Kevin Devine covers Conor Oberst; United’s having a sale, and how do bands make money off 7-inch vinyl?

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 1:50 pm January 17, 2017

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Quiet times these days, but it’s that time of the year where few touring indie bands are coming through and there’s just not much going on.

Looking through the clips, I found this clip of singer/songwriter Kevin Devine covering Conor Oberst’s “Mamah Borthwick” from Oberst’s last solo album, Ruminations. It’s part of a video project that Devine talks about here.

Also, for those of you looking to press some vinyl, a pitch letter arrived in my in-box from United Record Pressing for 7-inches: 300 with white sleeves for $849; 300 w/ one-sided foldover and polybag for $1,149; and 500 w/one-sided foldover and polybag for $1,349. I include this information only because I didn’t realize how expensive it was to press vinyl.

So let’s say you press 300 of the polybag version and then sell them for, what, $5 each? That’s a gross of $1,500, minus your $1,149 and then minus recording costs, etc., equals you’re in the hole. How do bands make money off vinyl?

Anyway, the sale runs through Feb. 15. A bigger question is whether United can guarantee you receive your vinyl by Record Store Day…

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i