Brian Mazzaferri, lead singer of independent rock back
I Fight Dragons, has made a
post on We Are Listening about how he and his band made $10,000 in 48 hours by selling ‘Lifetime Membership USB Drives’.
The band, which is only 9 months old, has focused on building a fanbase and giving their fans lots of free music through their mailing list. When they reached the point where they were starting to think how they could monetize off their music, instead of going the traditional (and outdated) route of recording an album and selling it, they came up with an idea that would not only give their fans a lot more, but them also.
The idea they came up with was to sell ‘Lifetime Membership USB Drives’ which were basically USB drives preloaded with all of the music they’ve ever released and they guarantee the owner a free digital copy of anything they ever release, as well as free admission to any live show of ours now and forever. And there were only 100 made.
Needless to say, they all went quickly, but the question is; why?
Read more…
On September 8th, Apple unveiled its latest ‘innovation’ to help prop up the recorded music industry – the iTunes LP. For only seven bucks more than a regular digital album, you can get some pretty pictures and liner notes.
Facepalm!
But the story doesn’t end there.
Last week, Brian McKinney of Chocolate Lab Records told Gizmodo that Apple was charging record labels $10,000 in production costs to release an album in the iTunes LP format – and indie record labels need not apply. Apple later denied that allegation and said it is working on releasing the specs for the LP format and making them available to all, indie and major labels alike.
Regardless of the outcome of this “he said she said” tempest, it amplifies the silliness of the iTunes LP format itself.
Several web developers have dissected the format to find that it is essentially HTML, Javascript, CSS, and multimedia content – a website. For a little more than the cost of an actual physical CD, you get to save files to your hard drive that largely mirror content you can find online, from the artist’s website itself to Wikipedia, YouTube, and others. Read more…
It’s always nice to hear success stories from artists who put out their own indie releases, but this year I was able to witness first hand, and be a part of, such a project. I want to share with you how hip hop artist
Cambatta and
DJ Nice released and promoted
‘The Visionary’.
In 2008 Cambatta was an unsigned artist who was was trying to get his name out there, particularly on the mixtape circuit. With the help of old school friend DJ Nice, he decided to start work on his debut release, titled ‘The Visionary’.
DJ Nice was already an established name on the mixtape scene as both a DJ and producer, and with his experience and contacts Cambatta was granted access to many talented producers and artists to work with.
Before the album was released, Cambatta and DJ Nice did a number of things to create a buzz. They released a few collaborations with more well-known artists for free in order to raise Cambatta’s profile. These songs made appearances on many top hip hop websites, enabling Cambatta to reach a wide audience.
Read more…
In 2007, Radiohead released its album “In Rainbows” with an interesting twist – along with traditional CD and vinyl versions, as well as 99 cent tracks on iTunes and other digital retailers, the band offered its own digital downloads of the album on a “pay what you want” basis.
While solid numbers are difficult to come by, the experiment appears to have paid off for Radiohead. Along with the huge amount of press the move generated, the band reported over 3 million combined sales (physical and digital), and “rumors, polls, and inside sources” suggest that the average person paid around $4 to download the album. It is also very likely the pricing model itself drove demand for the band – the deluxe edition box set of “In Rainbows” sold over 100,000 copies (at $81 a pop) when it was released three months after the digital release, and Radiohead went on to its most successful tour to date.
But what’s most interesting is how the music industry responded to this experiment – it didn’t.
Read more…
I saw Mike Masnick post this on
TechDirt a few days ago but only got around to reading it this morning. This is a paper written by
Bas Grasmayer as part of the research for his thesis on the future of music distribution. Bas analyses 5 musical releases that used new business models; Radiohead’s ‘
In Rainbows‘, Nine Inch Nails’ ‘
Ghosts I-IV‘, Groove Armada’s ‘
Drop The Tough‘, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse’s ‘
Dark Night of the Soul‘ and Mos Def’s ‘
The Ecstatic‘.
Click here to read.
After analysing each one he draws the following conclusions:
What does NOT work (well)
- Not going all the way. Fans love free music and so do people that are not familiar with the artist’s work, but if you’re going to give something away then really give it away. If you don’t, you won’t get the attention you were hoping and might even disappoint some fans instead of connecting with them.
Read more…
On GrindEFX we’re always talking about fan relationships. Connecting with your fans is a vital component of marketing your music. If you have that personal relationship with your fans they will want to support you by buying your music, merch, concert tickets etc.
“But what does that mean?”
Well, here are 7 ways you can start connecting with your fans today.
Read more…
Earlier today I spoke about Apple’s
“reason to buy” fail, now I’m going to show you “reason to buy” done well. It comes from a indie rap group that consists of Dood Computer and Stir Crazy and there new album “Penny Dreadfuls”.
The group have released their new album on cassette which is available for $6, you also get a download card so if you want it on your mp3 player you can.
A lot of you are probably thinking; “what good is a cassette? I haven’t seen a cassette player in years”. Well that may be true, but the cassette isn’t there to be played, it’s there as a piece of memorabilia to encourage people to buy the album. Dood Computer and Stir Crazy have made flyers and a video (see below) promoting the cassette tape, it’s different, it’s fun and it grabs your attention. I haven’t ever heard of the band before, but I would assume they have quite a niche following that would appreciate this kind of humour.
I think it’s a great idea and executed very well, check out the promotional flyers and video after the jump.
Read more…
Forrester Research recently released a report that lays out a “radical vision” to “save the music industry from the current Media Meltdown it finds itself in.”
While the actual report is only available to Forrester customers, the company’s blog reveals that the plan involves broad “music release windows,” similar to the chart on the right. “Premium” content is released first, followed by a “mainstream” release at a later time, and eventually wide dissemination to free and “feels like free” services.
Judging by comments on the Forrester blog and elsewhere, many scoff at the idea of regaining content scarcity through this staggered release approach. “What about pre-release leaks?” they ask. True, the industry has increasingly bumped up release dates of albums – Jay-Z’s latest came out three days early today – in part to combat the problem of early copies leaking onto the internet. But it’s important to keep in mind that large swaths of music listeners are not running around downloading leaked copies of albums off torrent sites.
Read more…
Owen Kelly over at
The Indie Digest has written
4 reasons why giving your music away for free is beneficial to independent artists. It’s a nicely written article with very clear and concise points. Owen talks about things we’re constantly preaching over here at GrindEFX.
I reccomend you read the whole article, here is a shortlist of the 4 points:
- Maximises the possibility of discovery.
- Builds attention.
- Builds your brand.
- Helps you make money.
Owen obviously has a very clear understanding of the current music business and where it’s heading in the future. He talks about not locking your music behind a “pay-wall”, but rather letting it spread as much as possible. This not only allows more people to discover your music, but it brings people into your network where, if you’re on top of things, the money making possibilities are endless.
I like to think of it as a theme park; allow people to enter for free, then charge them for the rides.
Read more…
If you’re reading this site, then you are probably in the business of selling music in some way, shape or form.
As most of you will know, trying to get an audience to part with their hard-earned money is no easy task, and when sales aren’t as high as you would have liked it can be discouraging.
But before you set fire to your songbook and sell your equipment, are you sure you’re doing everything you possibly can to get your music out there?
Here are 5 possible reasons why nobody is buying your music, and what you can do about it.
Read more…
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