Now in the End...Part 1

 The hard work is done, I say with some satisfaction. Only took 3 years. 

As the last 4 posts have covered, I got the songs written, and recorded, and put in an order that I think makes them work well with one another; a nice flow from beginning to end. And isn't that what we all want?

The bigger questions come next, the biggest being: are you going to release the songs for distribution? This is different that passing out thumb drives, or sending out audio files to friends and relatives. This is creating artwork, having physical copies made, if desired, and finding a distributor.

We're now in the business end of things.

Artwork

Gotta have artwork. Just do. It can be a simple photo with a title across it. It can be a full-fledged work of art, something you create or have created by an artist. And it must be large enough, by pixel, to meet the requirements of many of the places you may choose to put it out for you, otherwise it'll look terrible. 

Physical copies

This can be CDs, good ol' vinyl records, labelled thumb drives. The companies that make them will need artwork of commensurate quality, they'll decline it if it doesn't meet their requirements, and hi-res audio files: FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, and DSD. No mp3s. You'll need these for copyright, as well. Vinyl has its own issues with required mastering and wait times given the upswing in interest. You'll also need to make sure your songs will fit. Welcome to the good old days.

Distribution

You'll need this if you want your music on Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Apple Music Amazon, YouTube, etc. Companies like Distrokid, CD Baby, Tunecore, Ditto, Record Union, and many more. I went with CD Baby basically for simplicity and that they have a one time charge and cover nearly all of the streaming services. But that's just me. Yes, they take a cut.

Head hurt yet?

Don't worry, there's more. We'll look at fun things like ASCAP/BMI and Sound Exchange and copyright and Bandcamp in our next exciting installment.

©2022 David William Pearce