Is a CD release viable anymore?

[Twigman]

We released our last album about a year ago on CD, vinyl and for download via all the usual outlets.

The CD has been selling steadily, the vinyl seems to have stagnated after initial high demand but I still have half a pallet full to shift.

I have no clue as to how many downloads have sold as I've not seen a royalty statement but the royalty rates are pathetic.

We've started work on the next - I suspect that will get a CD and download release only.

[Bassfinger]

29 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

When The Terrortones released our second EP on vinyl back in 2013 it was new and different and the lead times were about the same as those for CD manufacture. The quality and production times were much better than the last time I made a record back in the early 80s when it could take several months from the cutting session to actually getting your single or album; and when you did the pressing was really thin and already full of pops, clicks and crackles that weren't part of the music.

From what I have seen recently vinyl is starting to plateau. Production times are ever increasing unless you are prepared to pay a considerable premium, and from what I've heard the quality of the pressings is starting to come down as the pressing plants struggle to keep up with the volumes being produced. When the audio quality of vinyl is already below that of a CD, it cannot afford to be anything but the best possible for that medium. Without new pressing plants capable of high volume, high quality and low cost pressings, vinyl will eventually flounder as it reverts back to the bad old days of the late 70s and early 80s.

Having said that as an artist, right now, I'd be stupid not to at least consider vinyl when it comes to releasing music even if it's just so that I can sell over-priced crap to hipsters. After all a sale is a sale irrespective of the medium, and unless you go mad with the packaging the mark up for an album on vinyl is much greater than that on CD. You do need to consider your audience though. I've done gigs where I have only sold CDs - at one we sold every CD we brought with us but not a single record on vinyl. I've also done gigs where most of the sales were vinyl although at these we've always sold CDs too. What I have discovered is that if you are selling vinyl you need to include a CD version in the package, as for many potential customers a download code is not sufficient.

As an audience member/customer, I'd always go for CDs first and foremost. It's easy to transfer to my computer and then on to all my other digital devices. I'll buy a record on vinyl only if it comes with a CD version or at least an uncompressed/lossless download. However as soon as I have got my download and checked it's OK the vinyl will be up for sale "as new" on Discogs as I have no need to keep archaic physical formats.

I don't know that vinyl is archaic - in the english language sense it is I deed possessing the characteristics of an earlier period, but it is still very much current.  It still functions well, and has comfortably outlived all other commercial sound reproduction formats, including those that were intended to replace it. It will outlive all the current popular file formats.

When the current download formats become obsolete and we all have to upgrade our collections to some new standard to be able to listen to them, vinyl will still be functioning as well as it ever did, and selling steadily.

As Pops the terminator said - it's old, not obsolete.

[PaulWarning]

just out of interest, how are you going to sell your EP, in any format, if you don't do gigs, are you going to get mainstream radio play?

[EliasMooseblaster]

On 24/11/2019 at 11:33, BrunoBass said:

I’ve got a solo EP coming out in the new year. My plan all along was to release it digitally only, but I was asked yesterday if I was releasing it on CD too? I hadn’t considered it, as I didn’t really think it’d be viable to do so. Does anyone buy CDs anymore? 
 

I see the benefit of having something to sell at gigs, but I rarely gig solo these days. Has anyone released a CD recently? Is it worth it / financially viable? Do people even want them? Do you still have boxes of the things gathering dust in your loft? 

Do you have an audience you could survey?

If it's a new project, I realise your audience may well be a bit limited. But if you have a so-shul meejah channel where they can start to congregate, you could always start slipping in questions about their preferred formats. You never know; they may overwhelmingly prefer to carry music around on a collection of USB memory sticks!

 

One other upside to CDs - which I think has been implicitly covered already, to be fair: even if lots of people no longer have a dedicated CD player, most of us still have an optical drive on our computers, or a DVD player attached to our tellies, or a CD player in the car. Most people will have some means of playing a CD and/or copying the contents to their preferred format, and at least buying the CD gives them those options.

[BigRedX]

IME audience surveys are about as much use as those Facebook event posts where people say that they are coming to your gig. At best you can expect 25% of those who want to buy a product in a particular format will actual shell out their money when said product becomes available.

Even something that should be simple like basing T-shirt sizes on your audience demographic falls down because no mater how many skinny hipsters come to see your band on a regular basis, the vast majority of people who buy band T-shirts are size Large and bigger.

