Pressing Vinyl, Is it worth it?

[Silky]

Hey people,

Bit of a long shot but thought its best I ask what people opinions are on pressing vinyl.

Now ill start with my aim in my musical life, Since ive started making my own tunes (6 or so months ago) Ive always wanted to press up my tunes on Vinyl.
Just a one off 4 Tracker White Label and self financed, Im not even looking to make a profit as the idea of just having my own work on Wax is what Im after.

I know my tunes are not top notch producer quality but then neither were the majority of the early 90's White Label records (Bedroom releases) and this is what im looking for. I do think some of them are worthy of pressing up.
I'll get them professionally mastered before pressing.

Of course im sure I won't get a lot of people buying my records so the lowest I can get pressed up is 100 copies and wondered who would be interested in a Limited one time only 12" White Label from an artist like me?

Also time is against me, for those who don't know I will be emigrating to New Zealand in Jan 2012 & doing this from there will be far too expensive for me to do, so this will happen as soon as I think it would be worth it.

If you would like to hear what I have done so far then the links at the bottom of my Sig to youtube videos of my work. (There are a few more in the pipeline one should be finished by the weekend.) They are a low quality rips on youtube. Also let me know (On here or Via PM's) what tunes you would like to see pressed up if any take your fancy, they are in order of when I made them, Top 1 = Newest so on & so on.

So there you go, If I don't go down the vinyl route then ill prob digitally sell my work as Ive had various people say that its worth it & would love for people to enjoy my music.

 

[Shooms]

You know... I was going to get some private presses of digi only tunes before I went down the Traktor Scratch road... it worked out to be 70 quid for 4 tunes or summat like that...

I know you would want the feeling of something you had created turned into something tangible you can touch, smell & use (I'd be the same), on the other hand digi will be wider-reaching to an audience...

I'd contact this bloke Dan as he's done a very limited vinyl run himself... great great artist too imo

Tolerance's sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

In answer to your question tho... yep - I'd deffo buy one

 

[ste huxley]

I'd have one

 

[matt8657]

why not release an "osa" producers white/ep with 4 of the best tunes produced by people off this site?
spread the cost between a few,
still get a tune on wax,
and give someone else the opportunity to do the same??
from what i have heard there are a few good tunes on here that would appeal to many dj's/old skoolers on this site??
just a thought!!!!

 

[Silky]

You know... I was going to get some private presses of digi only tunes before I went down the Traktor Scratch road... it worked out to be 70 quid for 4 tunes or summat like that...

I know you would want the feeling of something you had created turned into something tangible you can touch, smell & use (I'd be the same), on the other hand digi will be wider-reaching to an audience...

I'd contact this bloke Dan as he's done a very limited vinyl run himself... great great artist too imo

Tolerance's sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

In answer to your question tho... yep - I'd deffo buy one

I know where your coming from, I love using my Serato especially mixing my tracks with old ones, but like you said it still, there is nothing like holding, smelling & using something you created.

Thanks for the link fella, actually found a bloke on facebook who will do as many vinyls as you require,

Cutting Vinyl - Professional services - London, United Kingdom | Facebook

Now its not a proper pressing plant but a cutting suite, So i know that ill have to get my work properly mastered, but in a sort of a weird way I don't really mind them not being crisp sounding like, as a lot of the White Label work was proper rough back in the day.

Like a lot of artists 1st releases, you can tell listening to them that Raw sound and learning the ways of music production. I love it.

Thinking maybe 15-25 copies, dunno how many id sell, like i said wouldn't even be fussed to break even just as long as I recouped some of my money back in sales.

I got till the end of the year to do this, so Im gonna keep making as many tracks as I can then select the best 4 to go on it, just sorting the final touches on another Opera like Dance track so ill up it on here hopefully tonight.

Could even to 2 Dance tracks on one side and 2 Ambient on the other, proper Obscure release!

Glad a few of you are willing to buy a copy.

 

[Barrie Jay]

Dan

Pressing vinyl is quite cheap per copy but the process of mastering/ laquering and getting the plates manufactured bumps the price up.

I reckon you could get 300 white labels done for around £500 delivered. The company that does them will not do any less than 300 copies there but getting 100 pressed anywhere else costs more - madness really/

The quality of the plates this guy is offering are okay as long as he is good at his job. He is comparatively very cheap at £25 set up plus £8 a copy plus postage. I used Dub Studio to cut me one copy of a tune and it was okay to play out but not got the warmth vinyl has in the overall sound and the sound is a bit lower (not too much of a problem as you can turn it up).

 

[Jiglo]

I think Shoom's thread http://www.oldskoolanthemz.com/foru...estra-remake-limited-run-60-vinyl-copies.html proved that quality vinyl still has a market, and selling them at £25 a pop in the current climate, that's pretty good going

 

[JACKG]

For financial gain it probably aint worth it.

To have your own track pressed on vinyl its definately gotta be worth it Silks... I know u would buzz of your own w/l.

Id buy one.

Think Matts idea of an OSA 4 tracker is a super idea

 

[Silky]

Dan

Pressing vinyl is quite cheap per copy but the process of mastering/ laquering and getting the plates manufactured bumps the price up.

I reckon you could get 300 white labels done for around £500 delivered. The company that does them will not do any less than 300 copies there but getting 100 pressed anywhere else costs more - madness really/

The quality of the plates this guy is offering are okay as long as he is good at his job. He is comparatively very cheap at £25 set up plus £8 a copy plus postage. I used Dub Studio to cut me one copy of a tune and it was okay to play out but not got the warmth vinyl has in the overall sound and the sound is a bit lower (not too much of a problem as you can turn it up).

