Remember that time I debuted my new musical Gettin’ The Band Back Together at George Street Playhouse this past fall?

Well, a month ago, I got the cast back together and we recorded a cast album!  And now, you can get it on iTunes!  Download it here:  Gettin’ The Band Back Together Cast Album.

So now that the obvious promotional part of this blog is over, let’s get to the more interesting stuff:  why did I spend $40k (yep, that was the price tag) to record an album after the regional theater production . . . when there will certainly be a bigger and better (translation: Broadway) production in the not-so-distant future that will spit out its own cast album?

Yes, I loved the production and the cast and wanted a literal “record” of that production.  But that’s not enough of a reason to spend $40k.

Yes, I needed a demo to give to potential investors in the Broadway production.  But that could have been produced for about $10k.  Or less.

Why would I spend 4x as much?

You all know that I try my damnedest to make sure all of my decisions are based on standard business strategy.  So the answer must mean that I believe I will see 4x more of a return on my investment with my pre-Broadway cast album than had I simply just made a demo, like every other developing musical does.

How do I see that return?

First, we’re going to sell some.  Actually we’re going to sell a lot.  And each one we sell will help write-down the cost.  So, if I sell 30k worth of the album, then I’m at revenue neutral.  Good goal.

Actually, that’d be a great goal.  After iTunes takes their cut, we’d have to move a #$&% load of albums without a #$&% of marketing support to make that 30k number.

Honestly, the chances of us hitting that are slim.

That’s right, I’m admitting that I produced this album knowing that I might not sell enough units to pay for it.

But that’s not the only way to get an ROI.

See, music is what markets musicals (it is the damn root word after all).  And now, I have a way of getting that music into more hands . . . including those people who saw the George Street production . . . and those people out there (like all of you) who are interested in hearing new and developing musicals, especially one that features an incredibly talented Broadway cast like Mitchell Jarvis, Jay Klaitz, Manu Narayan, Adam Monley, Heather Brave, Evan Daves, Michelle Duffy, Ryan Duncan, Alison Fraser, Deidre Goodwin, Christopher Gurr, Garth Kravits, Emily McNamara, Tad Wilson, and Brandon Williams.  I’ll be able to engage our audience before we even announce our Broadway opening date (if this sounds familiar, it’s based on the old Andrew Lloyd Webber concept recording idea).

But I’m not done yet.

Let me ask you this . . . when you go see a musical, and you like it . . . what’s the first thing you do?  You buy the recording.  Right?  (I walked 50 blocks to Tower Records after seeing Falsettos to get the recording.)

Well, one of the great challenges with new musicals is that for the first several weeks of previews, arguably the most important weeks in a musical’s life, that music is usually unavailable. Thousands of people leave that theater, humming tunes . . . that are not available at the merch stand!  They drive home . . . and instead of poppin’ in the cd of the show they just saw, which reminds them to tell their friends about it, which gets those friends to buy tickets . . . they drive home and listen to Miley Cyrus or Englebert Humperdinck or someone.

And we can’t have that.

So we made this album.  And it cost me 4x what a normal demo should.

But my estimates have us earning at least 10-20x that amount back in something that’s more powerful than money . . . marketing.

I hope you’ll get the album.  Because, most importantly, it’s awesome.

Download it here:  Gettin’ The Band Back Together Cast Album.

 

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