Recording 102

Mastering

This process helps normalise your recorded audio. In the old days, it stopped the needle jumping off the vinyl with heavy bass notes whilst simultaneously enabling a good sound on AM and FM radio. There are plenty of online solutions for mastering - a google search is maybe a good place to start. Another benefit of mastering is making sure the tracks all have uniform volume levels - remember the days of mix tapes with wildly different levels? Smooth fade-ins and fade-outs also complete the package.

Sales, Distribution and Aggregation

For most artists, the live opportunity is probably the best sales forum as the audience have (hopefully) some interest in you. However, there are digital solutions that can work well in a live situation. There are various companies offering a SMS service that allows downloading and paying for a track using a web-enabled mobile phone. You could consider a stage backdrop that has the SMS short code and regular announcements over the microphone to push the idea further. Other technologies include a long range bluetooth device that can push a free track or other information to mobile phones.

Distribution in the traditional sense of placing lumps of plastic on shelves in shops is both difficult to get and fairly pointless for most musicians away from the mainstream. Searching out the local vendors and talking to them is the best way. However, the obvious limitations of time and travel favour digital options. Online distribution for the uninitiated is called aggregation. An aggregator places your recordings in online stores such as iTunes. Once a track is downloaded, the shop pays the aggregator who then pay you. There are many different ways of accessing this types of service and each one seems to be different with some offering an upfront fee, others taking a cut and others taking a regular fee. Investigate SongCast Music, Ditto Music and Tune Core to see more. Whatever you do, get independent legal advice on the agreement to ensure you fully understand what you are committing yourself too. Members of the Musicians' Union in the UK can get contract advice for free.

Recording 103 - Even more