To give you an idea. In the studio I collaborate with, we often order 1000 copies of the demos we record - professionally printed with a 4 page , full-colour inlay - for around $1000 (ie. $1 per unit). The bands usually sell these for $5-6 which makes them a healthy profit if they sell most of them. Obviously, for more copies, the cost-per-unit will be even less.

In this case, we don't spend much on promotion. We place a couple of mp3s on the studio's and the band's web-sites and maybe have the odd poster printed. The rest is through word-of-mouth, concerts and some local TV or radio appearances. On this basis we've managed to move several thousand copies (at local and regional level). We don't even consider the possibility of air-time on national TV or Radio as this market is almost completely controlled by the big labels.

Here, mainstream CDs (not necessarily new releases) are selling for about 21 euros - and the euro has recently been at parity with the dollar. I won't bother writing what I think about this price as most of it will be turned into asterisks by vBulletin.

The only problem with this thread is that (apart from the thread-starter) we're preaching to the converted. Almost everyone who frequents this forum is a P2P user - and we all know what the main use of P2P is. Perhaps we should find an RIAA thug forum, post the same things and see what kind of reaction we get there.