Vanessa’s test

June 2005: Jourdan begins recording four tracks with her friend Tom Harris, who attends the University of Redlands. Most of the recording is done on university equipment, with additional mixing in Harris’ dorm room and a professor’s home.

April 2006: Jourdan brings eight more songs to Paul Antony, a friend who produced her first album. The two begin recording and mixing in Antony’s old bedroom in his parents’ home, which he’s since converted into a studio.

March 2007: Harris finishes mixing on the first four songs.

August 2007: Jourdan shoots CD artwork at a photo studio in Santa Ana, meets with a designer in Huntington Beach to create CD artwork, and holds a fundraising show in Riverside where patrons pay $15 admission and are put on a mailing list to receive the album once it’s finished.

November 2007: Jourdan and Antony complete the final eight tracks; Jourdan submits all 12 songs and artwork to DiscMakers in Los Angeles, with an order for 1,000 copies.

December 2007: Four days before Christmas, the package from DiscMakers lands on Jourdan’s doorstep. She mails copies of the CD to everyone who bought one in advance.

January 2008: Jourdan submits the album to CD Baby and iTunes.

February 2008: Jourdan submits the album to the Regional CD program, which delivers it to Best Buy stores in select parts of California.

MUSIC SERVICES FOR INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS

iTUNES

WHAT IT IS: The world’s top music-sharing site

WHAT YOU SUBMIT: Digital music files and an online application form

WHAT YOU GET: Your work on the same site with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Madonna

COST: Free

WEBSITE: www.apple.com/itunes

CD BABY

WHAT IT IS: A website that sells CDs and MP3s by independent artists

WHAT YOU SUBMIT: A submission form describing who you are and how you want your music classified on the website, and five CDs

WHAT YOU GET: Your own page on CD Baby with reviews, links, audio clips and more; payments every Monday night, with CD Baby keeping $4 from every CD and 9% from every MP3 download

COST: A one-time $35 set-up fee

WEBSITE: cdbaby.com

REGIONAL CD

WHAT IT IS: A service that stocks your CD in Best Buy stores

WHAT YOU SUBMIT: Application forms indicating what stores you want to carry your CD, plus three copies of the album

WHAT YOU GET: If your CD is accepted through the review process, you’ll get your album in Best Buy within two months. For every copy sold by the store, you’ll receive $5.15 for a full-length CD and $3.65 for an EP

COST: $250 set-up fee for the first CD, $100 for each subsequent one

WEBSITE: www.regionalcd.net

MYSPACE

WHAT IT IS: The social networking site beloved by teenagers, politicians, rock musicians and just about everyone else

WHAT YOU SUBMIT: Song clips, videos, photos, text, graphic art, etc.

WHAT YOU GET: Countless dollars saved that you might have spent mailing press kits around the world

COST: Free

WEBSITE: www.myspace.com

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.