I have a lot of friends who are in the middle of making records.
Some of them are half way through the process.
Some think they are half way through and are much farther away than they realize
Some are nearly done and don't want to admit it.
There is a strange disconnection between recording an album and releasing it.
I think this is because there is a great deal of work that goes into releasing an album that has very little to do with music and a lot of musicians get held up in all these non-musical parts.
Art work always takes ten times longer than it should.
Duplication takes forever.
Getting the credits right takes forever.
It's a lot of leg work and once you've finished recording, it seems like a lot of drudgery.
That's because, for a musician, it is.
But drudgery quickly turns into procrastination and it becomes really easy to second and triple guess everything you've done musically, until the album becomes a huge and heavy burden. You place massive expectations on it. It must succeed and therefore requires some sort of supernatural strength and planning to release it. And where will that strength come from? Usually the answer becomes... "somebody else"... "maybe if we just wait for a label..." and a whole bunch of other stuff that means "anybody other than me"
I would love to be able to offer some sort of advice on how to overcome this, but the fact is, making a record is a lot of hard work. And a lot of is boring, unsexy and tedious. It requires working really hard and doing things that are not that interesting. Or else finding people who are willing to do that work for you.
The best advice I can offer is, just get it done as quickly as possible. Rely on experts, if you can find them. Hire the best ones you can find, and if you can save time by spending a little (but not too much) extra, then do it. Don't wait around for it. Just get it done. Make some decisions and move on. Your second and third albums are waiting for you to make them.
And come up with a plan. Releasing an album requires planning and preparation. And you may need an expert for that too... More on that later...
Some of them are half way through the process.
Some think they are half way through and are much farther away than they realize
Some are nearly done and don't want to admit it.
There is a strange disconnection between recording an album and releasing it.
I think this is because there is a great deal of work that goes into releasing an album that has very little to do with music and a lot of musicians get held up in all these non-musical parts.
Art work always takes ten times longer than it should.
Duplication takes forever.
Getting the credits right takes forever.
It's a lot of leg work and once you've finished recording, it seems like a lot of drudgery.
That's because, for a musician, it is.
But drudgery quickly turns into procrastination and it becomes really easy to second and triple guess everything you've done musically, until the album becomes a huge and heavy burden. You place massive expectations on it. It must succeed and therefore requires some sort of supernatural strength and planning to release it. And where will that strength come from? Usually the answer becomes... "somebody else"... "maybe if we just wait for a label..." and a whole bunch of other stuff that means "anybody other than me"
I would love to be able to offer some sort of advice on how to overcome this, but the fact is, making a record is a lot of hard work. And a lot of is boring, unsexy and tedious. It requires working really hard and doing things that are not that interesting. Or else finding people who are willing to do that work for you.
The best advice I can offer is, just get it done as quickly as possible. Rely on experts, if you can find them. Hire the best ones you can find, and if you can save time by spending a little (but not too much) extra, then do it. Don't wait around for it. Just get it done. Make some decisions and move on. Your second and third albums are waiting for you to make them.
And come up with a plan. Releasing an album requires planning and preparation. And you may need an expert for that too... More on that later...
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