the wordclock limited-release strategy.
Releasing CDs is expensive. We have friends who make it possible for us to get world-class packaging and mastering (or, in some cases, world-class advice), but even if those don't cost much, you're still looking at $1500 or so for 1000 CDs. And that's for your basic 4-page booklet in a jewel case. If you start getting into fancier packaging, the stuff that all us indie dorks would like to do, well, that costs.
And of course, at that point all you have is a basement full of CDs. You still have to sell them somehow. Reviews? Ad campaign? Endless touring?
Whenever I see a Hands Productions CD, I say "how do they do this?". Their packages are beautiful and original, but it's hard to believe they sell enough copies to recoup their costs. Are there that many distorted-drum-sample-loving Europeans?
All told we spent about $3000 putting together the first Plink CD. Considering how little marketing we did -- me and advertising, we're still circling each other cautiously -- sales haven't been bad, but we haven't covered our costs yet. (This makes the "how do you feel about P2P?" question kind of complicated.)
Meanwhile, we have lots of other records that we want to release. But at two or three grand a pop that won't fly, especially if the business case is "how much can we afford to lose this year?".
So my goal this year has been to figure out how to release a record that:
- doesn't cost too much per CD to manufacture.
- doesn't require a large (1000 disc) run.
- still looks good.
The last one is tough thanks to my high standards. But it has to look "real".
You can burn CDR's and do alternate packaging, but printing is always the hard part. Setup costs mean that it costs about the same to print 50 copies as it does 500.
Enter the Gocco printer. Clever Japanese! It's a little consumer silkscreening system. I saw it described as "the Easy-Bake Oven of silkscreen". The Gocco was the missing piece of the puzzle (thanks to Rebecca at Stumptown Printers for the suggestion). We've done some test Gooco prints and they look great.
So, our solution will be CD-R's in Arigato Paks, both lovingly hand-silkscreened. We'll do numbered, limited editions this way -- maybe 200 CDs, give or take. Then if a particular release is doing well, we'll re-release a jewel case version.
The handmade CDs will take a lot of time to design and produce, but (a) we'll be able to release records affordably, which means we'll be able to release more records, (b) buyers (all four of them) can enjoy knowing that we really worked on every aspect of the product. Also, (c) they're an investment! They'll be worth hundreds on ebay in just a few years!
No they won't. But this is satisfying. DIY, baby. Nobody cares about your stuff the way you do. That's why we started Wordclock in the first place.