Page 98 - ION Indie Magazine JULYAUG 2024

George: It’s no small task. We’ve seen the music industry change drastically in the past 15 years with
the rise of streaming services as the go-to method to consume music, which has had a lasting negative
impact on CD and vinyl sales for bands, labels, and record stores. Between the very small streaming
payouts and annual fees to have our music on streaming services, we’ve turned our focus to building
a loyal group of supporters that stream our music but also want to have our music on CD or vinyl. Being
able to use a crowdfunding platform has helped us validate the demand and presell our music and
other limited items directly to those wonderful people. There are a lot of costs that go into making a
record -- including recording, mixing and mastering costs, plus gear, and guest musician costs. There
are a lot of costs that go into releasing a record -- including artwork and design, manufacturing, PR,
and promotional costs, and the overhead to get out and play shows. Lucky for us, we’ve learned how
to do some of these things ourselves over the years (still learning!) and we’ve been able to put in some
sweat equity to do all of this on an indie budget.