# Band's first EP - free or not?



## SwampAshSpecial (Jan 7, 2012)

So, my band will be releasing our first EP in the next month or two (hopefully) and I was wondering what people's thoughts on free/paid would be? I was thinking charge £2-3 or something, but will people not take it seriously at that price? Equally, if a relatively unknown band stuck their EP up for £5, would anybody bother?


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## C2Aye (Jan 7, 2012)

Honestly, a free release will get a lot more attention and more people will be able to get a hold of it via download (via Bandcamp). I was also pretty much unknown until I released my album and because it was free, it really helped spread my name etc. If you desperately want to see some money, then you can maybe set it to pay what you want with the option of a free download. It's not guaranteed but it's at least something.

If you absolutely must charge, give the option to stream it for free. Anything that can let people listen without having to pull out a credit/debit card. Sadly, if you want to get your name out there, you're probably going to have to go without that extra bit of cash until you know that people _will_ buy it


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## Blasphemer (Jan 7, 2012)

Name your own price on Bandcamp. Not to be a dick (this is true for my band, too), but nobody knows who you are except your friends and a couple fans, and because of such they wont pay to get music from somebody that down low on the ladder. So, make it free, and they'll probably download it, plus, you might get a few bucks from it in the long run.


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## WhiteWalls (Jan 7, 2012)

I researched the topic a couple months ago because me and my band were about to release our first EP.
The music itself, in my opinion, has to be 100% free. You want people to listen to your stuff and get interested, and nobody will spend 5£ just to check out a new band.

We even went a bit further and printed 150 hard copies of our cd and gave them away for free at our release show, it cost us some money of course, but i think it was the best move because it got a lot of people interested and it showed them that we actually made an effort.
I'm not saying you have to do it of course, but if you are just starting out chances are you aren't making any money either way, or at least sell something special that can't be downloaded, like a sweet package with a booklet, artwork, etc.


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## Goatchrist (Jan 7, 2012)

We put our online to download for free. But we need Promotion, that's why we recorded the 3 song EP.
Put the printed copies we sell for 5 bucks, just for the extra work we have cause of that.
But we are really unknown, we just own at festival shows, so some people buy it there.

You can find the link in this thread. (Shameless self promotion yay!)


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## ozzman619 (Jan 7, 2012)

i think that goatchrist said is the smartest thing to do, free online download and like a $5 for hardcopy just so your not losing money or anything, thats seems to be the best thing to do


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## MikeMonacoBrah (Jan 8, 2012)

my band just released an EP and put it up for free download. we ordered physical copies of it too for people interested in buying. ever since we put it out we've been catching some cool breaks and getting our name out there a bit more. hold off until the second release until you set a price.


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## 4Eyes (Jan 9, 2012)

"Downloading music shouldnt be illegal. Not supporting the artist should be." - Jason Aalon Butler of the band Letlive.


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## JamesM (Jan 9, 2012)

If it's good it will just get pirated anyway. 

People pirate my _free_ EP (not that I'm implying it is good).


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## C2Aye (Jan 9, 2012)

The Armada said:


> If it's good it will just get pirated anyway.
> 
> People pirate my _free_ EP (not that I'm implying it is good).



Yeah, I found that as well. Pretty much as soon as I released it I found pirate links for it, even though I released it for free as well 

If you do a google search of my name, you pretty much get pages and pages of pirate links to my album which is freaky, along with the odd youtube video.

Arr, pirates, we even steal free stuff, arrr!


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## JamesM (Jan 9, 2012)

Well, it's a simple formula. Perusing through my own pages of pirated stuff, I find that it's the blogs that want to upload it to say, Mediafire, as opposed to their readers just going to my BANDCAMP.


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## Attercop (Jan 14, 2012)

Personally, I'm all about releasing free albums as an unknown band, or at least a few songs. The exposure benefit is so much greater that way. Unfortunately, most of the guys in my band disagree. Like people have said, some people just want to support your band, and there are others who like physical media, so the option of a $5 CD can never hurt.


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## avenger (Jan 19, 2012)

Free download/5 dollars for physical copy seems liek a good way to go. People can check it out and if they like it or your name starts going around abit people will buy it.


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## iRaiseTheDead (Jan 19, 2012)

put it out for free to start (so that people can get familiar with your sound/who you are)

then when you record a 2nd or even an album sell it cheap-ish so people stay interested


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## Augury (Jan 19, 2012)

Free for download, 5 bucks for a legit physical copy.


