Online Business Model for a Band? 420
Backes asks: "I've seen a lot of submissions about P2P, iTMS, DRM, piracy, and the RIAA, lately. Apparently everyone has an opinion on this and most seem think that the recording industry are a bunch of greedy people that stick it to the consumer as well as their own artists. After hearing some of the stories, I'm not even sure that getting signed to a label would be the best course of action for an aspiring musician or band. So what is a better option? What would you, the Slashdot community, do to make it big on your own using the Internet?"
"What kinds of features would a site need? Would you pay for downloads of MP3s from a band's site or not? At what price? Would donations work, or would everyone just freeload? How often would you need updates or new songs to keep you coming back? If downloads were free, would you then buy a full length album from the site just to get the CD? What special features should the CD include? How would you get your name out? What do you think is the best course of action for a band that wants to completely circumvent the whole music industry process and do it themselves?"
Get your priorities right (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Get your priorities right (Score:3, Funny)
Both of those questions are ill suited for Slashdot. What about Sci-Fi television show model?
Re:Get your priorities right (Score:5, Interesting)
Watch your audience, too (Score:5, Informative)
Have your promo pack on the site. Only one [mistyriverband.com] of my Clients does, but that gives them an advantage over the competition. Make sure the promoters know who you are, what you play, and what you need on stage for plugs and boards.
And photos! Fans love em. Promoters need em. Find yourself a good PHP type package like yappa-ng [sourceforge.net] and smile for the birdie!
My $0.05 about music online: consider it your radio play. Release a few "singles" to your website (and wherever else you can) and don't skimp on the quality. The promoters are listing to a dozen MP3s a day and if yours doesn't stand out, then you won't be on stage.
-AD
Shameless link to my own template [agdconsulting.ca]
Re:Get your priorities right (Score:2)
Re:Get your priorities right (Score:4, Informative)
I would like to know (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I would like to know (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I would like to know (Score:4, Insightful)
And, just to please the slashbots, note that it wouldn't be "stealing" if another band used your material, it would be "copyright infringement".
Re:I would like to know (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I would like to know (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd think emailing yourself an mp3 or sheet music (if your band does that kind of thing... the couple i've been in havent) to yourself could protect the music in the same way
Re:I would like to know (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I would like to know (Score:2, Informative)
Make sure to note the outside of the envelope with its contents if you're planning on doing this more than once.
Re:I would like to know (Score:3, Interesting)
on the mail it to your self method, put the stamp and addresses on the back of the envelope, more difficult to ope
Re:I would like to know (Score:4, Informative)
If you sue someone for infringement, you can use your dated envelope for evidence (although not proof) that your story is what you say it is, but damages can only be collected from the date your work is filed at the library of congress.
If you were to file properly instead of going through the 'poor man' routine, you'll make out a lot better in an infringement case.
Also remember, Copyrights are given for 'original' works. They don't have to be 'unique'.
It is very possible that two people can come up with the exact same song. lyrics, chord progression, etc.
At that point, the owner of the older work (who is claiming infringement) must show that the infringer had access to the original work.
Re:I would like to know (Score:5, Informative)
Register with the US copyright office. It's not expensive. Its $30 to register a whole album worth of music and lyrics.
http://www.copyright.gov/register/sound.html [copyright.gov]
There you will find Form SR (Sound Recording) and instructions on how to register.
Re:I would like to know (Score:5, Informative)
- If you have to sue somebody for infringement, you have more remedies available if you did the registration.
- It proves that you really were the author, and that you wrote it first.
BTW, point #1 can be important for OSS. If you don't do the registration, and someone violates the GPL, you can only sue them for actual damages. But your actual damages are likely to be zero, since it's open source.On a different topic, I have some exeprience [lightandmatter.com] with bypassing the traditional book publishing industry with some of my own free-as-in-speech books. Here's some advice:
Re:I would like to know (Score:3, Interesting)
There's no such thing as "stolen".
