There is no question that self-releasing an album is a challenging thing to do. It can feel like walking through treacle when you’re trying to plan, promote and get the attention of reviewers or radio shows. We are no experts and make no attempt to represent ourselves as such, but we thought it may be interesting to hear about what goes on behind the scenes once the last chord has been played and the CDs have been made.
‘What are we doing?’ is a question we’ve asked ourselves many times through this project ;-) When it comes to the album release it’s a question that’s been asked more than ever! We are complete novices at this, finding our way through a tangled web of marketing and promotion strategies that would usually be undertaken by someone with experience, training, contacts and a healthy budget. We’ve been trawling through blogs, articles and videos on DIY album promotion, trying to learn the basics and put together a plan. It’s not perfect, we’ll make mistakes, but we’re going to give it our best shot!
Why bother? Well, the reasons range from the selfless to the selfish with many in between. Kolar’s Gold is different from a usual album release as the project is not for profit. We really believe in the work of the KGF Schools Foundation and The Cornwall Heritage Trust and a driving force behind our PR & marketing work is that the more albums we sell, the more money we raise for them.
There is also the more selfish reason- we’ve spent a year working on this album and are proud of what we have achieved. We believe it is special and want other people to experience it and hopefully think so too!
When is the right time to release? This seemed the simplest question for a long time, the release date had been set before a single note had been played. As the process has moved on though, it has become more complicated. Having been ahead of schedule for most of the year, the final stage of getting the artwork and graphics ready for production has been fraught with challenges. We always felt it was important to have a booklet with the CD that explained the stories and historical context behind the music, and that it should be beautifully illustrated. This means that far from the standard few photos and credits you’d expect to find when buying a CD, there have been pages and pages of text and illustrations to put together. We’ve pushed the release date back by a week to the 7th Feb, not too bad considering!
The key thing has been to accept that we can’t do everything ourselves and to find people with the skills we lack. Jon Bryant from Electric Cup Cake Designs took on the challenge of the booklet and album graphics and lifted a huge weight off our shoulders as he did so. We’d decided to get the CDs manufactured by DMS, on the recommendation of Rough Island Band. This has been one of the best decisions we’ve made. They have been so patient, helpful and understanding of what we’re trying to achieve and have gone way above and beyond to turn our vision into a tangible reality.
How will we promote the album? To make the album release a success we’ll have to use the greatest tool at our disposal- hard work! The plans have been made, the envelopes addressed, the One Sheets printed, the emails sent, the phone calls made, the press releases written. The weeks leading up to our February release date will be a frantic mix of all of the above plus too many tasks to include here! Social media will also be key, it’s a great leveler and will allow us to connect with people directly.
Whether our plans work, we shall see, but whatever happens, this project will have been an incredible musical adventure. We have made so many new friends, experienced new cultures, and been welcomed into families in Cornwall and KGF. If we can bring the cultures and stories of Cornwall and KGF to a wider audience, that will be the greatest reward :-)
