CREATING A DIGITAL PRESSING
What makes a great Digital Pressing?
Digital Pressings are the ultimate way for fans to experience your music, providing an intimate, exclusive look into your creative process, and a rare, lasting memento of their love of your work.
To make a great Digital Pressing, there are a few basic elements that you need to nail.
Topics covered
Artwork & music
Stand out with format exclusive artwork
Just like a standard vinyl, the core of your Digital Pressing is artwork and music. Give your fans something unique by making a quick and simple edit to the existing album artwork.
Below are some ways that artists have delivered format exclusive variants of their work through Serenade;
New colourway or gradient
Adding signatures
Adding a personal note
Subtle movement or animation
Rewards
Craft an immersive story for passionate fans
The Rewards section is where you put all of the bonus content and material that only owners of your Digital Pressing will be able to access.
Rewards give you a never-before-experienced freedom to craft a packaged, multimedia narrative that encapsulates the feeling/message/themes/stories behind your release. Combine 2-3 reward types for a simple but punchy experience of your music that ties your audience to a far deeper appreciation of the release.
Exclusive audio
Demos | Instrumentals | Remixes
Photos
Tour polaroids | Unused press shots | Camera roll pics
Scans
Original lyric sheets | Exclusive liner notes
For an extensive list of potential rewards (and their ramifications for chart eligibility), please explore our Rewards & Chart Eligibility article.
Rewards spotlight
Voice Notes
Key points
- Tell stories, discuss themes, reveal the process
- We recommend 1-3 voice notes per release
- Fans crave a more personal touch
Voice notes are a Serenade innovation that fans consistently love. You might have a couple of fun stories from the making-of or some key themes in your EP that deserve further exploration – whatever gives your fans a deeper understanding of the inspiration, creative process and meaning behind your work is what fans want.
We suggest offering 1-3 voice notes each from a different band member or collaborator, focussing on a personal anecdote or intimate insight into the work. It should be simple and lofi – we want to hear your musings with the city traffic in the background!
Frequency
Releasing regularly builds hype and collectibility
Key points
- The more often you release, the better
- Use singles to slingshot album releases to greater heights
What’s better than one Digital Pressing? A whole collection of Digital Pressings! The work you do in educating your audience on this new release format is best understood when you release consistently.
Releasing a new song on streaming services? Why not partner it with a Digital Pressing, and provide an entirely different, more personal experience for your fans.
Start with a few low edition size singles, and work your way up to larger edition numbers for your EPs and albums.
Pricing & editions
Pricing
Key topics
- Price in line with vinyl
- Sell in your target audience’s local currency
- Familiar pricing lowers barriers to entry
Everything about Serenade and the Digital Pressing is geared towards being familiar and accessible to a fan learning about it for the first time. Pricing should be no different.
We keep it simple by allowing you to price your Digital Pressings in line with their physical equivalent – limited edition vinyl – in the currency of your target audience.
This pricing framework helps;
- Lowers barriers to entry,
- Increases the familiarity of the product,
- Maximises the conversion of curious fans
For more information on what these price ranges look like per territory, please explore our article Price and edition size.
Edition size
Key topics
- Start with edition sizes of 25 or 50 and work up from there
- Give early supporters rarer pressings
- Build your audience from the ground up
- Secondary sales can be meaningful
The best edition size is one that gets close to selling out without being artificially scarce so that fans lose out. It gives early supporters a great experience in owning a rarer and more valuable pressing, encourages early secondary market action, and creates FOMO for fans who were undecided or just missed out.
To make it easy, you have the choice of starting at either 25 or 50 editions – collection sizes that we’ve found to be the perfect starting point for artists on Serenade.
Once you’ve sold out a release at these sizes, more options will be unlocked.
For more information on edition sizes, please read our article Price and edition size.
