A Winner each month is selected to receive $100 Gift Card. However, the lucky 8th winner, for this month, will also be awarded an additional prize – free audio mastering, a $550.00 value. That is a total winning prize of $650.00!

Thanks to current technology and with a little help from professional world-class audio CD/DVD mastering and duplication experts, producing a professional CD or DVD, that can truly showcase your musical talent, is now easier than ever before.

While, of course, the musical component is crucial to any successful launch of any CD or DVD, it is only half the battle. As human beings, we naturally tend to gravitate to eye catching images and this is why, dedicating the right amount of time and energy towards choosing the perfect artwork, to showcase your soon to be released CD or DVD is so crucial. Regardless of just how talented and innovative you truly are, the reality is that if your CD or DVD and more specifically, the cover art does not stand out as being imaginative and original, the chances of successfully introducing your new CD or DVD, to the world, has significantly been reduced.

While you might feel as though you have put everything you could into the music you have so lovingly created, the challenge now, is to work on that cover art – to create a graphic design that will convey, through images, the essence of your music and www.abetdisc.com/welcome/pages/abet-design-contest.html sponsors a contest, each month, that can help you get there. There has never been a better time to try your hand at designing and submitting your own cover artwork and challenging yourself through images may just take you to a whole new level of artistry you never thought possible.

The professionals at www.abetdisc.com/welcome/pages/abet-design-contest.html are fellow musicians that share a unique understanding of just how important the “overall” finished product truly is, to any artist. They are keenly aware of their responsibility to support and encourage you throughout the entire CD/DVD creative process and, this contest is one of the ways they have chosen to do so.

To date, www.abetdisc.com/welcome/pages/abet-design-contest.html has successfully encouraged 7 artists, by sponsoring this monthly contest, offering you the opportunity of winning a $100 gift card that can be used to purchase more CD duplication designs of your winning cover. However, the lucky 8^th winner, for this month, will also be awarded an additional prize – free audio mastering, a $550.00 value. That is a total winning prize of $650.00! The greatest yet!

Entering is simple. You will receive one contest entry for each CD or DVD duplication, replication or design service order you request. Simply click the box, confirming that you would like to submit your own artwork or graphic design, and you are automatically entered into the contest. One winner is chosen and notified each moth.

Visit www.abetdisc.com for more information on all the services offered, as well as for more contest details.

Abet Disc | Aeron Nersoya

If you are a performing musician that sells CDs at your shows, please consider this:

Terry McBride of Nettwerk told this story at a recent conference:

A band he was managing was doing the usual thing of selling CDs for $15. They’d mention it once or twice from the stage, and sell about $300 per night on average.

He asked them to try a completely different approach:

1. Say to the audience, “It’s really important to us that you have our CD. We worked so hard on it and are so proud of it, that we want you to have it, no matter what. Pay what you want, but even if you have no money, please take one tonight.”
2. Mention this again before the end of the show, adding, “Please, nobody leave here tonight without getting a copy of our CD. We’ve shared this great show together so it would mean a lot to us if you’d take one.”

It changes the request from a commerical pitch to an emotional connection. (Replace market mindset with social mindset!) Allowing them to get a CD for no money just reinforces that.

Terry said that the band did this for a while, and soon they were selling about $1200 per night on average, even including those people who took it for free! I think the average selling price was about $10.

But the important part came next:

Because every person left each show with a CD, they were more likely to remember who they saw, tell friends about it, listen to it later, and become an even bigger fan afterwards.

Then, when the band came back to a town where they had insisted that everyone take a CD, attendance at those shows doubled! The people that took a CD became long-term fans and brought their friends to future shows.

Want to try it? Document specifics.

So far this is just rough word-of-mouth from Terry, but it seems like it’d work. Anyone want to try it? If so, I’d like to tell your tale here in a future article.

So please log some specifics, before and after.

BEFORE: How many CDs did you sell at your last 5-10 shows? Average the number and price to come up with an average per-night total and average per-CD price.

AFTER: What were those same numbers for the next 5-10 shows using this method?

Also, please note any specific things you did or said that worked exceptionally well, and perhaps any interesting responses you heard back from the audience.

If you’re able to note attendance at the same venue for a concert where you did this, then at that same venue afterwards, that’s a nice bonus.

Save these specific numbers, and either post them as a comment below, or email me at derek@sivers.org. Be able to give the venue info, too, because if this goes exceptionally well I’ll be contacting the venue for their verification and perspective.

Previous title for this post was “Experiment: Everyone must have a CD, even if free.” but I think the new title describes the real point better

© 2009 Derek Sivers

Posted by: Aeron Nersoya | AbetDisc.com