Cost: The obvious point. A digital release is far cheaper to produce than a physical CD, this is better for everyone involved;
It lessens the risk for the label and leaves them with more money to spend on promotion/marketing and other aspects. Often, the digital revenue streams of a physical release will put that release into the black. It’s not uncommon for us to sell 4 digital albums for every CD.
This in turn, is better for the band, because not only does the increased promo budget mean that they have greater chance of success, but also lower costs means a larger slice of the pie for them, and we ALL love pie.
Last, but by no means least, it's better for the fans, because lower costs and overheads means that we can sell the album for less, meaning the fans get a better deal, the average price for a CD is £7, a digital release is half of that, just £3.50.
Everyone wins!
Exposure: Another common misconception is that digital releases don't get the promo work and exposure that physical CDs get. This couldn't be any more wrong.
At a basic level any release gets the same work. We create a "Digi-Pack" featuring info on the band. This includes artwork, the release date and all the information that you could want and we attach to that a review copy. This is then sent off to everyone we know that we think will like the release. These days, magazines and radio stations don't want CDs clogging up their mail rooms, most magazines and radio stations won't even accept CDs for reviews/plays. They ALL want the far easier to manage digital copies sent via email. So why would release format matter?
Another point worth mentioning, digital sales are counted towards official chart placements now, so it's not like before when a track could sell millions digitally and still not crack the official top ten. Additionally, digital releases have their own charts now: iTunes, Spotify and many more sites have increasingly important digital charts; this gives bands a greater chance of reaching the top and claiming that all important title "Number One!"
And finally, one of the biggest points in favour of a digital release...
Returns: we're all in this for the love of music, that's a given. However, it's nice at the end of the day to have some kind of return for your work. The big problem with physical releases is that they're expensive. Recording, cutting and distributing a CD costs a lot, and all of that money must be recuperated before you start making a profit. This is not the case with a digital release, where the overheads are far lower, meaning you have to sell far, far less in order to cover your costs and start making a profit.
Here are some example of digital releases that will make a profit, which they would not have done, if they'd been released as CDs:
Well, there is it! The three top reasons why digital releases are equal and in some ways superior to, a physical release. If you have any further questions feel free to leave them in the comment section below (or just say hi!). [we're working on the Comments - the web guy]
Catch you on the flipside.
The Flicknife Kru.
