Home .

                 
 

Breadlist: things to remember when launching your new album?


The Fluffy Jackets third album "The Rise And Fall Of The Songwriter" (2024) initially had the working title "Come Hell or High Water". That working title was originally meant to signify that we would complete this album no matter what happened - through the Covid-19 pandemic and even after we lost our dear mentor and producer Manny Charlton in 2022. It was a quote I first heard from the singer Jade Castrinos, when talking about her passion for making music. However, a lesson that I learned: you do not need worry about selecting an album title. It will make itself known!

After releasing a new album, you'll quickly realize how much effort it takes. It's important to reflect on lessons learned to streamline the process for future releases. That's why I've created a checklist to include in my project plan for the next album. As you'll see, making music is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to releasing an album..

What do you want to achieve with your new album?
It is useful to take a moment - before you start writing and recording new music - to think about what your goals are. Do you want your songs to be played on the radio? Do you want to compete on album hit-lists - against who (what are your reference tracks)? you want to be signed by a label? do you want to have an Official YouTube Artist channel or become a YouTube partner? What format do you want your music to be in? What budgets do you have available to hire producers, engineers, pay for studios, making artwork, hire photographers, creating video, producing CDs, Vinyl? how many units do you wish to sell? do you want to make money on it? What is your return on investment going to be? The answers to all these questions will inform what steps you need to take from here.

Set up a project plan, and add your SMART Goals!
If you consider that your music is like a business, it is worthwile to take a leaf out of corporate planning and project-based plans when setting your goals. So set up your goals at the very top of your project plan, and then split up the various activities to hit those goals. And - boringly (but important) - it is better if your goals are "SMART" (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) because this will make it easier to review your album with hindsight, to measure if it was successful - or not. As an example, my goals with The Fluffy Jackets' third album was to set up the various revenue streams and tools I need for going fully independent with my music. This involved: register all my songs at Tono (CMO) to obtain royalites, Gramo to obtain radio/media revenue, sign up with an online distributor to take ownership of the digital releases, set up an online shop to sell physical outputs incl. CDs, T-Shirts, etc (incl. payment portal, fulfilment house, etc), get an official YouTube artist channel to release my music videos and obtain 500 subsribers during 2024. I also wanted to document lessons learned, and keep a central record with the details on each release. Finally, last but certainly not least: build my own recording studio and produce the first album there! So, as you can see I had very hairy ambitions and goals, but inn retrospect I managed to do all these things, although I had to abandon one specific goal to produce a vinyl album due to the costs involved (see separate note on vinyl later in this document). I also did not get round to setting up my Instagram account, nor adding the lyrics on Spotify via Musicmatch this time round. However, going forward, though the various processes I have been through, it will now be easier for me to produce more Fluffy Jackets albums in future, and then considering these things again.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE OFFICIAL YOUTUBE ARTIST CHANNEL - THE FLUFFY JACKETS

Making the Music (Breadlist)
It is not possible to design a process for making music as this is a creative subject, but it is worth noting that you need to wear different hats + do the following:

  1. Keep recording progress notes: Keep one easy-accessible document in the cloud, in order to write and update a "to do list". This will help you track progress on each song, incl. ongoing mixing / recording notes.

  2. Songwriting: spend time on getting the words right. It is advisable to keep each lyric sheet in the cloud, so you can add/change words easily and "on-the-go" as and when inspiration hits. (this is separate to the recording notes)

  3. Recording - in general: A good performance will always beat trying to "fix it in the mix", so the advice is to get it right the first time! For more recording lessons, check out The Fluffy Jackets' feature on Studio Workflow and Mixing.

  4. Commit to one Lead Vocal track (LV) before starting Backing Vocals (BV). Recording the full song in one session will help maintain consistency (recording vocals on different days can result in varying sounds due to natural voice variations and environmental factors like humidity and temperature).

  5. Guitars: pan rhythm guitars hard L and hard R (general advice).

  6. Bass Recording: If you are outsourcing bass overdubs, make the drums louder in the mix - or send separate drum stem. This will help the bassist maintaining a good groove. Make sure that the song structure - especially drums are finished BEFORE you send the track for external bass overdubs. Mixing: split the signal into low end vs. high end. Treat low end with Kick-drum in mind + add coloring (amps) to top end signal. When mixing low end, do not remove the very low bass frequencies when accommodating the Kick Drum (usualy at 60Hz) - instead making the bass dip around that space (carve out space for the Kick).

  7. Drums: create space for the Kick vs other tracks in the mix (control low-end). Kick and Snare are most important (place them Center, make these sound good with Bass + same volume as Rhythm guitar), pan Toms and High Hats L-R (to suit the song / general advice). Use Waves L2 plugin (slightly!) to control peaks / avoid digital clipping.

  8. "The Slippery Fader Move": create interest in the chorus by making that louder vs. the verses, this can be done by increasing width of backing vocals, or increasing vocal volume in the chorus - or simply by increasing the overall volume during the chorus part of the song.

  9. Mix with purpose: sing the different part of the song - and make sure your mix convey the overall feeling and the key parts in the mix. Make the cool parts of the song stand out even more!

  10. Master BUS compression: I like to use the Waves SSL plugin "11 Lillywhite Mix Buss" which has 4:1 compression at 300 attack and .1 release. I got this idea from the legendary mixing engineer Bob Clearmountain famously use his hardware SSL G-Master Bus Compressor, with Attack = 100 and Release = .300. He use a compression ratio of 2:1 for ballads and 4:1 for rock songs, where the mix needs to "pump" a little more. I also find it useful to apply the L2 Peak Limiter - the “Dave Pensado” small boost preset - on the Master BUS because this tiny boost sounds good in most situations, and prevents the song from accidentally going into digital clipping.

  11. Check each track: Make sure you fix for crossfades (avoiding clicks).

  12. Back up: Keep a back up of each track as you go along (computers do crash!).

  13. Sound check mix on different devices: Prior to release, export your track to a private Soundcloud area, and check your final mix on different sound systems (playback in car, in living room, etc). Finalise the audio for consistent volume and tone across all devices. Also check particularly the low end, listen for unwanted sounds, clicks (needing crossfades), overall volume / balance, if you hear errors etc.

  14. Vinyl: For vinyl release, prepare separate masters (Vinyl = you need a mastering engineer for that).

  15. External Mastering: For quick recording and release, consider an external mastering engineer for fresh ears and quality assurance. If working on a song over time, internal review might suffice, reducing the need for external mastering.

  16. Decide on the running order.

  17. Storage: Export and store the master files in various formats required (MP3 + WAV 16bit Stereo file)

  18. Stems and back up: Create stems and archive the project file for future remixing (inside the DAW / LUNA) – Back up each song. This will be useful if the tracks will be re-mastered or re-mixed in future. Keeping stems ensures that the project remains accessible even if plugins become outdated. Keep one file with FX printed, the other one dry (vocals, guitars, bass, drums etc).

Think about what output format you want
1.
Choose all or a combination of: online distribution (e.g., Distrokid, CD Baby), CD/DVD distribution, Cassette and / or vinyl pressing.
2. CD/DVD distribution typically takes 4-6 weeks from artwork design to production. However, selling these copies can be challenging unless you secure a distribution agreement with companies like Cargo Records. Alternatively, you can sell directly but this requires setting up your own shop and promoting on platforms like Amazon, which can be time-consuming and may not yield significant returns. Shifting CD's (and LP's) are easier if you are touring and selling out shows, etc.
3. Similarly, for vinyl LPs, the sage advice is to carefully consider if this is worth the investment since producing even a small run of vinyl records is very expensive. I checked a few providers, and a short run of 100 units costs 250 NOK each for production alone. This doesn't include the NCB fee of 3,000 NOK, tax, delivery charges, trial runs, or extra charges for colored vinyl or gatefold packaging. Additionally, you'll need secure packaging for selling the records, and separate external mastering for vinyl, which costs around 5,000 NOK. Altogether, for a short run of 100 units, you're looking at about 35,000 NOK. If you sell each record at 350 NOK, you'll only break even at best. This is before considering the work involved in designing artwork, promoting the record, paying for advertisements, etc., which adds to the production cost. In terms of lead time, pressing vinyl can take 12-15 weeks, including test pressing. However, it's advised to allow about 20 weeks to account for possible changes, unforeseen delays, artwork adjustments, and mastering audio files. Furthermore, consider how many people will actually buy or listen to the record in this format, and the effort required for design, creation, manufacturing, shipment, storage, and selling. The wise advice is to carefully evaluate whether the investment is worthwhile before proceeding! (Warning: note that the prices and lead times given in this article are for rough guidance only/ these are only estimates per 2024, which is likely to change!)

Royalties and Rights Management
1.
Register your own songs with CMO (such as Tono) for royalties and copyright management. You should do this AFTER the release is publicly available, so that you know 100% the correct title + the ISRC codes (from CD Baby - the digital distribution provider). It usually takes 2-3 days for this to be registered at TONO (All music that is registered with TONO is automatically assigned an ISWC, and we also have an unique IPI code for the songwriter).
2. Register your own songs with GRAMO – for radio play payments in Scandinavia / Europe.
3. Ensure you add accurate ISRC codes + metadata for tracking your own royalties when registring works at your CMO / Tono.
4. For cover versions, ensure proper registration and payment for downloads or physical copies - Easy Song can be used for this. Online streaming platforms handle royalty payments automatically based on correct songwriter attribution, eliminating the need for additional royalty payments for streaming.
5. Easy Song is preferable to use when it comes to CD Baby releases: Handle mechanical copyright requirements for cover songs. Keep track of proof of licensing – and store this along with the album back-up meta data (see later). Note it takes 4-5 days to register a song with Easy Song

Artwork and Graphic Design
1.
Create or acquire artwork for the album, you will find artwork templates and size dimensions for various CD / DVD / LP online.
2. Use Adobe suite tools for graphic design - if you do not have this / or know how to use it - prepare to spend some money!
3. Make sure you own the artwork outright, so you do not have to pay image rights on distribution etc.
4. Utilize Adobe Premiere Pro for creating music videos; you also need this tool create music videos, reels and whatever video you will release.

Remember to include marketing visuals in your YouTube videos!
Whenever you are creating reels, or music videos, remember that this is your unique opportunity to promote your merch shop, the new album, website, "subscribe now", etc.

Online Merch Shop?
1. Add new album download and any physical output to the store, incl. T-shirts and other merch. Remember to update the correct price + select as many variants as possible, incl. sizes.
2. Manage the Shopify online shop and integrate it with external platforms, incl. CM email marketing, Spotify, Digital Download Apps, Printful, etc.
3. Add merchandise items like T-shirts to the store via sub-fulfilment house, eg. Printful
4. Manage Payment Platforms incl. Stripe and Paypal (Ensure payment platforms like Stripe and PayPal are correctly set up/ that billing is up to date with your preferred financial account).
5. Monitor the Spotify Merch store for orders, authorise fulfilment + update if required
6. Add store-fronts as required (such as Spotify). Ref. YouTube, you need to meet YouTube's minimum engagement level to set up the shop at your official artist channel (500 subscribers + a view hours requirement per year).

