DIY Album

[MrBump]

My band seems to be gelling pretty well - the songs are sounding great, and we're getting on well.  Gigs booked, all looking pretty good.

Not bad for a bunch of 30/40-sumfings...

Anyhow, the singer/songwriter/main dude wants to record.  He's pretty damn good at it, I've heard his older demos and the sound quality that he gets is superb, really professional.

Does anyone have any experience doing the whole DIY/Cottage industry recording thing?  Even distributing music?

Mark.

[Dmoney]

my band was on a few 'DIY' labels.

getting a record pressed and in your hands isn't that hard. distributing it is something we left to labels we were involved with to do.

[Denim n Leather]

I've been DYI'ing it for time out of mind. It's the best way to go. If you want to release your album into the public domain, however, I would suggest a few things:

-- Trademark your band's name, or at least establish first use beyond any doubt. With a clear mark you will avoid any unpleasantness in the future. Make sure your band's name isn't already trademarked by anyone else.

-- Have a written publishing agreement that states what everyone's publishing rights and royalties are. You will need an attorney for this, but even if one of your songs gets picked up by an indie film company or game company, you would be surprised what even a hint of money does to some people. The same lawyer that will help you with this can check on the trademark clearance.  You SHOULD be able to get an entertainment lawyer's consultation for FREE, and may qualify for free legal services, too, if you can show your band is going places and if you look around. Shouldn't be too hard. (That's what my band did, and we have an IP lawyer already in the band)

-- Don't copyright anything until you have demos of all the songs. Don't put anything out on the internet unless you have a copyright protecting it.

-- Get an outside engineer or producer to help you with the the album once your preproduction is done. Believe me, the one-man show is a one-way ticket to burnout for all involved.

-- Keep your receipts and accurate records of money spent!!!!


Most important advice I can give: Don't lose sight on why you're together in the first place. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between playing for the love of playing and playing as part of a BUSINESS VENTURE.

[AndyR]

Very sage advice from D n L there :D

I would highlight the "written publishing agreement that states what everyone's publishing rights and royalties are".

I got in rows with ex-bands over this, and we never even made any money!!

At the very least, you need to talk about what people's aspirations are, before you start recording even. For example, I was exceedingly surprised to hear that the non-writing members thought they would be entitled to songwriting royalties for "writing my bass part" etc... There are valid arguments both ways in that example (depending on the type of music), but you all need to know exactly what your expectations would be if the unthinkable did happen and some money got made :lol: