In 2001, I sent my Roadstar album to 900 college radio stations, and 300 of them ended up adding the album to their rotation. Many of the stations were playing the album in high rotation, and while this did increase press coverage, it ultimately did not translate into sales. And that was in 2001 when people were still buying cds, compared to now, where sales of music are down and streaming services (which don’t pay artists well) have increased dramatically.
Originally, I had planned to send Reality Jockey to 300 non-commercial stations (mostly colleges). College radio is still very much a ‘thing’, and usually is ahead of the curve when it comes to breaking new artists. When I executed my other big album campaigns- Roadstar, Kyrie Snow, and Romance of the Spaceways– I was more interested in exposure than making my money back. With Reality Jockey, I am very concerned about the return on my investment. I decided to nix the 300 station push, which saved me about $4000. The project as is is still costing me about $8k. I am manufacturing 500 records and 100 cds, which would bring in maybe $6k if I sell everything. I will be offering digital downloads of Reality Jockey with a ‘Pay What You Want’ model, because I want everybody to have it. I imagine that some people will pay for the download, but pending some magical force in the universe, it’s unlikely I’ll bring in two or three thousand dollars that way.
The point I’m getting at here is that it’s unlikely I will recoup 100% of my investment. And that’s totally okay. My reasons for creating music have never been to make money. I love the process, love listening to what I create, and love having the finished, shrink-wrapped end product in my hands.
Having said that, why don’t you go and preorder Reality Jockey today!