[Cat Burrito]

I think the trick is to know your audience. My last band had deluxe vinyl packages, tote bags and CDs, all of which could part fund touring. My rock 'n' roll band pressed a small handful of CDs last year and we still have 100s left. I've seen a former band of mine offer an EP for £2 and the perception was that it was cheap because it was rubbish (it wasn't) and yet other bands can price themselves out of the market.

My current band has a nice range of merch and yet doesn't seem to do as well as my last band on merch sales, despite it being great quality. New territories sometimes mean better sales but if you play to similar crowds, once they have it, they have it.

My thought is, if it is being asked for, do it. There's nothing wrong with doing it for yourself but bear in mind the audience aren't always going to be on the same page. As an originals act, we work the merch stall afterwards, much like we would work a stage during a gig.

[Monkey Steve]

another vote for it depending on the audience - 40+ rock fans will want CDs, 20 year old pop fans will want streaming.  Personally I'm extremely unlikely to download anything and will always look for a CD as my first choice, with vinyl second.  ideally vinyl with a download code so that I can then burn a CD copy

anecdotal evidence, and very genre specific, but chatting to a couple of mates in different extreme metal bands (including one who's logo our own @Grahamhas as his phone's wallpaper) they tell me that they are getting a big chunk of their merch money from vinyl sales these days, including pressings of old albums which haven't previously been available on vinyl.  Possibly because the fanbase have already got the CD and downloaded versions.  That said, they both have record deals, so don't have the expense of having to press a load of stuff at their own expense which might then sit in a box for years to come

[BigRedX]

A re-press on vinyl might be worth it if your cover artwork is fantastic and somewhat limited by the small size of CD packaging. Just make sure it is of high enough quality to actually look good when blown up to 300 x 300 mm.

[Graham]

1 hour ago, Monkey Steve said:

another vote for it depending on the audience - 40+ rock fans will want CDs, 20 year old pop fans will want streaming.  Personally I'm extremely unlikely to download anything and will always look for a CD as my first choice, with vinyl second.  ideally vinyl with a download code so that I can then burn a CD copy

anecdotal evidence, and very genre specific, but chatting to a couple of mates in different extreme metal bands (including one who's logo our own @Grahamhas as his phone's wallpaper) they tell me that they are getting a big chunk of their merch money from vinyl sales these days, including pressings of old albums which haven't previously been available on vinyl.  Possibly because the fanbase have already got the CD and downloaded versions.  That said, they both have record deals, so don't have the expense of having to press a load of stuff at their own expense which might then sit in a box for years to come

To close the loop on that anecdote, I've pre-ordered their new (digital) album on Bandcamp, which is where I tend to buy music now.

Physical albums I tend to buy either second hand on Amazon, or new directly from the band at gigs; or if the postage isn't exorbiant, Bandcamp

[mcnach]

23 hours ago, Twigman said:

We released our last album about a year ago on CD, vinyl and for download via all the usual outlets.

The CD has been selling steadily, the vinyl seems to have stagnated after initial high demand but I still have half a pallet full to shift.

I have no clue as to how many downloads have sold as I've not seen a royalty statement but the royalty rates are pathetic.

We've started work on the next - I suspect that will get a CD and download release only.

 

Indeed.

I keep telling our singer to tone it down with the "check us out on Spotify" while we have boxes of CDs to sell at the gig (the times we remember to bring them  )

 

[Lozz196]

Yeah, we get regular payments from the online stuff but they’re small in comparison to CD & Vinyl sales. We also do a lot of online sales too.

[BrunoBass]

On 26/11/2019 at 11:36, PaulWarning said:

just out of interest, how are you going to sell your EP, in any format, if you don't do gigs, are you going to get mainstream radio play?

Well my intention originally was to release it digitally only, and it was only someone asking me if I was doing a CD that got me thinking. If I did do a CD it would a small run which is why I questioned how viable it may be. I’d sell (well, try) some at any gigs I do but I think most would be given away for review or to radio. 
 

As I think more about it the less I think it’s worth doing, for me. I can’t see the point of doing anything half heartedly so I’d want a quality cover / case and I think that combined with pressing costs probably prices me out of the equation.

[Twigman]

19 minutes ago, BrunoBass said:

 I’d want a quality cover / case

digipak is the way to go

[BigRedX]

14 minutes ago, Twigman said:

digipak is the way to go

I would completely agree from a presentation/visual aspect, but when you look at the price Vs a standard 4 page book and double-sided tray inset in an all-clear jewel case, it becomes much harder to justify the cost.