Physical Distribution of Your Music

Last week I discussed an overview of distributing your music online. This week’s article is a discussion about the physical distribution of your music.

Today, physical music is more than just the CD.  The packaging that goes with your music conveys your style and the style of your music.  Make it eye catching, add some images from a stock library, add some effects to the images, and then layer them one on top of the other.

I use these three main software programs to do the graphics on my CD cases.

·         Adobe Illustrator

·         Adobe Photoshop

·         Perfect Photo Suite

·         A variety of effects from Photomorphis

I usually use a photo that I take of myself, and then add a bunch of effects to it, add some text like my name and the album title, and then convert that to a PDF or JPEG for printing.  You can do that for the cover jacket, the back jacket,  and the inside cover. Don’t forget the image for the CD itself. Try something that matches the album cover so that they all tie in together.

Don’t forget liner notes as a possible addition.  These printed pages could engage your listener by telling your story, and you can include your lyrics.  You may even consider a nice 8 x 10 glossy of your face for someone’s wall!

You could distribute physical copies of your music by putting it on a CD and selling it at performances, or you could sell it though Amazon’s warehouse, and a host of other similar warehouse-stores willing to store and ship your CD.

I mentioned CD’s above, but you could also press your music to vinyl.  The record players that are out there today are portable and gorgeous.  Vinyl could be a good way to find a niche audience for your music.

And talking about niche audiences, you could even rip your music to cassette tape or 8-track.

Now that’s cool!