For financial gain it probably aint worth it.

To have your own track pressed on vinyl its definately gotta be worth it Silks... I know u would buzz of your own w/l.

Id buy one.

Think Matts idea of an OSA 4 tracker is a super idea

Thanks for the info Barrie, I would love to get the clearest pressing avail, Prob is im deff not going to shift 300 copies of my amateur work, & when I leave for NZ, ill would just have to dump the remaining copies which would be such a waste.

I mean just for me the idea of a one off would be great but Id really like other people to have my work as well, especially as ill only do this once & if people buzz of it then ill be made up.

Im thinking of giving Dub Studio and Curved Pressings a shout and explaining my situation and see what they can offer, before i think about using the Facebook Cutting guy.

This won't happen until later in the year so ill give it a few months (Gives me time to make more tracks) & select the best 4 tracks to use.

Jack, thanks fella I know ill buzz of it and it would be lovely for you to own a copy and that goes for anyone else.

 

[ilovepiano]

I've been pondering this for a while now too, and have pretty much reached the conclusion that it's not really gonna be worth it. It's a lot of money to spunk away with no real guarantee of getting close to breaking even. I don't want to be forking out close to £600 so that a dozen or so people can have a copy and then I'm left £500 out of pocket.

I know Ben n Sam have done their Piano Junkies thing, anyone any idea if they've got close to break even?

 

[Barrie Jay]

I have been interested in the amount of sales with Ben and Sam`s material myself because I am now in the same position.

I have spoken to Ben about it but do not think it is for me to post on here.

I was planning to write 4 old skool tunes (with my mate)and just have one copy pressed to play out (2 down 2 to go).

That would be sufficient a buzz for me. phones:

I keep getting asked if the tracks will ever be released on vinyl and perhaps that would be a bigger buzz. However, selling sufficient copies to make, at least, enough to recover the cost would be unlikely and probably not a risk I am prepared to take.

Putting them up for digital download does not seem quite right so I may go with the option of getting some dub plates made for those that want them.

Hmmmmm.......

 

[ilovepiano]

I may go with the option of getting some dub plates made for those that want them.

Hmmmmm.......

I wondered about that too and if there was a fair few peeps who were willing to shell out £40 fpr a dubplate, then maybe it'd be worth pressing them properly with proper lables and charging the same.

 

[Barrie Jay]

I wondered about that too and if there was a fair few peeps who were willing to shell out £40 fpr a dubplate, then maybe it'd be worth pressing them properly with proper lables and charging the same.

Good point Tim.

I know some close friends would be willing to shell out £30 to £40 for a dub plate - at what point does it become viable to have it pressed on vinyl ???

If only there was a cheaper option to have say 50 or 100 copies pressed.

 

[Shooms]

How about making it digi available first (reaching a wider audience) & this in turn funding a limited vinyl run for the purists ?

 

[seandelier]

How about making it digi available first (reaching a wider audience) & this in turn funding a limited vinyl run for the purists ?

I agree. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

 

[JACKG]

How about making it digi available first (reaching a wider audience) & this in turn funding a limited vinyl run for the purists ?

If you plan to do a vinyl press regardless I think the more logical approach would be to do the limited vinyl run first, you would sell more copies then.

The downside of this strategy is you would need to stump on the cash first and there is no certainty of recovering costs... but as I said earlier I would advise against pressing vinyl if your main aim is profit...theres much better ways to make money

Shooms has a good point on the digital downloads...it is a prefferred format for many DJs these days and you could well take the stance that if it sells well enough it could fund a limited run.

I'd have thought Barrie would be better place than most to answer this question... particulary given the fact that you have recently pressed some very rare as well as some well known classics on your excellent dance magic series

Quick plug , check out some of these peeps

Replay Records (4) - CDs and Vinyl at Discogs

 

[Barrie Jay]

Thanks for the plug Jack

I don`t think it is about making money but more about not losing any.

For your information the first 4 releases of the Dance Magics recovered their cost but the second lot have not done so, unlikely any more will be released.

Part of the problem is there are hardly any record shops left and I am now, more or less, reliant on internet sales.

Apart from Discogs and forums such as this it is hard to spread the word to generate more sales.

Bear in mind I have the additional cost of paying for the licenses.

I was thinking about putting the catalogue up for digital download - main aim would be to fund more vinyl releases - similar to what Shooms mentioned.

 

[ilovepiano]

How about making it digi available first (reaching a wider audience) & this in turn funding a limited vinyl run for the purists ?

How much is a download these days? Even at £2 for a wav I'd never sell 300 to fund the vinyls. Not to mention all the uncleared samples, coz I guarantee I'd be the one that got busted and everyone else would get away with it!

I don`t think it is about making money but more about not losing any.

It's exactly that, and I can't see myself making my £600 back. It's a shame coz I'd love to do it.

 

[Shooms]

How much is a download these days? Even at £2 for a wav I'd never sell 300 to fund the vinyls. Not to mention all the uncleared samples, coz I guarantee I'd be the one that got busted and everyone else would get away with it!

I'm sure Erno Rubik didn't think he'd sell more than a few hundred cubes... defeatist attitude before you've even started Tim... shocked at you

Especially given the AATW network & audience you've got to tap into.

Internet = global

 

[Monty]

When you make good tunes you will make money,getting recognition getting in magazines,getting charted,the biggest producers reviewing your music,you don't have to pay a penny on getting anything pressed!...

Here is a tip: Talent & Imagination!

This thread has turn into how do i make money off other people's music!..:S