It's merely "unauthorized independent marketing" - and you need it to be a success.
Re:I would like to know (Score:2)
Re:I would like to know (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, and all those people talking about envelopes and such are just morons. They have no idea what the hell they're talking about.
Magnatune (Score:5, Informative)
Don't try to do it all yourself (Score:5, Insightful)
The right path is really to find someone else (such as Magnatune) who has a business model which leaves you ownership of your music, gives you a return that you feel is fair, and involves business practices you think are ethical. There's nothing inherently bad about signing with a label, just like there's nothing inherently bad about getting a loan; it's just that the well-known labels are scams.
Re:Magnatune (Score:3, Interesting)
take the contract (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't be stupid. If a label offers you a contract take it. If your career goes anywhere, you can renegotiate a better contract after the terms of the first have been completed
Re:take the contract (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:take the contract (Score:3, Insightful)
Take the contract, get famous, then worry about rights.
Re:take the contract (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe, maybe not. That's not an indicator.
You've probably never heard of 95 percent of the bands that have signed on to a record label. Many, many times, the label simply does nothing with the band/artist. And they'll still prevent you from actually doing anything else creative.
Sometimes it's in your best interest not to sign.
Re:take the contract (Score:4, Insightful)
It's also worth noting that you've almost certainly never heard of 99.99% of the succesful musicians out there. Where by "succesful" I mean, they make a living, and enjoy and excel at what they do.
If your primary goal is to "make it big", or become "famous"--well, I think your priorities are weird, but I also think you're setting yourself up for disappointment....
--Bruce Fields
Re:take the contract (Score:2, Funny)
Re:take the contract (Score:5, Interesting)
I agree, don't be stupid. But that's all I agree with.
90% of signed bands never release a second album, because their label dumps them first. Meanwhile, just about all bands make negative money from their first contract. This is important, if you sign with a label, you will end up in debt, you will also end up not owning your own work made while on contract. Standard label contracts are really that abusive. They get away with it, because prior to the internet, they were the only game in town.
You know why Prince changed his name for a few years to that weird multisexual symbol? Because his label owned his name. We got to hear all those jokes about it, when it was really a creative way to escape a hideously abusive recording contract.
Don't be stupid, don't sign with a major label. You never win the lottery, you ain't going to win the label lottery either.
If you are good, you don't need the labels anymore (and chances are they don't want you because "good" does not usually equal "easily packaged up as sex symbols for young teenagers").
Make your own way.
Release your current work to the net with a Creative Commons [creativecommons.org] license. Promote your live performances, sell doodads.
If you are good, you'll gain a following after a while (years probably - so don't quit those day jobs just yet). With a substantial fanbase you can start working on commission. Here's how in a nutshell:
1) Set up an escrow account that people can deposit money in via paypal, credit cards and electronic checks.
2) Name your asking price for the release of a new recording - a whole album or just a track or somewhere in between.
3) Make sure your fanbase knows about your offer, publicisize it every which way you can.
4) When enough people have pre-ordered your new music (via the escrow account) to reach your asking price, release the new performance with a Creative Commons license, and take your money.
If you continue to make good music, each time you release a new track to the public, it becomes advertising for your next commission. If you get popular enough, say just 1 million fans (out of the possible 1 billion or so people on the net), you can really start raking in the bucks on the commissions - ask for a cool $1M to release your next album and all it takes is just 10% of your fans to pay $10 and you are now a very well paid artist. Your fans are happy because unlike with RIAA music, they really will own the music they buy from you, no guilt, shame or jail time for sharing copies with all of their friends and strangers too.
Everybody wins, except the RIAA and their old guard distributors, and nobody will shed a tear for them.
Re:take the contract (Score:3, Interesting)
That's funny, considering Prince is his real first name. How greedy can the record companies get?
Re:take the contract (Score:2)
Release your current work to the net with a Creative Commons license. Promote your live performances, sell doodads.
[and so on...]
So how much money have you made so far?
Or are you talking out your ass?
That's what I thought...
-a
Re:take the contract (Score:3, Insightful)
Let me begin on a bit of a tangent and then connect it later.
The basic difference between math and physics is that math is based on a system in which any set of rules that are internally consistent are
Re:Source Please? (Score:4, Interesting)
Producer Steve Albini's take [negativland.com]
Long story short: Stay the fuck away from major labels. Even if 'nobody has heard of you' as an independent artist, you're still more likely to make money than by being shackled to the RIAA.
Re:take the contract (Score:2)
They have hundreds of artists and they need like 5... they will own all your work until you produce 3 things that make them some money.
Find an independant label, do your recording and mastering yourself you'll be a better and more independant musician for it.
Not so sure (Score:3, Informative)
A friend and I set up a web site for my wife's music and did some basic advertising with SingingFish. Her top download song last month had 13,336 downloads (lo res mp3's), second place 2,450 plus the samples. We've started getting several inquiries a week about the due date of her next CD. And we're not even pushing it that hard. This was spending less than a hundred bucks on advertising.
I'm not at all certain you'd be able to make a huge am
Re:take the contract (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't be stupid. If a label offers you a contract take it. If your career goes anywhere, you can renegotiate a better contract after the terms of the first have been completed.
That seems to be the advice you hear from a lot of different people. I've been through one record deal already and have talked to a *lot* of other bands in the same position, and it rarely works out like that.
Also, in most cases a major label deal guarantees *one* album but locks you in for *seven*, all at the sole discretion o
Making money as a musician (Score:2, Funny)
my take (Score:4, Interesting)
After they get a name for themselves with fans who download music to check out new stuff, they make an effort to get signed, the problem here being the production of new material if they used their best to get a name for themselves online
I don't think the internet would ever top the playing in bars to get your name out, but if mixed with services such as download.com - while sharing live or demo versions on p2p, you could build yourselves a name quickly. A lot of things would also depend on the type of record label who would sign you, the 'indie' kind who give out songs online for promotion, or the big labels who try to stop download and have huge budgets for promotion
Re:my take (Score:2)
best way to start out (Score:2)
After you've got some fans, then try to sell them something (cd, download, tshirts) and I think you will do better than starting with DRM.
To make it big on the internet... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:To make it big on the internet... (Score:2)
CBC [www.cbc.ca]
I'm so glad you asked.. (Score:5, Informative)
Well, I am not famous, yet.. but I am working on exactly what you speak of, and here is a simplified version of what I am doing:
I have a living room studio where I record all of our practices and jam sessions to firewire harddrives. I use 24 channels to mix down about 6 different sized diaphram condensers and a few 57s here and there. There's all the gear we need (amps, bass, guitar, two keys, and a trap set), effects, a PA, and we have and now own the only copies of all our material. We all learn and teach each other to engineer.. play.. compose.. we all treat it democraticaly when decisions are to be made about lyrics, composition, song selection, mastering, mechandise, etc. With all this in our own hands, we all sell CDs and merch at our gigs and in our spare time (running to local record stores and getting things on consinement), and reinvest certain monies from band oriented sales into necessary things like legal docs or advice.. expensive promotional materials such as ads, cds, etc. Repeat.. profit. we've removed the need for a label at the expense of not having everything all at once. But with a bit of work, the band can work like a sucessful startup company, and we're having one hell of a time while we're at it!
pego the jerk
Re:I'm so glad you asked.. (Score:2, Insightful)
It seems kind of ironic that you have to have a successful promotion and distribution model before a label will step up and offer to provide promotion and distribution in exch
Re:I'm so glad you asked.. (Score:2)
Model (Score:4, Insightful)
A Sure thing (Score:3, Interesting)
There have been 'big names' that were mediocre groupd/people that their labels hyped like crazy (and who also generally had looks to help them out.)
Anyone looking for wide recognition would do well to become local stars. Especially if you live in a bigger city, being a local star, with fans who will post on the internet, will help your career if you try to be independent.
Star Wars Kid (Score:3, Insightful)
Having a site with your work isn't enough these days. Unless you are the best of the best out of the billions of sites with the same type of content as yours, you won't be recognized. Although it might sound like a joke, but doing something wacky and weird will get you all the attention on the internet, as people start propagating and promoting your site to others. Take Star Wars Kid, realultimatepower.net, Yata, etc, for example, instant fame in a matter of days. Now, shifting from wackiness to the content you are promoting might be a more difficult challenge.
Aspiring? (Score:2)
I realize that doesn't answer your questions, so, in order: Flash, no (prefer FLAC), $0, kinda/yes, weekly, yes, doesn't matter, publicity (and you just blew it with a front-page
Re:Aspiring? (Score:2)
HAHAHAHA you haven't done this much have you? That's a great way to further limit your audience. If you want your music and name to get out there, you're going to need to stick with stanards that everyone can use. HTML, MP3, CD you get the idea.
Re:Aspiring? (Score:2)
CD Baby (Score:3, Informative)
Re:CD Baby (Score:2)
This is also my idea of the future of music: try to innovate, be different and better. I recently discovered trip-hop music and I guess most of its sounds will only be mainstream in ten years. Be different! (Think Different!)
its pretty simple really (Score:5, Insightful)
That's all.
The "recording artist" is becomming something of an anacronism - or will become so IMO.
We are returning to a time when musicians get payed to actually perform their music, not just record it.
Ask a signed band, and the record company always, always gets the biggest cut of the money from record sales.
the band just counts on the sales driving concert attendance...but it's not really SALES driving the attendence, it's the people hearing the music.
and that hearing can now be achieved without the expenses of distribution from a decade ago.
that's truely why the Recording Industry is going to the toilet. The fleets of trucks driving to the stores and the warehouses of duplicatation equipment are already outdated - and that was really all that we needed those guys for. They didn't MAKE artists, the found and held them - like a zoo animal.
Give your music away, if you love it set it free. They will come to see you play if you rock
and I hope you do
link to your bands website?
Re:its pretty simple really (Score:2)
Re:its pretty simple really (Score:5, Insightful)
The album format may be dying (slowly, but yes, it's dying), but for someone who spends way too much time in a car or at work, live music (and ESPECIALLY merch - I don't want a t-shirt of my favorite band
Re:its pretty simple really (Score:3, Interesting)
The simple truth is that, from the band's point of view, albums are advertising expense. Bands do not profit from albums.. even the tiny slice of royalties they're officially given are inevitably taken by the labels.
If all you do is buy albums, you are doing nothing, nothing at all, to help the band survive. It's not worth feeling guilty over it, but it is a good reason for the bands to find new ways to distribute their music... if they can actually make a nickel a tu
Re:its pretty simple really - not (Score:4, Insightful)
That said, I do agree with you and think that there will be a general trend toward live performance. As usual, China is a model: musicians there don't make shit from their CDs - they're instantly pirated. They make their living from constant grueling tour schedules.
That's fine when you're in your 20s and you want to "rock", but it really sucks for people who are older or have family obligations.
I think he crux of the matter is one of raising consciousness among consumers.
Sure: go and trade your mp3s on P2P, but: if there is something you like and you listen to it more than a few times, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND BUY IT, YOU CHEAP ASS MOTHER FUCKER.
And if you can buy it directly from the musician(s), all the better. Go for it. By doing so you support the people who made the stuff and deserve your money. They have to pay rent too.
