Releasing an album with no label and no plan

Why did you decide to release it yourself?

Nobody offered to do it for me. That’s the honest answer. I waited around for a label to notice me for two years and eventually realized the waiting was the only thing stopping me.

What surprised you most about the cost?

I budgeted for recording and forgot that nobody would hear it unless I spent just as much getting it in front of people.

Mixing and mastering were what I planned for. The part I didn’t plan for was promotion — the ads, the playlist pitching, the artwork. That was a whole second budget I didn’t know existed.

Who should I talk to next?

The engineer who mixed my record. He’s worked with way bigger artists than me and he’s seen every mistake a new artist can make.