Task 1: Business Plan
My primary goal is to write a 4-song, multi-genre influenced EP, release it on Bandcamp, and promote it using my pre-existing, empty music social media accounts. The focus will be on fluidity, progression, and theme consistency while maintaining listener interest. This EP will be inspired by artists like Leith Ross, Radiohead, Dodie and Daughter, taking elements of each and combining them to create a storyline with no resolution by the fourth song, creating suspense and a statement of imperfection. While it may seem the theme and genre are random, both are quite popular among the students of the conservatoire, from what I have personally seen, and allow more creative freedom than some other styles, right through from songwriting to mixing. With this, I am allowing myself to alter things through each stage and add more textures and layers using live recordings, found sounds, midi or Logic’s own sound packs and effects. The concept of the EP stems from a desire to progress in my songwriting skills and independence in recording and mixing, as well as to create a network of musicians to collaborate with. By ending the EP without resolution, I am acting to overcome my struggles with perfectionism and allowing an intentionally unfinished sound. I aim to make this EP emotionally charged and craft it in collaboration with my flatmates, utilising their proficiency on their instruments and creative insight. I would like to work with a variety of musicians while recording, as I will aim to make the majority of the tracks texturally rich. In particular, I will need to post on Life to find an oboe player, a violinist and either a cello or double bass player, depending on what frequency range and feel fits best with each track in development. In the final recording, I would much prefer to find a guitarist more proficient than myself, who also has studio performance experience, to ensure the recording goes smoothly and quickly.
In its final form, the EP will predominantly be a digital product, sold through Bandcamp, a streaming service that caters more towards creator earnings than most other services. Using Bandcamp allows me to set a custom price for any released music, and payments are sent 24-48 hours after purchase. This allows for greater control and easier projection of earnings than any other streaming service. Cover art will be made using physical methods, such as oil painting, sewing, collage making and gold leaf layering, and then scanned to create a size-appropriate digital copy for online release. I have the option to make a small collection of CD copies, as I own a CD player capable of burning and ten empty CDs, for a higher price and with a personal note in each. For this version, I would like to make smaller copies of the EP cover using the same method for the main cover art.
Based on expected project quality determined by my current skills, I think a reasonable price for the EP as a whole would be £4 per purchase, or £1 per song, depending on the required pricing format. Based on average Bandcamp sales (Bandcamp Selling FAQ (no date)) and peer price points, I understand that this is about an average and reasonable price. My projected earnings, using an estimate of 10 to 15 sales based on my following and estimated promotion impact, would be around £40 – £60. After Bandcamp’s required cut, this is still 34.40 to 51.60, based on their average 14% cut statistic. CD sales have a maximum revenue expectation of £50, at £5 each. Overall, this project will likely generate somewhere between £43 and £68 based on averages, and could vary significantly if Bandcamp sales are more or less successful than anticipated. In comparison to the project cost, the profit is considerable for my first-ever public project, especially as the total cost of making the EP would be no more than £6.40 based on potential transport costs, and could be as little as being completely free, using the university’s resources. Tools and resources used for the cover art are already accessible from previous purchases or gifts, so this will also have no cost. When identifying what operational requirements I would have, I concluded that I require access to studios throughout the summer holidays in order to record different instruments in a professional setting, as well as access to a variety of instruments needed for songwriting experimentation and recording. To utilise studio time, I will book two three-hour sessions per week in recording studios and top up my access to equipment and ‘studio’ time in mixing rooms, which I will also use for mixing, alongside my home speakers and headphones. By using Life, I will post callouts for different musicians who are proficient with the instruments I may need as part of my songs, provided there are still students using studios who are around during non-term time. I have been successful at finding other students to work with through Life previously, and trust its effectiveness.
When releasing music to the public, UK law states that copyright covers content upon creation, assuming it can be proved that the material is your own. Some recommended ways of producing evidence are mailing or sending the track(s) to yourself via email or physical mail, which should include a time stamp. This is stated in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. So, by the process stated in this act, I will not need to take further actions or register my music to be covered by copyright, and I will be creating evidence of ownership. As a producer primarily and songwriter secondly, it would be ideal to sign up for both a PRS and MCPS membership to maximise potential revenue. I am expecting to earn minimal revenue from this release, but once paid for, a membership is valid for life. PRS focuses on paying an artist for live broadcasts, streams on online streaming services and performances of a song, while MCPS covers revenue when songs are reproduced and bought as physical media, or used in other online media, such as film or TV.