RS
What I would Do (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What I would Do (Score:2)
Give It Away Now (Score:5, Insightful)
From a non-musician... (Score:2)
Step 1: Be good. If you don't write good music, you stand no chance of making it big, and doing covers forever won't get you ahead for long. Dispatch was a great band that had a huge following, and it certainly wasn't because of a big-name label that they were so popular. I also know a lot of people from HS and college who were in bands, and to be quite honest,
Myspace has worked well for my friends (Score:2)
It all depends on what you want to be doing. If you want to be heard on the radio 24/7/365, then you probably need to try to get with a major label and hope you don't lose your sh
a band is not a business (Score:2)
if so, have you quit your day job yet?
steve albinis opionion on the music biz (Score:2)
The Problem with Music [negativland.com]
for those who dont know him: he's a very good musician and a famous producer (nirvana etc), too.
My thoughts (Score:2)
Use your website to promote the music by giving it away as non DRM files, and put them on P2P networks. Make money through concerts and T-shirts and anythi
A few pointers... (Score:2)
When it comes to your music, distribute, distribute, distribute--on P2P, on the Web, you name it. Radio isn't that inaccessible--one of the DJ's for a local station here plays MP3's he finds from bands just like yours and I'm sure would also a
being a band (Score:2, Interesting)
Get hits is key, use internet as your main tool, everything else is too expensive. Find the indie radio stations, sites, genre related communities. It's your only tool but the best tool. You can get thousands of people hearing your music everyday
distrobution (Score:2)
Also again depending on your style of music you can find very large distributors that will sell your CD's for a %. Basically if they like your cd's they will buy them at a large discount, and sell them through other zines or catalogs and websites.
Multiple Strategies (Score:3, Interesting)
I also think something like Magnatune is a good idea in that it gives you a more direct distribution channel. One of the advantages of smaller bands is that people tend to actually buy their music instead of getting it over P2P networks of a band that's on the radio.
I think something that's been mentioned too that is important is the idea of giving out certain tracks while selling others. Live versions could be given for free while the album version could be downloaded from a service.
What's most important though is creating a buzz and fans. Getting the music out there is relatively easy, its actually finding listeners and a group of loyal fans to preach the gospel so to speak is what's hard.
From my secondhand experience . . . (Score:2)
They have a decent web site up. That's the one thing that has helped most. When they just had a flash movie on a web server, it did almost nothing for them. Everyone was just going to the fan sites to get their info in a readable format. Now they have some band info, photos, bios, and free downloads of mp3s of some of t
Live Broadcasts Over The Net (Score:3, Interesting)
Only way to go.
Set up a monthly subscription plan whereby people who like your music can log on and see live (and prerecorded live) streaming video (and audio) of concerts and jam sessions on a regular (weekly, whatever) basis.
All the money goes directly to you (and your bandwidth provider, of course - somebody's going to take a percentage of your earnings, and that's a fact.)
Do NOT concern yourself about "pirating" of your content - it's irrelevant to your success. It's merely "unauthorized marketing" and will do you some good.
Secondly, do major marketing. Look at The Corrs - they went to practically every country on the planet, as they say, "selling each album door-to-door, country-to-country, stage-to-stage". They feel it's only right if someone buys your music, they should have the opportunity to see you live. (And the Net allows that without the jet lag.)
And they have a cameraman following them around practically twenty four hours a day, given all the documentary footage they're released over the last ten years. They have a good Web site. They log on to their fan sites and post messages (both Sharon and Caroline Corr logged on to the Corrboard in the last couple weeks to thank fans for birthday wishes). They walk across traffic to sign autographs. Treat your fans right - they buy your music.
Re:Live Broadcasts Over The Net (Score:2)
Well, yeah, nobody said looking good was a disadvantage.
BUT the Spice Girls (and quite a few other British girl bands) looked good, too - and they didn't sell 45 million albums worldwide (well, maybe they did, I don't know, but they were a fad - the Corrs have been around for almost fifteen years now). Sharon has said this directly - push the sex if you want to be a fad.
The Corrs aren't a "girl band" - they play their own instruments (from childhood), write their own legitimate music and lyrics based on
I think the turn is just around the corner. (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm waiting for that first new act to realize they can make a ton more money selling $7 CDs themselves over the internet than going through a label selling them for $20 and giving up their catalog to the man. As soon as the first band is succesful making it work, the floodgates are open!
