The B# Newsletter (For Musicians) (Part 2 of 2)

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| The B# Newsletter | April 22, 2007

Publisher: MuBiz.com
http://www.MuBiz.com
Editor: Kenny Love
Primary Email: kennylove@...
Web Site Sign-Up: http://yahoogroups.com/group/BSharpNews
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Copyright © 2007 MuBiz.com All Rights Reserved

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"The B# Newsletter" is a FREE music industry newsletter
published by MuBiz.com. It is focused toward independent
musicians and recording artists. Its intent is to inform and
enlighten artists through articles, resources, products, and
services that will significantly enhance them in their music
careers. Additionally, it offers Op-Ed/Commentary on various
Music industry headline news.

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IN THIS ISSUE…

I. Editor's Blurb


II. CD Cover Design Myths Debunked (Part 2 of 2)
(and other must-know CD design info for the indie musician)

By Guest Author Jane Denny


III. Music Business & Career Resources/Products/Services

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I. Editor's Blurb

As I stated on yesterday, Guest Author Jane Denny
continues her 2-part article titled, "CD Cover Design
Myths Debunked" today.

NOTE: If you are an author who would like to contribute a
"unique" article that helps musicians and recording artists
succeed in their careers, please feel free to send it to me
for consideration of publication within the B# Newsletter.

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II. "CD Cover Design Myths Debunked" (Part 2 of 2)
(and other must-know CD design info for the indie musician)


By Jane Denny


Myth #3: The guy who does our website can do it.

For the same reason my lady friend above should not have
attempted to do her own graphics, unless your web
designer has experience with design for print, don't give it
to him either. Designing for the web and designing for print
are two entirely different animals with entirely different
needs.

Most web designers work exclusively in cyberspace, in
an entirely paperless environment. All they know is the
computer monitor and don't have a clue that screen
resolution and screen color don't translate to print.

Our computer monitors display things in 3 colors, and at a
maximum of 72 dots or pixels per inch. Images destined for
print need to be created at upwards of 300dpi and in 4-color
mode. Most web designers have no idea!

Myth #4: If you can design, you can design a CD.

This may be true eventually, but I wouldn't give that benefit
of the doubt to a designer on my first CD. Even as a design
pro for several years, with a lot of experience working to the
specs of all kinds of printers and manufacturers, my first
CD was tough.

There are things to know about on-cd inks, spot color, white
floods, acceptable font sizes for legibility on certain papers…
a world of things. I sweated a lot of those specs the first
time, having no idea that CD printing wasn't the same as
printing on other media.

Myth # 5- An artist is an artist. Any designer can create an
image that represents my material.

Any designer can create an image, yes. But how many can
create an image that represents your blood, sweat and
tears? The way you envision it? You want someone with
insight. You want someone with great visualization skills.
Someone who can listen to your material, and to you, hear
what you say as well as what you don't, and distill it all into
a series of images that tell your audience what's on this
record.

How do you recognize that person? S/he will ask a lot of
questions, perhaps an annoying number at first. S/he will
listen to you first and give ideas later. S/he will give you
what you asked for first, and what s/he thinks is better
second. S/he will have a portfolio of more than one or two
good looking CDs. S/he'll have references and client
testimonials. His or her art will move you, not just look like
cool noise. You'll know.
Myth #6: CD cover graphics should be cheap.

By the time we've gotten to this myth, I hope I've shed
enough light on the work intensiveness, the technical skill,
the specialized knowledge, the creativity and insight that
goes into creating a good CD cover, and that you've been
convinced it's worth a reasonable rate of pay.

Graphics is no different than any business in that you get
what you pay for. If you want an exceptional CD cover
design that fits the tech specs, you have to hire a pro.
Having found the right pro for you, you have to expect to pay
what the job is worth. What is that? Every CD is different.

A designer will quote a rate based on an estimated number
of hours s/he thinks it will take to accomplish the concept,
multiplied by their hourly rate. Don't be surprised to hear
that with all the elements you want included, and all the
fantastic effects, and the lyrics for all the songs, plus the
back and forth revising, and adding everyone's input, etc.
that what you think is a simple concept is estimated to
take between 15 and 25 hours.