Review of taxation laws for online shopping? (Note: VERY Old information/ last updated 2022)
1. DISCLAIMER
= this was an update from 2022 (even then it was out of date) and the tax regulations change all the time. It is therefore essential to consult with a tax professional before making any decisions for your own enterprise or person. We are not tax lawyers, nor is this site frequently updated. Therefore, The Fluffy Jackets nor any person or enterprise connected with the band are not responsible for any decision you take based on information on this website: Always consult with a tax professional before making decisions about your own enterprise or person.
1.a (2022): Norway: Any business that sells goods or services subject to VAT in Norway must register for VAT regardless of their turnover. Norway: Howevever, at the time of writing, you can sell up to 50k NOK before you have to register the company as a business in the Norway.
1.b (2022): EU = the EU VAT threshold for distance selling (i.e., selling goods to customers in other EU member states) was €10,000 in January 2022. This threshold applies to businesses selling goods from one EU member state to customers in other EU member states. Once a business exceeds this threshold in sales to other EU countries in a calendar year, it is required to register for VAT in the EU member states where it sells goods.As of July 1, 2021, the EU introduced the One-Stop Shop (OSS) scheme, which simplifies VAT compliance for sellers selling to EU customers. Under the OSS, you can register for VAT in one EU country and report and pay VAT on sales to all EU countries through a single VAT return. However, the company does not have to register for VAT if the value of the distance sales is under the distance selling threshold. The average distance selling threshold across EU member states was around €35,000.
1.c (2022): EU / Norway = Norway is not an EU member state, but is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and has a separate agreement with the EU regarding certain economic matters and have similar arrangements with the EU on VAT matters.
1.d (2022): UK = as of January 2022, the standard UK VAT registration threshold was £85,000 of taxable turnover in a rolling 12-month period. This means that if your taxable turnover exceeds £85,000 over any consecutive 12-month period, you're required to register for VAT with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in the UK.
1.e (2022): USA = United States does not have a federal value-added tax (VAT) system similar to that found in many other countries, including those in the European Union. Instead, the U.S. primarily relies on sales tax, which is imposed at the state level rather than at the federal level. Sales tax regulations in the U.S. vary by state as each state sets its own sales tax laws, including thresholds for when businesses are required to collect and remit sales tax. These thresholds can vary significantly from state to state and may depend on factors such as sales volume, the number of transactions, or the presence of nexus (a significant connection) in the state.

Website Updates and the Press Release
1.
Website check-list: Update your News index page, main index page + image + link, news article (with photos/ see PR check-list), Music page (incl. copyright page with song credits for each release, artwork-link, PR-link, IRSC, IPI codes, songwriters, publishers etc). Gallery page (update hires photos), About / Artist Bio page, Album Artwork section (for the new album art + single artwork).
2. Check and/or update navigation - - old site has html redirects in place to point to the new website – I have updated re-directs from 2,3,4,,5,6,7 and also the shop/index.html + 1news/1001news.. to the news page located at shopify. The Server-side redirects are usually preferred for permanent redirects (301), as they are more efficient and better for SEO. Client-side redirects are suitable for temporary redirects (I have client side html redirect, as I consider this temp at moment / based on ongoing payment for shopify store.
3. Checklist for things to include in your PR: Headline, sub-headline, album cover and musician photos (incl. link to hires downloads), The name of the album, release date, and a short description of the album's theme, genre, and inspiration. The album track list + any notable collaborations, artist + producer quote, link to EPK, how to buy (merch store), how to stream (incl. links to YouTube and streaming links), release dates, artist bio, contact for more info, clear call-to-action.
4. Notification to key press, radio. Issue the PR via CreateSend / Campaign email software and optimize URLs for social media sharing, incl. hires images, bio-links, link to album download, youtube video, hires artwork, EPK. PR ideally need to be released about 4-6 weeks before release date. This allows ample time for media outlets to receive the info, write articles and schedule coverage to coincide with the album release.

HTML tip 1= make your PR images appear on third party websites (when pasting links)
How to make sure your PR release /URL design – add image/ to show on third party sites like Facebook posts:

4. Update website content, including the shop page.
5. Add a html page for the single and/or album metadata (make a release document incl. copyright information and meta information about your release). This is important, and valuable for keeping all the info about the release in one convenient location going forward. You should add all track meta-data in this xls/htm page, incl. ISRC codes, ISWC code, IPI code, songwriter, publisher, performers, producer, licensing information, recording location, track names, featured artist, track length, PR release link, album art link etc. At The Fluffy Jackets we keep this at our MUSIC folder/page (www.fluffyjackets.co.uk) – and the htm. File is created using Microsoft Excel (xls) and converted by “save as” website. The full Copyright document xls (with summary of all releases) is stored on multiple external harddrives for backup reasons / incl. master artwork, master WAV audio files, etc.).