Some Remark (Score:2)
Anyways, my comments:
Give your music away. You will never, under any circumstances, make much money from your music and if you make most of it available for free, in high quality, available to your users, you will get a larger (hopefully) audience by the songs being freely distributed from a central spot. Keep in mind this has bandwi
Not In the Biz, But... (Score:2)
...I'm an ardent supporter of independent music. My advice would be to seek out an indie label with good distribution and venue connections - if they can help out with CD packaging/reproduction and access to places to play, you're a few steps ahead of the game. Chances are they'll leave the marketing decisions up to your band for the most part, leaving your band in better control.
The smaller labels know that they have to form partnerships with musicians rather than act as parental figures as the large con
History shows us.... (Score:2)
Determine Your Income Source (Score:2)
And focus on it.
In general, artists make money off of concerts. If you start out assuming that all your money will come from concerts, you can afford to have all your music online for free. Just make certain that the music you put online if not in some index directory, listed like:
Instead, list the songs in a way that will associate them with the concerts and make people want to come to the concerts. For example:
Band Economics (Score:2)
Its pretty much agreed that recording companies abuse artists and consumers alike, but what is the alternative. The biggest suggestion so far is live performance. Being a big fan of seeing bands live, I could imagine this working.
My question is this: Are there any good examples of moderately successful bands and the economics of what they (not
They Might Be Giants (Score:4, Interesting)
Give away some songs for free (maybe enter Songfight! once in a while and link to it), but just let people know that the songs are for sale and that they're DRM-free for the customer's convenience, and that you trust them. Charge a reasonable price and make the site easy to use and you'll get customers.
sell stuff other than the music (Score:2)
Among them are:
My suggestion (Score:2)
After the show, have the band members at various exits handing out cards/flyers/whatever. The cards should each have a unique ID number on it, and a URL for the band's web page
Do what Beatallica did... (Score:2)
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/03/15/xeni_on_npr_ b eatalli.html [boingboing.net]
Oh, and it just so happens that my own site has a bit about Beatallica, including an interview from just before this all happened...
http://pigpog.com/wiki/index.php/Beatallica [pigpog.com]
Here's my uninformed opinion. (Score:4, Interesting)
The recording industry ARE a bunch of greedy bastards that are just in it for the money, so any place they can squeeze out a few more bucks, they'll do it. And they know the power of Intellectual Property © ® and all the fists full of money that can generate, so they do everything they can to extend and expand copyright, so they can retain monopoly rights on something they paid someone to create but somehow they own.
But the real question is how can you make it. Well, to make it on-line as a musician, this is what I would do:
Make it easy for interested fans to find you, refer you to their friends, buy stuff from you. Make your website easy to find and accessible. If you're not so good with visual media or website design, you probably know of a geek or a family member who is good at that, you could have them make a site for you (Payment would be between you and them). Once you're big enough, see if you can setup some tour dates. Sell CDs there, give out business cards with your website URL on them. Give away CDs with a few singles on them. You can even have an introduction on the CDs and DVDs and direct them back to your website, especially on any CDs you give away. Put a data track on audio CDs and DVDs that has some promo material or music files for your band and a link to your website. Remember everything can be used to promote yourself/your band, so make sure you've got it there where you can. But don't be obnoxious about it. People understand self-promo
"The Internet" is not the answer... (Score:2, Interesting)
So if you're going at it alone, you have to do more than put your music
How I deal with indy bands (Score:2)
Except... I have a handful of favorite indy bands. I go to their shows, try to tell local bars about them, buy tshirts and CDs and tell my friends.
I'll play their music for friends, and I'll give them a few mp3s, under the condition that they must buy the CD if they like them enough to keep (and exp
It's all about publicity. (Score:2)
The only function those guys have is marketting.
So - the question for you is: How do you get known without a full-scale commercial marketting engine behind you?