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## xeonblade (Jan 23, 2012)

Well, IMHO, music should be FREE, with option to support the band.
I.E.
Free albums for download, option to donate to help the band and physical copies which you could sell. (+ money from gigs later on)
If you intend to make your living off music you love it's not really gonna work unless you make music for mtv stuff...


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## Scar Symmetry (Jan 23, 2012)

Free for download is definitely the way for a new underground band. If I release free music that I've worked hard on and people love it, share it, praise it and want to hear more, I would think it had paid for itself.


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## FormerlyVintage (Jan 23, 2012)

I have no experience with this, but for some reason, whenever a band releases their debut music for free, I just take them less serious. It just seems as if the music is an on the side hobby instead of a true love. I know this isn't actually the case, but it's just what it always feels like for me.

However, you should release at least one of your tracks for free. If people like it, they can buy the EP for a small amount ($5 maximum). That way it's also easier to record another demo/an album!


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## cwhitey2 (Jan 23, 2012)

Free.


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## EdgeC (Jan 23, 2012)

You could always go with giving away a 2 - 3 song CD. And then charging something for the full release if people are interested.

I want as many people at a gig as I can to take home something with them. Best way to do that is free. Especially with a demo CD.


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## Fiction (Jan 23, 2012)

Free Download, Paid Physical Copy.

I get disappointed when I find an awesome band/musician that lets me download their music for free, but they won't let me hold a physical copy. So definitely offer the CDs for sale on-top of a free download.

*Cough-Sithu-Cough*


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## Scar Symmetry (Jan 24, 2012)

Django said:


> I have no experience with this, but for some reason, whenever a band releases their debut music for free, I just take them less serious. It just seems as if the music is an on the side hobby instead of a true love. I know this isn't actually the case, but it's just what it always feels like for me.
> 
> However, you should release at least one of your tracks for free. If people like it, they can buy the EP for a small amount ($5 maximum). That way it's also easier to record another demo/an album!



That personally doesn't make any sense to me. For me it shows to me that a band takes it seriously if they release their first EP/LP for free because that tells me that they can see how things are now and know that it will give them the best exposure. If it gets the right exposure then release the second or third release for money once you know people will pay for it (Keith Merrow anyone?) but for the first, it's asking people to take a risk without the promise of value for money which in this day and age is something music lovers rarely do.

In my eyes it's better to give people high quality music straight from the source without the associated guilt. From there on you garner fans who if they believe you've worked hard will support your future as a legitimate musical act.


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## C2Aye (Jan 24, 2012)

Fiction said:


> Free Download, Paid Physical Copy.
> 
> I get disappointed when I find an awesome band/musician that lets me download their music for free, but they won't let me hold a physical copy. So definitely offer the CDs for sale on-top of a free download.
> 
> *Cough-Sithu-Cough*



Well, seeing how I released it for free I have no money to press CD's 

Also, I agree completely with Scar Symmetry. It says a lot of a band like Red Seas Fire as well who could have well charged for their mini album but instead released it for free. It helps in terms of exposure as well as giving the impression that you want your music to be heard by people, regardless of any potential profit to yourself.


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## robotsatemygma (Jan 25, 2012)

From personal experience, a majority of show goers view local bands as amateur, unless they are impressionable youth, then you're a god! lol 

With the market/industry the way it is... it's pretty pointless to charge for music. Give it away for free. You're profit will be from actual merch (t'shirts, hoodies, stickers, etc). The 2 most recent bands I played in both had music available. One band sold it for $5 a pop, the other gave it away for free. That band sold more copies to kids then to adults. The other band, ran out of copies of the free EP. 

People love free shit.


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## beyondtheepilogue (Jan 27, 2012)

The way I see it, it all depends on your market. I know people who thrive on the live setting that have an interesting philosophy. People hand them their demos after the show, and those discs never make it to the CD player. Their idea is, if I invest my money in it, I'll invest my time in it.

However, if your market is primarily internet, I'd like to agree with some of the people that have already replied to your question. Give it away for free. You're targeting people that typically get a lot of their music for free. And even when they don't, they're only going to spend money on bands they know about. I got some advice from Dan of The Omega Experiment to give out my EP for free (after some time of trying to sell 8 tracks for $3). They did the same and have made a huge name for themselves in the online metal community. They have opened for Devin Townsend, sold T-Shirts, and are about to unleash their full length next month to a huge fanbase. 

If you do release it for free, you're going to need to find ways to promote it yourself. Start sending the final product to metal blogs and asking them to review it. Find creative ways to get the word out, then your free album could really thrive.


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