For many recording artists, the dreams of having a hit mixtape will remain just that, just a dream. Because? Because most artists unfortunately don’t understand how to promote a mixtape online and sell it. Learning how to sell a mixtape is a matter of learning marketing and sales strategies, as well as having a well-developed plan. Many rappers try to find free ways to promote music online, however, to have a successful launch, you will need some start-up capital to invest in your project. Let’s take a look at some of the factors you’ll need to consider in your budget before you start promoting mixtapes.

How to make a mixtape CD

Assuming you’re releasing a totally original mixtape AND you’ve prepared a written action plan, you should consider the following when financing your project:

Beat leases and/or exclusive Beat prices

registration costs

graphic design fees

CD duplication/replication costs

Music videos

Miscellaneous advertising costs

Beat Leases, Exclusive Beats

If you don’t create your own beats, you will need to allocate an amount of money to purchase beat leases or exclusive rights to them. Whether you buy beats online or offline is totally up to you.

Let’s use these numbers as an example:

You buy leases of 10 beats online at $50 per lease with a distribution limit of 2500 units.

Cost: $500

You buy 3 exclusive rhythms on sale for $250 per instrumental with unlimited distribution rights.

Cost: $750

Recording

Your recording costs will vary depending on the recording engineer you choose, as well as the location of the studio. If you are a do-it-yourself musician and are able to record your own voice, then you will save a lot here. Otherwise, consider the following realistic figures:

Recording Fee: $50/hour with a 2 hour minimum reservation.

Let’s say it takes you and the engineer 3 hours to record and mix 1 song.

For a 13 song mixtape your costs would be 39 hours x $50/hour

Cost: $1950

audio mastering

Let’s say you use Discmakers audio mastering services for your mixtape. Your cost for 13 songs would be $599.

Total recording cost: $2549

Graphic design

Continuing with our what-if scenario, we’ll assume to get a professionally prepared front and back cover to promote the mixtape online. It will cost $200.

CD Duplication/Replication

For our purposes, we will be using Discmakers CD duplication services, purchasing 500 copies of the full mixtape for promotion. The total cost here will be approximately $480. These CDs will be used to sell at shows and other performance venues.

Music video

To help with the promotion of mixtapes online, we will create 1 promotional music video to drive YouTube traffic to the music.

Cost: $500

miscellaneous advertising

You’ll want to keep your miscellaneous advertising costs to a minimum. For our purposes, we will conservatively dedicate $1,200 to our various advertising efforts consisting of:

1 Flash Rotator Banner in Datpiff

1 YouTube Promoted Video

1 Google AdWords campaign

1 Facebook ad campaign

Total investment estimate = $6179

How to finance your mixtape

So we’ve estimated that you’ll need to spend a little over $6,000 on your mixtape. The goal of this project is to sell the mixtape at performances, shows, and distribute the music through digital outlets for profit. Here are some ideas that can help you finance, promote, and sell your mixtape online.

Ask family, friends

Even if your pride tells you otherwise, ask your family and friends to help finance your mixtape promotional efforts. Even if they only contributed $5, you are $5 closer to your goal.

fundraising

Crowdfunding has become an increasingly popular way to raise money. Also known as crowdfunding, equity crowdfunding, or hyperfunding, it describes the collective cooperation, care, and trust of people who network and pool their resources, usually through the Internet, to support efforts started by other people or organizations. .

Crowdfunding websites: Kickstarter, Crowd Tilt, AngelList, Crowd Funder, We Funder, Indie Go Go, Micro Ventures

loans

Personal loans, bank loans, and small business loans can all be considered financing options for your mixtape. Make sure you clearly understand the terms of your loan agreement and are committed to repaying your loan in full with interest as needed. If your mixtape project is not for profit, you may want to consider seeking a grant.

Resources: Small Business Administration, Grants

Presale

You can pre-sell your mixtape before its actual release. This often works well if an additional offer is included with the pre-order (ie merchandise, exclusive downloads, signed copies of the project, etc.).

sell singles

You can sell individual tracks as you record them, using the money from the first few to pay for future recordings and/or other mixtape expenses.

Resources: Tunecore, Cdbaby

Sponsorships/Endorsements

If you generated enough buzz prior to the release of your mixtape, you may be able to get sponsors to pay for some of your mixtape expenses. Acquiring sponsorships will require deep relationship and networking, but if you can pull it off, it will be to your advantage.

final thought

Promoting and selling a mixtape is similar to developing a new product for a company. It takes a calculated effort and adequate funding to promote your mixtape to the masses. Hopefully, this post has given you helpful tips for promoting your mixtape online.

Good luck!