here is a page where I’ll reprint good advice from people in the industry — please visit their site links and check them out!

FROM YAHOO NEWS, 12/31/07 “Digital album packaging should improve in 2008″

FROM JENNIFER YEKO of TRUE TALENT MANAGEMENT, December 2007:
“…The topic of this email is album artwork. I think one of the biggest mistakes indie artists make is not having a good CD cover and good CD artwork.

Go cruise amazon.com or itunes or your local music store (if you have one). Look at the CD covers. Marketing is so important when it comes to your music and artwork is key.

A good album cover will help you sell more records. A bad album cover will hurt your sales. Sure, there are many exceptions. A hit record with hit songs can have bad artwork and still sell. But why tempt fate?

Pet peeves of mine - do not put a photo of your kid, dog, etc. on your album cover. Your album cover needs to be professional.

Spend the money to get some professional photos taken for the front, back and inside of your CD. You can also use these photos for your web site. You can easily find a good photographer in almost any neighborhood or city in the U.S. Hit up your local classified ads - Craigslist or your local art school. You can most likely get some amazing photos for a few hundred dollars. If you’re in LA or NYC, etc. you’ll have even more options! If you’re lucky, maybe a friend of someone you know is a great photographer! But go with someone whose work you’ve seen and really like. There are plenty of great photographers out there but if all they’ve shot is nature and you need “rock band” shots they may not be your best bet. Go with someone that has experience shooting artists and bands, not models, actors, babies, pets, etc.

It’s all about persistence and patience! So hang in there!”

Jennifer Yeko
True Talent Management