These sights can help you get your materials live on iTunes:
All you have to have is a finished master of your materials and you’re ready to get your songs for sale on iTunes (but first make sure you go through the proper steps of determining if it’s ready for release).
Typically, an iTunes single song purchase is .99 cents up to $1.29 per song and the artist receives a designated percentage of the sale of each single song sold. For every single sold on a .99 cents purchase the artist receives .70 cents. Managing your iTunes purchases through these online distributors is easy and a great way to get your music sold. I have personally used Tunecore myself in releasing my materials and find the layout very convenient and user friendly. They keep track of my sales and have an accounting breakdown of sales per month. As the artist, I can request to have the royaltees from my sales sent in a check whenever I’m ready, or can choose to have the money transferred to a future project.
Are My Songs Ready For Release?
Get a producer or trusted musical ear to take a listen to your recordings to help you determine if all of the steps have been taken to assure your song is ready for release. Remember that once your song goes live, you cannot take it back. Re-releasing materials after they’ve already gone up for sale is not professional. If you’re happy with where your song is at, I would recommend emailing your final mp3 of your product to a producer at Studio Pros (info@studiopros.com) and they will give you some feedback on what can be improved and help you make the correct steps to get it released.
Improve Your Recordings…
Common improvements that can be made on home recordings are: get your programmed drum tracks recorded by a live drummer, putting some polishing touches on your vocals with vocal tuning where needed and a professional mix/master by an experienced engineer to get the final polishing. If you are hesitant of the overall quality of your production, Studio Pros can help you get a professional broadcast quality production complete and radio ready within weeks.
If you’re ready to take the final steps at making your materials live, you can do it today! Contact a producer at Studio Pros: 1-310-928-7776 or email us at: info@studiopros.com and we can help you put the finishing touches on your recordings. You can get your recordings distributed in no time! Give us a call.
With the help of Studio Pros, James Robinson made recordings on the road and expanded his production company’s clientele.
James Robinson is one of the lead writers and producers of APT6 Entertainment, a music production team (also including Dwayne and Dwight Madison and Greg Edwards) based out of Los Angeles, CA. As self proclaimed “R&B heads,” the team is heavily influenced by such classic R&B greats as Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder and The Underdogs, as well as modern acts like Neyo, The Dream and Trey Songz.
“R&B is just our thing,” Robinson says. “APT6 was birthed in the church/gospel music scene, so it’s only natural.”
Robinson joined APT6 in 2007, two years after it was formed. Though originally brought on as a hip-hop artist, he was eventually made a co-owner. Between Robinson, Edwards and the Madison Brothers, APT6 covered the composing/songwriting and keyboard playing side of things. Studio Pros helped them have everything they need to be a full-service production team.
“Studio Pros is amazingly simple,” says Robinson. “I can’t stress that enough. We uploaded our WAV files, then we were prompted to leave notes and examples of what we were looking for. Within 48 hours we had our first sample! The engineer was almost dead on AND open to making adjustments.”
He soon learned to love the rapid turnaround time that Studio Pros offered. “When we asked for adjustments on bass levels and reverb, we were shocked at how fast the turn around time was–I believe it was within a few hours,” he remembers. “That was when I became a huge believer in the quality and customer service of Studio Pros.”
But the real kicker for Robinson was that he and APT6 did everything while they were on the road. “We were going back and forth between in-home setups and handling a lot of business,” he explains. Being in one place was close to impossible.” And what did he think of what Studio Pros did with his simple recordings? “The results were amazing.” (more…)
Exploring the connection between health and music, David Alter teams up with Studio Pros to make professional recordings that will benefit health charities through his unique new company.
David Alter is an artist who knows what he wants, and he uses the resources that Studio Pros provides to get exactly that. Though he’s been writing music for quite a while, performing was something of a new concept for the health professional-turned-musician when he decided to record an album of his own. “The process of recording has been relatively new,” Alter says. “I’ve been writing for many years, but it’s only been lately that I’ve done more of the recording process myself.”
So after he saw an advertisement for Studio Pros in Recording magazine, Alter decided he had nothing to lose by putting his songwriting in the hands of professional studio musicians who could ensure a top quality result for his songs. “I thought I’d try it out and i just loved it,” he says. “I love the process of creating the idea, then arranging it by having a vehicle that gets what I hear in my mind out quickly.”
The decision to try Studio Pros ended up being worth his while, as it turned out. Studio Pros helped him bring the music bouncing around in his head into fruition and helped satisfy Alter’s inner musical control freak, all in a manner so efficient he believes it couldn’t have happened had he not used the service. “I always have a demo,” he explains. “I have a home setup, and I do the demo and get it set arrangement-wise. Then I upload that when I’m ready, along with lyrics and instructions.” Alter then takes the results of Studio Pro’s studio musicians and uses them as part of his creative process, adding new instruments and parts himself as he is struck by new inspiration.
Andy Kostek doesn’t let a job that keeps him away from home stand in the way of recording the professional album he always wanted; with Studio Pros, he can record while on the road.
Over a Pink Floyd-esque bed of electric and acoustic guitars, Andy Kostek’s voice adds a distinct quality to his music that goes far in defining his signature sound. “I never really considered myself a vocalist, just a guitarist,” Andy says. “With the help of Studio Pros, I’ve become more confident with the vocals.” Living in Ireland at the time, Andy came to Studio Pros to help him craft his songs when the travel demands of his job made it nearly impossible to put together a band of his own. “Using Studio Pros was born out of frustration,” he explains. Having a “virtual band” allowed him to write lyrics while he was on the road, while professional studio musicians were laying down tracks for him thousands of miles away.
