The
Business Plan
It may help to think
of your recording project as a business venture. The recording session
has a cost, measured in time and money, but it also has benefits.
The benefits are derived from what you do with your recording after the
session is done.
For example, an
established, independent artist may spend several thousand dollars
recording an album. As with any venture of this size, they will
draw up a business plan, both to attract investors, and to keep
themselves on track, should they be investing the money themselves.
A business plan may
contain the following details:
·
The nature of the project
·
The goals and objectives of
the project
·
Tasks necessary to attain
those goals and objectives
·
The product that will be
manufactured and sold
·
Details of the production
and manufacturing costs
·
Identification of the market
·
Strategy for selling and
marketing
·
Why this strategy will work
·
Breakdown of costs for
marketing and promotion
·
Evidence that the market is
interested
·
Cash flow projections
·
Profit and loss statements
·
Balance sheets
This may sound
complicated, but it's really just common sense. It's important
that you (and your investor) be really clear on the realities and
possibilities for your project.
There are many
excellent books on drawing up business plans, and almost anyone who's
been through the process of building or running a small business should
be able to help you. In the case of this particular artist, they
may determine that they need to sell 3,000 CDs at a profit of $10
apiece, to recoup their initial investment.
Their business plan
will outline how the initial $30,000 is going to be spent, and their
plan for how to sell 3,000 CD's at retail outlets, concerts, over the
internet etc. to recover that investment. The band may have other
sources of income, as well as other expenses, and these may also taken into account in the
business plan.
Your goal may not be
to sell 3,000 CDs. Your objective may be to land a record
deal. In this case you may attract an investor who put up the
money in exchange for a percentage of the royalties on the album.
The details of the business plan will be different, but the
fundamentals remain the same.
If you have any
questions about business plans, and how to recoup your recording costs,
contact us, and we'll be glad to share some of the strategies that have
worked for other artists.

Preparing
For Your Recording Session
Coming in to a
professional recording studio to work on an album or demo is always an
exciting prospect. However, you can make the most of your time in
the studio by following a few simple guidelines:
·
Pick your songs well in
advance. Choose songs in a variety of tempos, textures and key
signatures
·
Make sure the songs and
parts are well rehearsed
·
Record your rehearsal
sessions so that you can listen back for awkward spots in the songs
·
Make sure your instruments
are in good condition. The better they sound, the better they'll sound
on tape
·
Most pop/rock recordings are
recorded with a click track. Ensure that your drummer is comfortable
playing the material to a click track or metronome
·
If you're going to have
"guest" players, make sure they're prepared well in advance.
Have them practice with you so that you know how well their parts are
going to fit in.
·
Work with your engineer or
producer to create a plan for the sessions, so that you know which parts
and which songs are going to be recorded when.
·
Remember to relax, have fun
and take breaks. Music is supposed to be fun!

Copyright
Resources
·
How to copyright a song
·
BMI
·
ASCAP
Important Notice: LRM Studio
Productions can take no responsibility for the ownership of any
material that is produced in our studio other than what is written by
the owners of the studio, themselves. The responsibility of securing
copyrights for original music produced in our studio as well as
mechanical licenses for other people's music is the sole
responsibility of the client.
For
information on how to protect yourself and your music as well as how
to legally use other people's music, please refer to the information
below.
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BMI
BMI is a music performing rights organization
and company that represents songwriters even if they also happen to be
recording artists. They also collect money from people who use
music in the course of their business and then pays
that money to the writers and publishers of the songs they use.
·
BMI
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New York
320 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019-3790
(212) 586-2000
·
Los Angeles
8730 Sunset Blvd. 3rd Flr West
West Hollywood, CA 90069-2211
(310) 659-9109
·
Nashville
10 Music Square East
Nashville, TN 37203-4399
(615) 401-2000
·
Miami
5201 Blue Lagoon Drive Suite 310
Miami, FL 33126
(305) 266-3636
ASCAP
(American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)
ASCAP is the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, a
membership association of over 80,000 composers, songwriters, lyricists
and music publishers. ASCAP's function is to protect the rights
of its members by licensing and paying royalties for the public
performances of their copyrighted works.
·
New York
One Lincoln Plaza
New York, NY 10023
(212) 621-6000
http://www.ascap.com/ascap.html

Copyright
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