Self-Publishing Your Music

If you are trying to get into the music industry but nobody is hearing your music, then self-publishing your own music would be a great idea.  With self-publishing, you would be entitled to the full ownership of the song, plus its rights and income. Self-publishing could actually help you earn more revenue.

Becoming a self-publisher in the music industry is not easy though, you have to make sure that you have the right attitude, educational background and of course some contact people that would help in giving you an edge. 

Going into self-publishing would mean that you would have to do all aspects of making, distributing and marketing your songs.  You can get somebody to do it for you, but you still have to oversee it. It would help a lot if you had basic knowledge on marketing, business, advertising and accounting.  

Contact building, is not something that you get to do overnight.  Good contacts are something you build over time and it would mean developing good business relationships with these contacts. 

Self-publishing experts say that there are two stages or phases that a self-publisher undergoes: the period where the self-publisher produces the output and the period when the publisher markets the output.                                 
The production phase involves the recording, editing and designing the CDs.  Aside from this you would also need to perform mastering, this is where duplicate copies would come from.  Another aspect that a self-publisher needs to prepare is the cover of the CD.  Aside from the cover, the CD label, tray card and a booklet also needs to be prepared.

In the production phase, before you duplicate and distribute your CD, you would need to copyright your music to protect it.  There are many companies that could handle CD duplication to about 250 copies or more.  They could also handle reproduction of promotional materials that you would include with your CD.  You would need to include in your CD information about the CD.  This could be handy when you distribute the CDs, especially for radio stations.

The second stage would include the marketing and distributing phase. Marketing and promotional materials would include posters, catalogues, display items and other similar items. You could also promote your CDs over the internet, by creating a website and having a way for the buyer to buy your product on the website.

The best promotional material is yourself.  It is important to have a business card that would include your promotional website and at the same time your contact information.  During gigs or any events, make sure to hand out your card and information to promote your CD.  It would be even better if you can actually sell your CD’s during your gigs when you are on a break. 

The biggest problem with having your song published is that producers may not like it beforehand, which is why they would refuse it. But once they have seen that it has built an initial following or have achieved certain level of popularity, even though small, it could help you get the big break that you are looking for.  You can even revise your press kit from time to time whenever you get good reviews.

Self-publishing can give you the edge you are looking for, but you would have to be prepared to make sacrifices along the way.  Achieving your dreams is always like that.