Putting The $$$ On Your Cd

By Author: Gabe Sullivan
Total Articles: 10
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Artists are usually happy enough when their music is heard by lots of people. What is often overlooked is pricing their work. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to put a price on your CD, but this should not be taken lightly as well. You've gone under a lot of effort and expense to make that CD, and you deserve something for your trouble. But be careful, this should also be weighed against several other factors. These are the basic things you should take into account when picking a price for your CD:

- CD production cost
- The perceived value of the CD
- The general average selling price for CDs

First, determine how much it cost you to make those CDs and average it out to a cost-per-unit. Let's say you're trying to break even with the first batch of CDs which cost $5000, and your first printing is 1000 units, then the base price per CD is $5. Anything above that amount is profit and bear in mind that you should not go below that amount. How to make bigger profit? Use low-cost resources so you can lessen the base price while still making a fair profit.

Second, this is the most important ...
... factor, is creating perceived value for your CD. Buyers have to believe that they are getting good value for the price. The thing with music is, this is highly subjective and it's also a balancing act. If the pricing is too high, you risk that people won't think they can't afford it. But, if you put a price too low, you can also hurt the perceived value because it's like you're telling your fans that the CD is not worth that much. What to do? Choose a fair price somewhere in between.

Third, do a research on how much other CDs are being sold for. Usually, music CD's are sold for between $8 and $15. That's the ballpark range for perceived value. Want a simpler principle? Based on download prices, most people don't seem to mind to pay about a dollar per song. Say you have a 12-song CD and sell it for $10, chances are your fans will perceive it as a fair deal.

The author works for Mixonic, a leading CD and DVD production service, which deals duplicate CDs and duplicate DVDs as well.