I'm about to take on a new venture,, something I've been wanting to do for years and now time finally presents itself for me try.

I'm starting my own recording studio, whereby I find talented singers and promote the heck out of them in an effort to sell as many records as possible. Without going into the specifics, the major record labels spend big money promoting their artists to get recognition, write-ups, and well, to make money.

I've found a very talented young lady who has a very unique style of singing, I'm focusing on Gospel Music...

My question is, since everything else is sold via mail, is it quite possible to sell a million albums through mail-order?

This would be a no-name artist (she's brand spanking new)? So this wouldn't be like the company who sends a mailer saying you can buy 8 CDs for .01 cent...this would be a campaign to promote 1 girl.

In this industry, If I'm able to move 50,000 - 100,000 albums, its quite possible to get a bigger label to do work with us (means more money).

How would you all go about doing this or would it even be worth it. The average CD costs about $13.98....I'm banking on the fact that once we get a following (fanbase), we could always make a 2nd album and sell to existing fans...

Your thoughts and advise as I start this new and wonderful venture.

thanks,
Carl

Carl,

You need to do your sums to see if this would be profitable. In order to sell 50,000 you would probably have to contact 5 million or more people (assuming a response rate of 1% which is optimistic in my opinion). You'd need to ask yourself where you would get a list of people who like that kind of music, how much the list would cost, how much the mailing would cost, what the other costs were, how many times you'd have to mail that list etc. Then do some "what if" scenarios with response rates to find out where the break even points are.

It sounds like a very risky endeavour to me, as there is no guarantee that other people will agree with you that she is an artist that they want to listen to, especially without any "brand".

I would have thought your best bet was to look at ways of promoting her via the internet - maybe something viral. Then you can contain your costs and keep it scalable.

Do you have music industry experience? If so, why do you think she hasn't already got a record contract, or wouldn't be capable of getting one?

HTH,
Jane

Ever read Richard Branson's "Losing my Virg..." book (left off word to avoid spiders). Anyhow, is one of your locals... and it's a great book. I've read it 3 times -- plus re-read portions.

Here's my take... to minimize risk, expense and get maximum BANG!

1) Use direct mail to promote her for potential bookings. Letter w/CD and/or video followed by a phone call. In other words, large churches, Christian organizations, conference planners, etc.

2) Get her booked solid... in front of ANY GROUP, ANY TIME, AT ANY PRICE! She must be seen and heard to develop a following.

3) Build a FAN Base! At EVERY event, and for that matter every where she/you go, offer to sign people up for her "Fan Club Newsletter" -- which for best savings, should be eMail. However, I would suggest getting physical mailing addresses too in case you want to do some test promotions.

4) If and when she has a following, a fan base, you could then possibly use direct mail to contact the big labels and market her there... approaching them is "We've already gotten her this far on our (your label) dime."

5) Set goals with deadlines... we want to be at this point by this date, etc. so you have a track to run on.

6) Back ALL OF THIS with publicity / PR efforts. Anytime you can develop a hook for a story (something unique about her, her "Christian story" how she came to Christ, something amazing in her background, whatever) try to get in the music publications, on local radio, local tv, anywhere.

7) Build a brand from the VERY beginning. Don't wait for her to become a star before you treat her like one. Start now. Create a solid identity with logo, etc. Make T-shirts... even a few... Bumper stickers... posters... a website... Look at the BIG names and model after them. I'm a big believer in "Looking like you've arrived... even before you get there" and it seems to happen faster that way. People sure respect you a lot more from the beginning.

Also, you should make a list of every successful Christian artist touring in your region... see what you can do to get her opening for one of them. And/or see if there are any "multi-group" tours that she could get signed to, or at least auditioned for.

9) Oh... one more thing. Since you're producing the CD, don't just include music. Perhaps at the end, include an interview with her telling her "testimony" how she came to Christ, or whatever. It makes her "real." And, you can also put in some audio promo of her website, fan club, etc.

Those are my thoughts...

You are entering a massively competitive and risky field my friend. But, it could be done the way you're thinking. To "get her started" then partner with a big label to take the next step.

Last word: The BIG labels want the "Least amount of risk, and the easiest path to success too!" That's why it's a good idea to bring them an artist that already has a following, a fan base, a proven track record (no pun intended).

Warmly,
JP

I don't know a lot about the music industry, but I do know that the online world is offering more name recognition to nobodies. I would bypass the traditional album sales and focus on MP3s and downloads. That way, people can hear samples before they buy. If she's good, and you market it right, the sales will come. If either of those two are missing, it'll be a waste of time...without the huge financial drain.

Carl,

JP just gave you some very good advice. You could almost expand that into a full publicity and promotion plan.

He is right on the money. As much as I love direct mail, selling a single CD by a single artisit, with a $13 price point (and perhaps a $8 to $10 profit max) is not a profitable proposition.

The ONLY possible way to have a profitable mailing would be to find a list of recent (last 30 days) direct mail buyers of gospel music CDs that very closely match the style and music of your artist. And even then, having never heard your artists music before, it would be a difficult sell.

I haven't flipped through my SRDS to see if any such list exists... But even if it did, I doubt it would have enough names to hit the numbers you are looking for.

The best way I see to promote this new and unknown artist is exactly like JP described. A massive PR and Publicity push. You have to first get her a fan base.

After an effective PR and Publicity push develops some name recognition and following, you can then begin to build a mailing list from her website. A mailing list of her fans and previous CD buyers may be responsive enough to make a mailing profitable.