Where gets a Band money from for a recording production (Album) , if not from a label?

when i played in bands in college, we used money from jobs we had, gigs we played, and change from the couch. if you’re doing just a 3 or 4 song demo, then it’s not too expensive. there’s no point in spending all your money on a full length cd if you can’t afford to do so. plus, you almost have to sign with a label at some point to take care of the cost, unless you have a huge following and are making a ton at shows. or mom and dad are willing to pay the bills.

Why would you need CD production to distribute online?

It’s called a Day Job. Real Musicians usually have one. Sometimes two.

@soundedfury – i think he just means the recording part of it…studio time takes money

@soundedfury: yes this is what i meant. just the recording part, which is very expensive.

Simply, most don’t use a studio. I can’t tell you the number of bands distributing successfully online who started by recording with what they already had available. With the tools that you have available on any PC or Mac, you can correct for the most glaring problems.

I helped a couple friends record an album two years ago. We used facilities owned by the local university, set-up a few well-placed mics and fixed any significant problems on our Macs. The whole thing was only a few thousand dollars, which they made back through online sales and increasing presence at shows.

There’s no need for crazy perfect recording studio quality sound if you’re still relatively unknown.

@soundedfury: that’s what I think as well. there’s no need of making your first recording as a superstar.

@soundedfury – yeah, but if you want it to sound decent, you have to know what you’re doing…most people don’t. It cost you a few thousand dollars for that? You could put together a decent demo in a studio for that amount of cash. maybe i have been out of the game too long..on the flipside, i guess you’d have the equipment to do it again later, so the cost wouldn’t be so high the next time. or produce for other people and make some cash from that.

it is definitely an option, though if you think you might want to invest in some software and equipment and learn how to do it.

Yeah, most of the cost was the band purchasing equipment & software they didn’t already have. They chose to do that as opposed to renting, which was my recommendation. They seem to have gotten their money out of it, though, as they continue to use it.

A rich friend?

how old are you? Seriously

credit cards. it worked for kevin smith making clerks.

Touring? Previous album sales? Other “jobs”?