There's a couple of things you should think about before and during the mastering process that I have not adequately addressed until now.

1.) What is the intended use? If you're planning on offering your songs as digital downloads, it's not a bad idea to get MP3s as well as CD Audio straight from the mastering house. You would need to specify what format (MP3/AAC) and kbps you prefer. The most widely used and compatible format is MP3 at 192 kbps but there's many variations, again depending on the use.

2.) Do you want CD Text and/or Gracenote CDDB submission? CD Text is the artist name, album title, and song names embedded in the CD Audio file. It is not legible to most computers or consumer electronics so I don't really see the point unless you have ISRCs. CDDB is the online database iTunes uses to identify CDs placed in your computer drive. This is quickly becoming the default standard and I recommend doing this... however, it's not limited to mastering houses. You can submit your own CD track names to CDDB anytime you wish (Launch iTunes, insert the CD and before you import, type in all of the info, hit ADVANCED in the iTunes menu and select SUBMIT CD TRACK NAMES).

3.) Before you request any adjustments to the masters, make sure you've really spent the time listening in a variety of enviornments, on different speakers, and adjusting your own ears to the changes. Maybe it sounds better but you're still attached to the rough mix with a 10db boost at 200hz that would make a normal speaker bark like a dog.

4.) Before you deliver your masters to a replicator/duplicator... make sure you listen to the CD Audio Master Ref supplied to you by the mastering house. This ensures there's no unpleasant surprises after the fact... like the guitar player told the engineer to change the track order while you were out of the room, or worse...

Of course, if you have any questions about any of these things, fire away. Cheers!

How do I post my songs for sale on iTunes/Rhapsody/eMusic, etc.?

Generally, most people are using 3rd party distrubutors that provide an easy portal into iTunes/Rhapsody etc, in exchange for a portion of your song rights for a set period of time. You end up sharing a good deal of your profit with these outfits so I'm not a fan of this solution.

DIY'ers can also form a company (check with your local city and state requirements), get UPCs, ISRCs, encode your own music using software called iTunes Producer (OSX only) and submit your songs for review by Apple. This is obviously an involved process, only applicable to iTunes, and some submissions are rejected.

Or there's TuneCore, a new company started by Spin Art indie label owner Jeff Price (great label by the way). TuneCore charges a one-time fee of 99 cents per song and 99 cents per store for each album and an annual $9.98 charge per album.

So if an artist has a six-song EP and wants to put it on iTunes US, iTunes Europe, iTunes Japan, and eMusic, the total cost would be $19.88 You keep 100% of your rights, 100% of the profit and you can cancel the service at anytime. I think this idea is genius and probably spells "the end" for the aforementioned 3rd party distributors (thanks for the heads up Dan!).

Until next time. -h