Andy came from a musical family, and by age 15 he got his hands on a discarded guitar with only three strings on it. Despite only being halfway to a complete instrument, Andy “never looked back.” By the time he was 18, he bought his first electric guitar; three months later he was making more money playing music in a band than he was from working for an aircraft manufacturing company as his day job.
There are a few organizational steps you need to take to clean up your session before sending your files off to our Studio Pros engineer.
You’ll need to hide all muted, inactive, midi or any other track that you didn’t intend to play in the final mix. Set up the files as clearly as you can by making sure the tracks are clearly labeled.
If you do have midi tracks, you must record the midi sounds to an audio track.
If you have special effects that are part of your audio track, bounce the track to a new channel by clicking: File > Bounce To > Disk.
* PLEASE NOTE: We will not be able to take off any processing or effects you have applied to an audio track. We prefer to do the effects or processing for you within the mix. Please be sure to mention the sounds you had in mind in the description of your order. You may also include reference tracks from similar artists to clarify the “mix sound” you had in mind.
Cleaning up your session
Make sure to double check all edit points throughout your song and make sure there aren’t any noticeable clicks or clips that would make your edit obvious in the final mix.
Remove all plug ins and automation you may have applied to your song within your own session. This will ensure that all of the files will transfer over to us correctly, and we’ll use our own plug-ins and automation techniques in our mix.
Consolidating your tracks within your session
When you have all your tracks lined up and ready to send to mixing, it’s important to listen to your project from start to finish. Double check for errors in your song before consolidating your tracks.
Then, select all the tracks, first by clicking on the first channel, holding the shift button and clicking the last tracks, and then by clicking Apple (or control) A, and consolidate them by clicking: Edit > Consolidate.
Now you should see all your tracks from the same starting point in your project from beginning to end. (more…)
At Studio Pros, we provide you with professional players, producers and engineers for the production of your songs. When it comes to recording the vocals on your song, it’s your time to shine and sing on tracks that our Los Angeles based studio musicians have laid down for you.
You have 3 options for vocals before we mix your tracks at Studio Pros:
1. Hire one of Studio Pros’ professional vocalists to sing your song.
2. Record your vocals at your home recording studio.
3. Record your vocals at a local recording studio.
Many songwriters have their own home recording studios and double as the producer, engineer, songwriter, and recording artist. Most songwriters don’t also fall into the category of “studio drummer”, and that’s where Studio Pros comes in to save the day (or the album you could say).
Don’t waste time struggling to knock out a midi drum track on your song when you can have our studio drummer come help you! As many of you may have realized, getting drum tracks recorded may be the most difficult step in getting your album finished.
The Studio Pros musicians are still shaking the sand out of their flip flops after working on a music production for talented singer/songwriter Sean Murphy.
Born in Lanikai, Hawaii and later relocating to Laguna Beach, California, you can hear the sound of the ocean in Murphy’s voice and the influences of his laid back beach lifestyle. Sean got in touch with us at Studio Pros and needed to add a more professional edge to the demo of his latest work of art “Dream To Be”.
I’ve collaborated with singer/songwriters and recording artists from around the world and a universal question seems to be “Now What Do I Do?”
If this question has at one time or another crossed your mind, you are not alone. This is a common question that we deal with on a daily basis at Studio Pros.
Writing is not the only thing that goes along with being an artist, but getting a great quality recording is just as important. If you have a hit song, and a bad recording, you aren’t doing yourself any favors. Being a songwriter takes hard work, and we’re here to make it EASIER for you.
Matt Ryd, a Chicago based singer-songwriter who uses Studio Pros to produce his songs and recently licensed his song “Healed” to the TV series Scrubs on NBC.
How did you discover Studio Pros? I actually saw a small advertisement and was immediately intrigued. I’m a multi-instrumentalist, so I’ve previously recorded all of the different parts on my songs. But I’m also a huge perfectionist, and the “one-man-band” approach led mostly to a lot of stress and unfinished projects that were never deemed “good enough.” The funny thing is that it’s a lot easier for me to be satisfied with recordings of my songs when there are other people playing the backing parts. And the Studio Pros musicians are extremely talented, so I can feel very confident about handing the reins over to them. It’s nice, because it lets me focus on my singing, my guitar part, and especially the overall feel of the song.
James Robinson is one of the lead writers and producers of APT6 Entertainment, a music production team (also including Dwayne and Dwight Madison and Greg Edwards) based out of Los Angeles, CA. As self proclaimed “R&B heads,” the team is heavily influenced by such classic R&B greats as Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder and The Underdogs, as well as modern acts like Neyo, The Dream and Trey Songz.
Many songwriters have their own home recording studios and double as the producer, engineer, songwriter, and recording artist. Most songwriters don’t also fall into the category of “studio drummer”, and that’s where Studio Pros comes in to save the day (or the album you could say).
The Studio Pros musicians are still shaking the sand out of their flip flops after working on a 
I actually saw a small advertisement and was immediately intrigued. I’m a multi-instrumentalist, so I’ve previously recorded all of the different parts on my songs. But I’m also a huge perfectionist, and the “one-man-band” approach led mostly to a lot of stress and unfinished projects that were never deemed “good enough.” The funny thing is that it’s a lot easier for me to be satisfied with recordings of my songs when there are other people playing the backing parts. And the 