Before reaching the promotion stage, I plan to create visual posters and handmade (digitally drawn) posts on social media, ready to be printed and hung up around the conservatoire up to a month before the EP release. Posters may include a QR code to my social media or a linktree where the Bancamp release will be uploaded. Alternatively, I could have a friend create a temporary public site including all relevant details and a ‘coming soon’ screen. The smartest time frame to release the EP may be at the end of September through mid-October, as plenty of students will be around and attention may be caught in passing, rather than releasing it in the summer, when the university will not be busy. A Gantt chart is a good tool for many things, especially for promotion and marketing, to visualise timelines for different promotion methods and justify why I would do different things at those specific times. While not ideal for every project model, it is proven to be effective for short-scale creative projects (Geraldi, J. and Lechter, T. (2012)). Previously, I have used a Gantt chart in a managerial role to organise a college gig, splitting tasks between three other teams and found it highly effective. Posts can be timed and ramped up in frequency on a visual timeline, and I would be happy to post ‘weekly progress’ updates, which may feature production walkthroughs, theory explanations, lyric meanings or teaser posts to do with the cover and promotional art. Word of mouth is another, lesser-exercised, powerful tool to promote music. I will strategise working with other students over the next year and build a network, allowing me to suggest others to use the EP as a representation of me and my style before working with me, along with diverse project experiences with recording or mixing for others.
Leeds’ music industry and the scene as a whole is impressive at the moment, benefiting from large names in the industry having their roots here, such as English Teacher, from our very own Leeds Conservatoire (Edwards, T. (2025)). Live music is common, being very sought after by the student population of Leeds, which directly supports the local economy greatly. While the cost of living is making nights out harder to justify for most (Edwards, T. (2025)) , it is evident from the magnitude of physical posters hung up across the city that musicians, performers, songwriters, and everyone in between are still pushing hard to get material out there, or people to show up to gigs. Conservatoire students in particular, and more relevantly, my peers, are actively playing gigs and DJing every week, or every other week, supporting the idea of a growing industry rather than a diminishing one. While I do think the perception of the music industry and financial justification might impact EP sales somewhat, I do not see it swaying revenue too far from what is expected. From this, I understand that my potential audience is likely to be primarily students of a similar age who are actively looking for new listening experiences.
‘Professional aesthetic’ to me means using what is authentic and applying it in a format that is abstract and colourful, like in collages and mixed media. Using saturated colours is, of course, good for promotional material as it is eye-catching, but it also makes a piece or space feel like home for me. I grew up drawing, painting, and making mixed media art, and I use those skills to maximise my creative spaces, where I work on music projects. It impacts every project I work on, and I cannot easily work in a space that doesn’t feel like it has passion poured into it. The process of creating the cover and promotional art will take direct inspiration from this. I have already made similar art and shared it with peers in relation to the EP plans, while also comparing it to, for example, Daughter’s album art, which often features hand-made images, items and drawings. Releasing on Bandcamp is an act of defiance, and could also be considered part of an artist’s image. It is an anti-AI, anti-Spotify act that I hope to inspire others to take. Personally, Bandcamp only became of interest because a few of my college friends have released music using this platform, stating their same reasons as clearly as I will. I am statistically more likely to earn more revenue from Bandcamp than on any of the ‘major’ streaming platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Music, and it allows others to own an MP3 or WAV file of my music, which offers higher sound quality, too, if they choose to support my project.
As I am ending the academic year by planning a project designed to test and develop my weakest skills, it is appropriate to reflect transparently on my progress and lack of progress in some areas. With the last semester’s deadlines creeping up on me now, I have noticed that my songwriting and arrangement skills are particularly weak and are required for a significant portion of my grade. Hence, the songwriting aspect of this project will hopefully aid me with learning how to songwrite and dissipate my hatred for it. To support this, I have opted to take a songwriting module next year. Additionally, I need to gain confidence while reaching out to others and asking for help, or for them to work with me. I currently struggle with communication on social media and feel vulnerable offering examples of my work. I hope that working with others for this EP, both with people familiar to me and not, will help develop my confidence in this context. In contrast, regardless of my struggles with songwriting, my first year has been extremely beneficial for my recording skills and confidence using an analogue desk. I feel more inclined to start more studio recording projects than I am mixing projects, which was my main focus before starting the production course. Since writing my business plan, I have begun working with third-year songwriting students to aid them with recording their final portfolios, exercising my recording, mixing and communication skills with confidence.
Task 2: Supporting Commentary
Bandcamp for artists (no date) Bandcamp. Available at: https://bandcamp.com/artists (Accessed: 10 May 2026).
Edwards, T. (2025) Following Leeds: The Northern English city is reshaping UK indie, Bandcamp Daily. Available at: https://daily.bandcamp.com/scene-report/leeds-indie-rock-scene-report (Accessed: 10 May 2026).
Geraldi, J. and Lechter, T. (2012) Gantt charts revisited: A critical analysis of its roots and implications to the management of projects Today, CBS Research Portal. Available at: https://research.cbs.dk/en/publications/gantt-charts-revisited-a-critical-analysis-of-its-roots-and-impli/ (Accessed: 10 May 2026).
Bandcamp Selling FAQ (no date) What pricing performs best? – bandcamp help center, Bandcamp. Available at: https://get.bandcamp.help/hc/en-us/articles/23020652574615-What-pricing-performs-best (Accessed: 10 May 2026).
