FAQ

So how much does it cost?
For a cost of between £550 to £1500 + VAT depending if you just want just CDs, or CDs and performing rights royalty protection - in addition to all the best bits - you get 1000 CDs. We'll look after them (except for those that you need to sell at gigs) so we can send them to HMV or whoever when someone orders them.

If you want you can just get us to make some CDs for you, and deliver them to you and nothing more if you want. We aim to better ANY written formal quote you may get to have 1000 replicated CDs (or DVDs) manufactured, ask us for a quote!

Tell me about Royalties
When your album is listed as an official release, people will buy it (see another FAQ for volumes). When your CD is sold, the retailer pays a proportion of the RRP, and a small amount goes on logistics and sales fees. Whatever's left, we split 50/50 with you, depending on what deal you do with us i.e. Sales and distribution or co-publishing.

Do I have to wait ages for my royalties?
No. You get paid when we do. Which is monthly. We'll give you a royalty report each month, listing how many albums you've sold, who to, and for how much. You see where every penny goes! We'll pay your money each month into your chosen bank account.

What about PR?
Major record labels will invest £100,000s into promoting their latest band. We're not going to be able to do this for everyone! We'll put out an international press release announcing your new album. We suggest you do as much PR as you can - we'll even give you some ideas if you want.

Volumes then. How many will I sell?
This all depends on how many people know about your band. You're always going to get some sales from people who like the preview tracks (e.g. on iTunes) or your album art (on HMV.com). But it's mostly about PR. We'll do the press release for you, but leading up to release day, the more PR activity you can do, the better the sales will be. When you've sold nearly 1000, it's time to do another manufacturing run, and we can discuss with you how many to produce depending on how quickly these have sold! 1000 is the lowest amount to manufacture to get the 'silver discs' you have to have for retail.

Can I do this without your help?
It's unlikely. Do you know anyone who can manufacture chart-quality CDs for this kind of price? Do you have contacts with information streams, retail buying teams, warehouse managers, content managers, pricing matrix calculators, the PRS and MCPS? Have you noticed that CDs you buy from the shops are silver, but if you'd had 100 pressed up for a gig they're probably green? this is all about the difference between replication and duplication... We replicate (know anything about glass masters?) so your CDs are allowed to be sold in shops... OK, I'm going on a bit, but this is all important stuff. Why bother doing it yourself when we can do it better!

So what am I signing up for?
This would be a one album deal. We would hold copyright and publishing rights for this one album. This means that when Sony come along and offer you a million for your next 3 albums, you can sign there and then, you're not tied into us! Or alternatively you can go it alone, and just get us to make the discs for you, or a mixture of this were we also do sales and distribution for you, its all up to you.

When I make it big, what happens to this album?
We will of course continue to sell it for you, and you get 50% of the profits. Your new label has the options of buying the rights.

What do you need?
You need to have recorded your tracks. An album is usually around 10-15 tracks, but we can release an EP with less. You can't use samples or other copyright material. You'll need to design a cover for the album (although we can offer graphic design services if you want)

I've got loads more questions, or want something clarified!
Ask us anything at info @ andrewsuk.com