My band's record - should it be free?

[Jared]

so i spent a year and a half on this album, got it mastered and finished up back in april, and have not had the money to get it printed. i'm considering getting a really cheap printing job (like sleeves with a black and white cd) and just giving it out for free...OR giving it out for free online and setting up a paypal account for donations. what do you think?

[Roycerson]

Free online w/ paypal.  I'd sell the CDs.

[K. Darien Freeheart]

and just giving it out for free...OR giving it out for free online and setting up a paypal account for donations. what do you think?

I'd say the hybrid approach, assuming it's a standard EP and not a demo length album. Release 70-ish percent of your tracks online for free but let it be known on your site that the PHYSICAL disk contains bonus tracks. This lets people get a taste, share with their friends (probably a VERY good thing unless you're getting playtime on large market stations) and creates incentive to buy a physical disk.

Print on demand is big. I don't know of any vendor specifically, but it might be possible to do print on demand orders for when people buy the CD. You could splurge a little on art or packaging knowing you won't have boxes of unsold albums and if you don't sell anything, you don't lose.

The internet release IMO is big. Obscurity, not sharing, is your biggest enemy.

[Jared]

Free online w/ paypal.  I'd sell the CDs.

that's kind of what i'm thinking. radiohead did it with their last album, and they actually ended up making more on that record then on any record they had previously released.

[margomaps]

that's kind of what i'm thinking. radiohead did it with their last album, and they actually ended up making more on that record then on any record they had previously released.

Radiohead also has millions of fans...YMMV   

[ReverendRyan]

Free online w/ paypal.  I'd sell the CDs.

that's kind of what i'm thinking. radiohead did it with their last album, and they actually ended up making more on that record then on any record they had previously released.

Yep, despite the fact that the most common amount paid for it was $0.

My suggestion: do as they did and have a dollar amount, zero or otherwise, that must be typed in to get to the download page.

[Fluff and Stuff]

Yep, despite the fact that the most common amount paid for it was $0.

My suggestion: do as they did and have a dollar amount, zero or otherwise, that must be typed in to get to the download page.

But fans still had to pay a credit charge, right?