I can't help but feel somewhat overwhelmed with the music admin, this is more about being neat than a critical necessity. I must avoid taking this to an obsessive degree, this is not efficient; but it can sometimes be more efficient to be prepared, as making lots of things in one batch takes less time than darting between jobs. New releases should, ideally, be of the best quality and have all materials, more than ever before, so my priority is making materials for new releases or re-releases. As I remaster old albums, I can make the materials then.
This new release regime is what has inspired my new desire to reorder and re-examine my back-catalogue of music. I wanted to change distributor, to try another experimentally, and to benefit from a few new features. Listing my music back on Spotify, for me as a perfectionist of order, means creating new canvas animations. I also need new iTunes booklets, as these are a new feature too. Looking at the totals of my back catalogue, the albums, EPs, and single releases, the items needed are:
Sheet music: 22 (albums-worth) done, 18 to do.
Spotify canvases: 23 done, 27 to do.
iTunes booklets: 16 done, 33 to do.
Full videos for every track on an album: 12 done, 36 to do.
Of course, these vary in priority and importance. None are strictly necessary, though the sheet music and physical publication of it is a long term goal for me. You'll notice that the totals don't add up. This is because of small technical things, like a single usually having the same sheet music and canvas of a parent album (but not always, some singles have B-sides). Some releases are old and deleted, but still have materials, some are to-come and may or may not have materials.
Sheet music takes 3-4 days per album, as do full videos (or a lot longer, depending on the time budget, one video can take a few weeks if required). Spotify Canvases take 1-3 days for an album, again depending on complexity. iTunes booklets one day or less, depending on the quality of the album art, how much I want to include. All together, this adds up to 1 or 2 full year's work; all on old albums. This drains time from new music, new art. In the past I've made these things for albums that have never been released, or were-so only for short periods; so those materials were of limited use. Of course, these things are stored, documented. They are an odd artform, as valid as any other.
This evening I've completed to booklets for Burn Of God and The Golden Age, so that's enough for now. I'll try to create new work next. Most pressing is a new song for the Bruce Springsteen night next Wednesday.
