Soleworld blog

Outsourcing is a concept that I have thought about a lot, before realizing it’s full potential but today as I read Tim Ferriss blog called Outsourcing Life. It made me laugh and laughter is healthy, so if nothing else I am healthier for it. But in actuality it has really opened my eyes to an idea that has been brewing inside of me for years and that I actually put in motion last year as I produced my first EP with Solé.

I’ll tell you the story about the EP first. My full budget for 1000 copies of our EP (7 songs in a full 4 color 6 side digipack, recorded, mixed and mastered professionally) was 6000 USD. It was recorded in house, which kept that costs at a minimum. Then I wanted to shoot for the best mixing and mastering that I could afford, because I know how important that step is and is something I knew very little about, so I wanted to put it into expert hands. So I let myself dream and asked, “If I could choose anyone to mix my songs who would that be?” I pulled down my favorite albums and artists and looked at who had done their mixes and came up with three names. So I contacted all three of them and sent them a rough mix of one song and asked if they had time, interest and what the cost would be. One wasn’t available until a month later, but the other two responded very positively. So I spent half my budget on mixing, which I am very glad I did, they did a fantastic job! Thank you Eric Shilling and Kevin Killen. For the mastering I got OK’s and prices from both Vlado Meller (Universal Mastering) and Chris Gehringer (from Sterling Sound). But I was recommended Bob Ohlsson by one of my mixers and I decided to go with him, because I fully trust Eric’s advise (and also was totally satisfied).

So with that I didn’t have so much left for the production of the CD and digipack. I looked into all kinds of different options. Having it produced in Sweden where I live, in the US, in eastern Europe (because of price and proximity) but what finally turned out being the best option was having it produced in China. Not only was it half the price of what it would cost me to have it done in Sweden (including shipping), but the service was excellent, very efficient and I got all the extras I wanted thrown in for practically nothing (deboss on the cover and each EP individually shrink wrapped). How did I go about finding the contacts in China, like I did everyone else, through the net. I contacted two companies and both were very professional and very competitive in pricing and speed. In cause your in the same boat, check them out. I am sure there are plenty more, but these are the two I had extended contact with: Alice Yu at www.discturnkey.com and Alan Lz at www.disc-cn.com. So one can say that I outsourced the majority of the work for the production of my EP, from Sweden to New York, Miami, Nashville, China and back.

I know that my time limitations are great and I need all the help I can get in order to make my musical career succeed. But four hours a week seems a bit too little for my taste. Fortunately I am doing what I love, so I gladly work 60 hours a week on my music, except that I know that is not healthy for me or my music. At times of course it is necessary. But I believe in working 32 hours a week of effective work time. These last couple months I have been going to bed early in order to get up at 5 am. So from 5 to 12 I put in a good 6 plus hours of effective work time into my music and then I can enjoy the rest of the day in a more leisurely fashion. This habit has proven very effective for me. When I get to the US one of the first things I am going to do is buy the book, “The 4 Hour Work Week” and really learn about how to outsource more of what I don’t want to be doing, so that I have more time for that which I love and do best. Also because I know that there are people who can do much of what I do much better than I can. I’ll stick to writing and singing my songs.