By Rob - 01/12/2009 06:57 - United States

Today, I finally released my first music album. I dropped out of college to pay for it after my friends who liked my music urged me to. They keep telling me how much they love the CD. I've only sold one copy. Turns out they put it on a sharing site so only one of them would have to buy it. FML
I agree, your life sucks 38 817
You deserved it 15 438
Christmas: Snowy Joys and Blunders
Enjoy Christmas stories where unexpected gifts and family reunions create lasting memories... and fun! More…
Previous FML Next FML

Same thing different taste

Next

Top comments

tekcor 2

Well that was a dumb move. Did you really think your friends would buy enough music to cover your income for the rest of your life?

113 4
Lisa89 3

Welcome to the music industry. And if it was acual money you were after then it's stupid for you to think you could make enough to get by when you're an unknown artists with one album.

34 1

Comments

GreenRupee 0

It's stupid to start as a noname right away with a cd. You should first get popular on the internet, then sell it. YDI for doing really stupid things.

3 0
nimihyel 4

try uploading a few of your songs to YouTube..

0 1
crazymadimadz 12

I can see where you are coming from but, you make it sound so easy. It's really not, especially with the way YouTube is set up today. OP should have tried multiple ways to become more popular and promote music.

0 0
wyld3fyr3 3

FLY, but now that your in this situation, dont become a prefab superstar

0 0
perdix 29

Turn your "friends" into the RIAA. They'll make those ******* pirates walk the plank. They are so tough that pirates are moving away from stealing music for the less-stressful task of hijacking supertankers.

3 4
Brave_Sir_Robin 4

In an age where we are constantly surrounded by thousands of new music artists, music genres, and everything in between, it is no surprise that you were unsuccessful. Without knowing the specifics of your situation, OP, you probably should have sought wise counsel and taken a demo/EP of your music to someone in the industry (or someone who promotes music) and get their professional opinion. If your music is truly a "breakthrough" or a "worthwhile investment," that person could potentially hook you up with some cash and/or a connection to someone in the industry with a bit more clout. I honestly think YDI for not doing enough research and for rushing into this decision without a contingency plan of sorts. While I think your "friends" should support your music regardless what it may sound like, you cannot rely solely on them to get the ball rolling.

5 0
Rota 0

You don't make money from CD sales dumbass, you promote yourself with them. Then once you get noticed, you make money from playing gigs. And you call yourself a musician?

2 0
LilaBear 1

actually... once you're successful... you do make a hella lot of money from CD sales.

0 0
fegd 0

No you don't, specially cause people have been stealing music all over. Artists make good money out of concerts, not out of CD sales.

0 0
ultraslick 0

I have a friend that is an amateur musician as well. But when he makes a song, he sends it to me for free to listen and see what I think. Because since we are FRIENDS he doesn't expect me to pay. That's what FRIENDS do. Your friends supported your music dream, and in return you're demanding 10 bucks from each of them. Try being less selfish.

2 0
Cloudberry 10

Supporting a friend is urging them to make a dumbass decision like drop out of college to promote their one cd? You're a bright one, aren't you?

0 1
RHOPKINS13 2

Well, if you released the album today, you should be happy you have the one sale that you do. It takes a while.

1 0
patticake1601 0

you really should not have dropped out of college, you should have back up options. And in regards to music sharing sites....well now you know why music artists and music labels fight to close those sites. Sucks huh, to have put your heart and soul into an album then have everyone download it for free??

0 2
njmachine 0

Well, you shouldn't expect your friends to pay retail for the CD, especially if they gave you advice or helped them with it. It's December - give your friends free copies as an early xmas gift. No good friend should make profit off of another friend. Yea, maybe ask them for the 25 cents or whatever the actual CD manufacturing cost, but don't ask for the other $9.75 that will just be going into your pocket. Try promoting your music online (for free) first. No one will buy your album if no one knows who you are. And, YDI for dropping out of school. I, for one, doubt that you dropped out solely to pursue a music career. Maybe you didn't like school, and that's your excuse for giving up on it. If you're really that busy, go on reduced course load, or pick an easy major. You can play gigs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. You can go to class during the weekdays, and record music the other nights of the week, and still have the weekend afternoons off to just hang out. And, if you sold only one CD, I'm going to go out on a limb and doubt that you're playing any live performances, so that leaves every night of the week to work on your music. Being a musician while in college isn't any more difficult than working part time while in college, which is something that most of us handle without any problems.

2 0
phatdaddy 0

You've obviously never put out an album before. I've put out 3 full-length albums and a handful of demos. They've typically cost anywhere from $3,000-$6,000, depending on the quality of the recording and another $1,200 for the first batch of 1000 CDs. Let's say it took $5,000 to record and manufacture to first batch. In order to recover the costs of the recording and the initial batch of CDs, one must sell 500 CDs at $10 each, or 1,000 CDs at $5 each. PROFIT does not occur until the expenses are paid off. So when you say, "No good friend should make profit off of another friend," you are completely wrong. He wouldn't profit until he sold at least 500 CDs. You tell me who sounds like the worse friend: a) The person who charges $10 for a CD he spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours writing and recording. b) The person who sees how much effort and money their friend puts into his life's dream but, rather than supporting that friend by spending a measly $10 on a CD, expects free stuff from him... If you said A, it's because you are a douchebag.

0 0
grv_fml 4

c) the person who uses music only as a means to make money

0 0
phatdaddy 0

d) Someone who judges people they don't know based on their desired occupation. You have to take risks to reap the rewards. This guy may be the next John Mayer for all we know. No matter what you think about his music, you'd give just about anything to make a good living doing what you love.

0 0
Minzy_Boy 0

Yes, I understand it's messed up what his friends did, and he's probably taking a big loss on this, but how can you honestly say it's not at least partially his fault? He could've instead recorded an EP or something while attending college instead of putting out a full CD. He took a huge risk here, and maybe he paid more of a price than he should've (I mean it's pretty awful that his friends betrayed him like that), but that still doesn't take away from the fact that he took a HUGE risk. I mean going into the music buisness is already risky, but with a plan like this? It's almost suicide. I honestly can't feel THAT bad for him, because the way he went about putting out this album seems pretty moronic

0 0
phatdaddy 0

I empathize with the guy, because i've been there. I was financially stable, and paid for my albums with disposable income, but I've never been able to recover those losses, and have had very few friends that have actually bought a CD from me, saying $10 is "too much for a local band's CD" even though my last full-length album was professionally recorded, mixed, mastered, designed and manufactured, and would not be distinguishable from a major label album to the average listener. Still, have only had a handful of friends buy the CD.

0 0
flgirlwguitar 2

That's just the start. You've got to get out and promote, promote, promote. That being said, I still don't get enough to cover my guitar upkeep costs, which is why I'm not risking recording an album just yet. *Insert shameless plug here*

0 0