I'd suggest doing cheap/free live concerts - giving away
I don't know what's the best option, but ... (Score:2)
2 ideas (Score:2)
2. If you're going to give your music away, just put it on your web site. Don't waste time with P2P stuff - the only people who use P2P for music are pirates and stoners swapping Phish shows. If you want to sell music online, just use iTun
Easy (Score:2, Interesting)
2)Songs are released over time as they are conceived and recorded.
3)Music on the website is free, however copyrighted and owned by the band.
4)You can order a custom compilation on DVD or CD for $5 plus shipping.
5)Band's main revenue stream is from performing their music, and merchandise at the venue and on the website. Tickets cost $50-$200, depending on the artist.
Remeber that music is a performance art. Most of what you pay for and not ironically the biggest whiners about
Forget the dream... (Score:2)
Well, first of all, I'd be realistic and realize that out of the tens of thousands of bands, only a handful "make it big." And by make it big, I mean make any real money. A first hit record usually won't make you much more money than a mediocre full-time job. There are a few bands and artists that have a series of hit albums and they start to make real money off of those albums, but they make the really big money off
One more thing (Score:2)
Don't Suck
Hard work, time and of course good music = success (Score:4, Insightful)
It wasn't easy for us, but after a few years of hard work and patience we had our own following who supported us and dug our music. If the music is good, people will eventually hear about you. Posters and other schwag (no matter how polished and professional it looks) won't go very far nowadays. Word of mouth is the best form of advertisment, the rest will have to be done by lot's of gigging (which will make you better and tighter) and making those phone calls to any entertainment publication that will listen. Create a positive "buzz" where you live, and keep booking those shows. Don't ever let people forget about you. You'll find your band's rep is bigger and better than you actually are!
This is actually a thing I know quite a lot about, (Score:4, Informative)
Anyhow, I'm in an independent band, keiretsu [dartrecordings.co.uk]. As our members have a lot of side-projects, we started an organisation d:art recordings [dartrecordings.co.uk] to oversee things. However, the name is a con really - we're not a record label, it's just a device for common publicity and branding.
How do we use the internet? Well, many different ways:
- Mailing list - obvious, but essential. Harvest email addresses on a clipboard after gigs, then you can remind people who liked you when you next return to that city.
- Gigs listings [dartrecordings.co.uk] - let people know when they can see you
- MP3 downloads [dartrecordings.co.uk] - we've had tons of listeners from people thousands of miles away, where we have never and maybe will never do a live gig. Although nothing has come off yet, we have even had promoters contact us about tentative international dates.
- CD Sales [dartrecordings.co.uk] - We provide free MP3 clips of every track of our album, and a full download of one of the tracks. I also share this album preview pack on P2P clients like Soulseek. If you like what you hear, you can buy it, via Paypal (or the good old fashioned of snail-mailing me UK currency). I've despatched dozens of CDs across the pond to America.
- Running a forum so fans can chat with us.
- Getting interviewed [dnbscene.com] on genre-orientated websites, and getting our downloadable tracks featured on genre-orientated websites [dnbscene.com] and MP3 Blogs [knobtweakers.net] to further boost our online profile.
It goes hand in hand with the real-world, of course. Our CD booklet prominently features our URL, as does the large banner we display behind or above the band at gigs, wherever possible.My overall verdict: the internet is an invaluable marketing tool, and you can't neglect the online facet of operations when trying to push an independent music act. It's too big these days. On the other hand, you have to be very unique and special indeed to turn "the internet" alone into a profitable business model. Without continuous gigging, which is still the most effective way of getting yourself heard and building up a fanbase, our online CD Sales would probably not amount to much.
Re:"Make a living"-template (Score:2)
3: Blow own head off with a shotgun.
Re:The Pope Is Dead (Score:2)
Re:Perception (Score:2)
There are just areas where you have only talent and others where your skill is the combination of training and talent. This does not mean talent-only professions should earn more than talent+training-professions.
Re:What? (Score:2)
Re:Viral Marketing? (Score:2)