Streaming Sites
1.
Update artist pages on platforms like Spotify and iTunes.
2. Promote releases and update content on social media and YouTube to generate a buzz and create interest. For example, when releasing a new music video, the teaser announcement could be sent 1-2 weeks before the premiere, then a more detailed official announcement could be sent 3-5 days prior to the premiere. A reminder could be sent the day before the premiere, and a live countdown could be posted an hour before the premiere.
3. Spotify for Artists: You can pitch releases, add canvas, select artist pick, update bio etc. Spotify for artist. Usual recommendation = promote release 4 weeks prior – only 1 x promo at the time. If you are releasing singles + album, make sure you upload all at the same time, but pick release times, so that you have a strategy in place (algorithms like this). Update a video canvas to each song, select your artist pick, pitch your single 6 weeks prior to release, check and connect the new merch to your Spotify store.
4. YouTube - you can promote links in the "description" area of your videos. Note you can shorten links and manage links using Bitly or Linkfire.

HTML tip 1 = creating a subscriber-link on YouTube:
Add ?sub_confirmation=1 to your YouTube address to make a direct subscribe link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=745dg5Jyh_c?sub_confirmation=1

Email Marketing
1.
Update DNS links for both emails (CNAME) and sub-domain url shop.fluffyjackets.co.uk – if needed so that emails can be sent from this domain / I have set up so that emails are sent from "thefluffyjacketsPR" at the fluffy jackets domain.
2. You can use a pro email provider such as Campaign Monitor for email marketing campaigns to press and media contacts - remember Press should receive the news approx. 6 weeks prior to the release date.
3. You need to assign DNS email authority to third party email tools, sending emails on your behalf – like Shopify, or CM.
4. Distribute WAV files for radio play and promote radio interviews.

CMO / Tono
1.
Register your original compositions at your CMO / Tono, to enable you to receive publishing royalties.
2. You need to register your published songs, incl. ISRC codes in order to get the ISWC codes. For this reason, it is recommended to register at Tono AFTER you have released the album, so that you get the exact track play time + exact names as per the release from CD Baby or your distributor.
3. Note it takes 2-3 days from registration until you get the ISWC code from Tono. this to appear-

Check your ISP Internet Service Providers!
1.
These days it is impossible to make music without connecting to the internet in one way or another.
2. It is therefore useful to check in with your ISP (internet service providers) now and then, to check if all the contact information and billing is up to date - not least to find out if you still can access the information! There is always some sort of problem to deal with. Some ISP I can think of include: MacBook/ Apple, Microsoft/email/Hotmail, Domeneshop, MX Fireworks, UAD Appollo, iLOK, Waves, Celemony, FX Expansion /In Music Brand, Soundcloud, CD Baby, Shopify, PayPal, Stripe, Printful, Campaign Monitor, Kulturrådet, Linkfire, Bitly, Tono, Gramo, NMP, PRS for Music, MCPS, Easy Song, Spotify + Spotify For Artists, Apple for Artist, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud, and there are probably a ton more!!

Backup + Back up the backup.
Archive the album and project plan, including artwork, master WAV and MP3 files, Video, metadata such as ISRC, ISWC, IPI + PR release, licensing information (Easy Song, MCPS, NCB), recording location, track names, featured artist, track length, PR release link, album art link, Spotify Canvas videos, SEMS and LUNA sessions + the project plans on an external hard disc / master drive. Create backup copies of all files for redundancy.

 

 


 
   
   
                 
                 
© Copyright The Fluffy Jackets. All Rights Reserved.