So you’ve decided it’s time to make an album. You’ve been playing these songs live, you’ve recorded the demos, and people keep asking, “When is your album coming out?”  You can’t wait to get these songs tracked and you’re ready to see all the music inside your head coming to life.

And then you figure out how much it’s going to cost.

Recording an album can get expensive. But it doesn’t have to break the bank. You don’t have have to drop $10,000 to get a great record, if you go into the process prepared. Knowing up front what  is important to you can help you decide what you want to spend money on, and what you can skip to make the process cheaper.

So lets look at some things that will drastically affect the cost of your record, and how to drive those costs down.

Length of the Project

The length of the project will drastically affect your cost. 12 songs are more expensive to record than 3 songs.

You have to be honest with yourself—and your other band members—about what songs are good enough to go on an album. Make sure that your investment of time and money is funding great songs. You want to make an album that you are going to be proud of for years to come.

Do People Actually Want a Full-Length Album?

As you make decisions about your upcoming project, you need to look at the music industry as a whole. For the past 15 years, we have seen album sales drop, and sales of singles rise. When you create an album of any size, you invest time, money, and a lot of emotions. You need to be able to get a return on your investment. Sometimes, recording a full length album is a great idea. Creatively, getting to spread your wings and work on 12 songs can be a wonderful thing that fulfills you as an artist. If you have the time and money to record a full album and that’s what you want to do, then go for it. But for many artists, recording a smaller body of work now can result in a better return on your investment later.