Some pros charge $30/hour, some as much as $75/hour.
You can do the math. The more complicated your concept,
the more grandiose the ideas, the larger the package, the
more original artwork expected of the designer (as opposed
to photography you supply), the more hours you add.

I notice, in general, a disparity between how much
musicians seem willing to pay for the process that helps
them record the music, and how little they're willing to pay
for the process that helps them create the package, though
the CD and case go hand in hand into the store, and the
sight often precedes the sound. An artist can conceivably
spend up to $25,000 and more to record, mix, master and
mass produce a CD. But their eyebrows go up at the
suggestion of $750-$1500 for a CD cover.

To that you might reply that it's the music that's the
product here, not the graphics. True. It's also true that you
can't judge a book by its cover, but people do anyway. It
can also be argued that a CD's material is more likely to be
known to the buyer before they buy it, in which case the
music has sold itself and the graphics are just incidental.

But of material that is unknown to the audience before the
sale, credit has to be given to the designer for his or her
role in creating that sale. Don't you think?

Switch positions for a minute. If it was a clip of your music
that caused someone to link onto a website and buy a
product, wouldn't you feel you had some hand in that sale?

For that reason, I think musicians should not be so quick
to dismiss the idea of royalty based agreements, and/or a
design fee with points on the record for the designer
whenever possible. I know they hate it. They never want a
situation that entails a future obligation. And 99% of the
time, it's not done.

But in truth, it is only fair. It's the norm in every other area
of publishing, and more successful acts are making it a
practice. Look at it this way: that music and that package
are going to be forever wed, whether you sell 10 copies or
10 million. If you sell 10, you're out nothing. If you sell
10 million, and you only paid $1000 to the artist, is that fair?

Like the musicians whose material we represent, and the
engineers and studios that help them make the music we
love, designers just want to be fairly compensated for our
contribution. It's bigger than you think.

[---End Part 2 of 2---]
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Editor's Note: Jane Denny is the Art Director for The Mad
Hand Arts, Graphics and Design in New York. Her design
clients include the highly popular music industry directory,
The Indie Bible, as well as numerous independent recording
artists. Be sure to read Part 2 of this article in tomorrow's
edition. An extensive portfolio of Jane's work can be seen
on her website at http://www.themadhand.com

Related Short Story:

Read "The Case Of The Great CD Cover Mystery"
http://www.MuBiz.com/CDMystery.html

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* As always, your comments regarding this article are very
much appreciated, so please feel free to send them to
kennylove@...

Again, if you are an author who would like to contribute a
"unique" article that helps musicians and recording artists
succeed in their careers, please feel free to send it to me
for consideration of publication within the B# Newsletter.

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Get a complete list of articles by checking the "Messages"
section in the B# Newsletter on Yahoo! Groups at
http://yahoogroups.com/group/BSharpNews

=====

Music Dish articles by Kenny Love:
http://www.musicdish.com/kennylove/

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III. Music Business & Career Resources/Products/Services

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[---CHEAP ADVERTISING SPACE---]

The B# Newsletter now has over 2,000 dedicated
musicians as subscribers. If you own a music
business, product or service that musicians need to
know about, or you need to get information out to
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After all, our rate is only $10 per weekly issue. Plus,
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Your ad will include an ALL CAPS headline and 6
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To purchase your ad via http://www.PayPal.com,
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address.

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1. http://www.MuBiz.com
(MuBiz.com Hqtrs.)

2. http://www.MuBiz.com/KL-ProPer.html
All About Me (Professionally & Personally)

3. http://prweb.com/releases/2006/10/prweb466569.htm
(Billboard News on The B# Newsletter)

4. http://prwebpodcast.com/releases/pod466569.htm
(My Billboard Radio Interview)

5. http://www.MuBiz.com/aboutMuBiz.html
(MuBiz.com's Mission Statement)

6. http://www.MuBiz.com/licensingyoursongs.html
(How To Get Your Music On Film & TV Soundtracks)

7. http://www.MuBiz.com/MultiSpeak.html
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Tripling & Quadrupling YOUR Music $ales INSTANTLY!)

