The Album Creation Process

In the interest of transparency, we thought it might be nice to show you exactly what goes into each album from Sidedown Audio.

First off, when we hear some demos that we like, we let the artist know we'd be interested in signing them for an album. We send out a label handbook and a contract, and once everything is in order, it's time to get to work.

First off, we add all contract artists to our website. Each artist has their own page, which will include images, bios, external links, and samples of their music. These pages are grown as more information about their upcoming album becomes available.

While the artist is writing/recording/compiling their album for us, we work to fit them into our line-up. Sidedown Audio only releases about 6 albums a year, so if we've already filled up our catalog for a given year, we will start creating next year's catalog. When an album is released is a result of several things: when the artist delivers the music to us, what time of year it is, and how their music fits into the catalog.

Once the artist delivers their music to Sidedown Audio, we get to work creating the album artwork. This typically involves listening to the album many, many times, in order to design something that has the right feel and compatibility with the artist's music.

We produce all of the album artwork in our studio. The type of media and production may change from album to ablum, but our primary tool is the Print GOCCO, which allows us to make unique silk-screened cover art. We prefer to use French Paper Company paper, due to its amazing variety and quality, as well as the company's dedication to the environment.

When we've decided on the album artwork, we design the disc face. We then send the music and disc art off to NationWide Disc, who prints and replicates the album for us. We work with NationWide because of their fast turnaround time, excellent customer service, and professional product.

Once the discs come back from Nationwide, we put the whole package together, and the album is ready for release! This is the point where we made promotional artwork and other material that gets distributed around town (or towns).

And that's pretty much it! Don't let the apparent ease fool you, it's a pretty complex process that involves a lot of care and thought. We believe in making unique and interesting products, and we experiment a lot with technique and style. Part of what makes a Sidedown Audio album unique is that experimentation.

Questions?

If you'd like to know more about how and why we do what we do, be sure to email us at: audio@sidedown.com

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