May pt. 2
what it costs to release an album & more
From Industry Plant to Community Garden: Cost Breakdown for BK001
Dawood Nadurath
this is a cost breakdown for the first official bloody knuckles release, a limited /100 CD for find my friends by find my friends (sebastian kinsler of feeble little horse) – seb and i split costs with no real rhyme or reason, just whatever we felt was our respective jurisdictions with a mutual assurance that we would try to keep each other out of a hole.
the budget for this release is laid out below according to the core minimum necessities for creating an album and delivering a physical version – recording, art/design, manufacturing, and marketing. some might argue that marketing is not a necessary expense for the creation and sharing of art – in my opinion, they would be right.
our expenses are a biased representation of the aspects of sharing this album that we deemed completely necessary. the hard work of folks like dylan, ana, copycats, many hats distribution, and terrorbird cannot be understated. it is a privilege to work with people who are committed to music in such a granular way.
this should be prefaced with the understanding that i have zero intention of making money on bloody knuckles releases. they are a blessed celebration of the work i am lucky enough to do with incredibly talented people and my own creative outlet to exercise in tandem with theirs. i believe any framework of artistic support that is based on profitability is misguided and just a few short, very easy missteps away from catastrophe for all parties involved.
the goal of this transparency is to underscore the absolute ability within all creative networks to come together in support of a shared vision of autonomy. you don’t need the industry to release something you’re proud of, you just need your friends and some spare time. a couple grand doesn’t hurt either.
questions, comments, concerns, or industry-backed tirades may be directed to dawood@bloody-knuckles.com
it is very easy to do it yourself.
find my friends is out may 30, 2025 — you can purchase a CD for $10 at findmyfriends.bandcamp.com or bloody-knuckles.com
mixing and mastering - $350, paid by artist
recording costs were kept to a grand total of $350 as all of the production for this record was handled by sebastian himself.
mastering was a flat rate of $350 from the wonderful Dylan Wall (@diylan).
art and layout - $580, split between artist1 and bloody knuckles2
($430 for cover1, $150 for CD layout2)
anastasia jungle-wagner (@bitterer_) was gracious enough to deal with an onslaught of revisions and real-time navigation of what the fuck the difference between a 2-panel and 4-panel insert for a CD is, consistently re-shaping and expanding the cover art to fit the necessary templates for a CD.
manufacturing - $279, paid by bloody knuckles
($2.29/unit for CDs assembled into a jewel case, $0.50/unit for Obi Strip)
the decision to go with CDs instead of tape or vinyl is inextricable from a firm belief in the accessibility of cheap art. sebastian very much values the inherent transferability of the streaming / digital age, that an album could be instantly available for anyone to enjoy regardless of locality or affiliation. that drive coupled with a lower price point for a fan and the mutated digital sonic nature of the album made prioritizing $10 CDs quite an obvious choice. i believe accessibility must be reciprocal in order to be sustainable. keeping the costs to create low should allow the cost to appreciate to follow.
marketing - $500, paid by bloody knuckles
i had no intention of budgeting for any marketing, but the kind folks at Terrorbird (my former employer and forever family) reached out after we announced to offer support in whatever way they could. the landscape of college radio is one that holds an immense importance in my heart and conviction toward an autonomous future of art, as it is the fertile and jagged landscape where a feverish and often unpretentious appreciation for music flourishes. so many skeptics have insisted it is a thing of the past, and i’m happy to see them proven wrong by new crops of young punks, nerds, and weirdos every year.
misc.
5% cut here goes to the wonderful folks at Many Hats Endeavors who were kind enough to ensure the album was adequately distributed on digital service providers (DSPs). the other 95% of the passive streaming income will go directly to the artist.
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Excellent breakdown! Looking forward to the album, too.