8. http://www.MuBiz.com/services.html#RECORD_PROMOTION
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9. http://www.MuBiz.com/GigPromo.html
(MuBiz.com's Gig Promo)

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12. http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/bsharpnews
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13. http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/klmb101
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14. http://www.MuBiz.com/klmuzres.html
(My Music Resumé)

15. http://www.MuBiz.com/writeres.html
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16. http://www.MuBiz.com/hiphopbts.html
(Huge Library of Hip Hop Beats)

17. http://www.MuBiz.com/proprod.html
(Get the secrets of leading studio producers)

18. http://www.MuBiz.com/Bandit.html
(Here is the inside info on getting signed to record labels)

19. http://www.MuBiz.com/musiclicense.html
(Here's how to get your music on movie & TV soundtracks)

20. http://www.MuBiz.com/zzounds.html
(Lowest Priced/Highest Quality Equipment For: Musicians & Singers!)

21. http://www.NysaLove.com
(Original Art work for your CD Cover or Music Business)

22. http://www.MuBiz.com/StunRing.html
(Be Safe & Protect Yourself On The Road, At Gigs & On Tour!)

23. http://www.MuBiz.com/schgrant.html
(Want A Music Degree, But Think You Can't Afford College? Think
Again!)

24. http://www.MuBiz.com/lifegrant.html
(Starving Musician? Never Heard Of It! What's That? Click the
above link to learn how you can get FREE money from the government
for your music career without the need to get a boring suicidal day job!)

25. http://www.MuBiz.com/4life.html
(Life's All-Problem-Solving Resource!)

26. http://www.MuBiz.com/OnlineGigs.html
(Book Your Own Gigs & Get Gig Offers)

27. http://yahoogroups.com/group/klmb101
(Online "Real-Time" Music Business Class!!!)

28. http://www.MuBiz.com/F4.html
(Absolutely FREE Digital Electronics!)

29. http://www.MuBiz.com/bb-bf.html
(Bob Baker's Masterpiece On Taking Advantage
Of & Effectively $elling Music on MySpace)

30. http://www.MuBiz.com/MusicBlogPower.html
(Learn HOW to Blog Your Music To Riche$!)

31. http://www.MuBiz.com/viralmusic.html
Increase Your Music Buyers Dramatically!

32. http://www.MuBiz.com/mustsee.html
Musicians' Must-Have Survival Products

33. http://www.MuBiz.com/services.html#CD_COVER
CD Cover Concepts

34. http://www.MuBiz.com/KLFiction.html
(My "Other" Life)

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Some Humor, Perhaps?

"The Case Of The Great CD Cover Mystery"
http://www.MuBiz.com/CDMystery.html

"Nightmare on L Street"
http://www.MuBiz.com/nightmare.html

Scary Review 1
http://www.musicdish.com/mag/index.php3?id=2132

Scary Review 2
http://www.musicdish.com/mag/index.php3?id=4780

"Attack of the Killer Musicians!"
http://www.musicdish.com/mag/index.php3?id=4525

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Got Questions, Issues, Answers, News, or anything
of value to add to the content of "The B# Newsletter?"
If so, we encourage you to please feel free in contacting
us at: BSharpNews-owner@yahoogroups.com

Also, if you are aware of any fellow independent
musicians and recording artists who might benefit from
this newsletter, why not inform them about it? Or better
yet, why not forward them a copy of this edition for them
to preview?

Thank you for reading us...until next time…

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| The B# Newsletter | April 22, 2007

Publisher: MuBiz.com
http://www.MuBiz.com
Editor: Kenny Love
Primary Email: kennylove@...
Web Site Sign-Up: http://yahoogroups.com/group/BSharpNews
Email Subscribe: BSharpNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Email Unsubscribe: BSharpNews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: BSharpNews-owner@yahoogroups.com

Copyright © 2007 MuBiz.com All Rights Reserved

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