?I've heard about 50,000 people tell me how they would love nothing more than to just play guitar or write songs for a living. Of these people, I've found like 4 who are actually doing anything remotely close to what it takes to actually make a few bucks playing music. One of the concepts to greatly improve your chances of being a pro musician, as simple as it is, is to always have cds with you.

You've heard the expression “I was barely getting by selling cds out of the trunk of my car!” about a zillion times. It's certainly a cliché that every rock star has used once. Well, if you don't have your cds to sell in the back of your car, you are obviously tossing money away and maybe even your career, too. Hell, it may even be a requirement to get into the rock star club to sell cds in the back of your car. (maybe not). There may be a label guy watching you. He may have strict orders to move in and sign you up the second he see's you selling cd out of the car.

Your Music Spreads Virally

Before we talk too much about making a living off of your music, let's talk about AIDs or some other powerful force that spreads virally. Zombies may be a better choice for you, if you don't like talking about AIDs. When the virus/zombie is formed, created, born, or however the hell a virus/zombie starts, it infects a single source. If that source can infect other sources, the virus/zombie can spread exponentially until the entire universe is infected (assuming that aliens just happen to be visiting and are able to contract the virus/zombie).

Well, music is very much like Zombie AIDs. If you are any good at all, you will have people talk to you after a live show who want a cd. If you had a cd to sell him/her, that may have eventually got into the hands of some record label big wig the day after he paid to have his wife knock off and he may have been so ecstatic that he signed you to a $2 million deal without evening listening. (I would compare this to Zombies taking over the world as it is probably has an equal chance of happening).

Just like the Zombie AIDs, that may have been the magic time to grow. If you miss it, you may also be throwing away your chances for world Zombie domination. So, make sure to snag every single sale that you can. Obviously, every lost sale is also $5-10 you are throwing away, but more it could be an entire buzz you are also killing.

The Magic New CD Problem

One way for us crappy musicians stay happy is by thinking that we are always improving. (Hopefully we are). We always think that Magic New Album is going to blow away all the old albums we've recorded. That is usually healthy, but it carries a drawback. It makes us think that our old cd is crap. I've worked way too hard on recordings to run into bands one year later who say “Oh that cd? That cd sucked! We are way better now!”. If you let yourself get convinced that you have magically gotten 6,000 times better in one year, you are probably a weak minded dumbass. More than likely, you are better, but you probably weren't that much worse 12 short months ago. In fact, your fans were probably quite content with that old cd. If it was that bad, you shouldn't have sold it in the first place!

Ok, I don't mean to shoot down your confidence by telling you that you probably have gotten just a little better this year. My point is that you weren't that bad before. So even if your brand new cd isn't finished, don't be shy about selling your old one. $10 is $10. Put it in your band's back pocket and hopefully find a new fan who will be there at the cd release party ready to buy your next release the day it happens. He may even bring 10 friends along. One of those friends may be a writer for the local paper.

Print Up Plenty Of CDs

I run into this all the time. Bands want to save money when it comes to printing up cds. They work hard in the studio recording something they are hopefully proud of just to turn around and print 100 copies. Well, even the worst marketer in the planet can sell 100 cds (unless the band is wretched). If you have any intention of playing music for more than 3 months, I would say that you need to think a little more long term.

A buddy of mine, Daniel Sexton, had this problem. He worked on a cd, had it printed up, but only did 100 copies. He sold out of them (which is great!) but the band split and he never bothered to print more. He played a show by himself with just acoustic guitar and vocals. He said that at least 30 people were asking about cds. I'm currently producing his new cd which I think totally blows away his old stuff (maybe I'm a weak minded dumbass), but the cd isn't ready yet. Bummer! Either way, he should have had something to sell to these people who are coming up to him and begging to give him money.

Also, don't forget that if you have an inventory of older cds, you can always do the old “upsell” trick. So a guy wants to buy your latest cd for $10. Great! You can make him a deal where you will toss in your old one for $15 or maybe all four cd for $20. It's always possible to sell your old cds.

Metallica is a great example of this. I recently heard that Master of Puppets (mixed by friend, Michael Wagener) went 6 x Platinum. When that cd was first recorded, no one had any idea that it would be that huge of commercial success 20 years later. However, Metallica made the best album they could at the time for the type of music they were playing. As they matured, their music changed into a more commercially viable direction. Because of that, records like Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning, and Master of Puppets have all went multi-platinum.

The point is that it is totally possible to sell your current cd 10 or 20 years from now. Just make sure you are really proud of it from the beginning.

Conclusion

Always have cds to sell just about anywhere you go, especially if you are playing a live show. No one is going to buy a cd you don't have. This may be your only chance to sell a cd to that one person and that one person could use Zombie / AIDS technology to spread your cd throughout the universe.

Always make sure you old cds with you, also. Just because you may not like the cd you made 3 years ago doesn't mean that people won't want to buy it. If nothing else, give it away for free to anyone who buys your new cd and a tshirt.