I know, I know.
You’ve all been waking up, every morning, wondering, “Where, oh where, has GarageSpin disappeared to?”
That’s too long — and not nearly interesting enough — a story to tell.
BUT, I can share that I’m in the process of launching my new music project and/or “producer/band” identity: Phonic BOOM.
I’m working on my first song, to be part of an eventual EP, and can’t wait to share it. Stay tuned!
Loopport is a new company — currently in private beta — entering the royalty free audio sample space, but with a professional subscription spin. In a nutshell, DJs, musicians, bands, and producers will pay a monthly fee (though I’m not sure what that fee will be) to have unlimited access to an ever-renewing library of professional-quality royalty free samples, loops, effects, and patches.
Courtesy of Loopport, the first 100 GarageSpin readers who click here and use beta code “loopport09” will get a free private beta account.
I wandered through the service myself the other day, and made a few observations:
Anyway, if you check it out, share your thoughts — what do you think? Did any particular samples or service features impress you?
Brian at Passive Promotion (and artist Color Theory) wrote a great post about how he used Jango to determine which songs he should feature, and which he should cut, in his next album.
Basically, he paid for plays, focusing on a demographic and music taste profile that fits his own style, looked for top performers, and made his selections. The live market research enabled him to select the album leader, which is critical in retaining listeners visiting an artist’s music for the first time.
Great, great, great mix of marketing science and music production common sense with an efficient spend.
If you haven’t followed Brian in the past, he also crowdsourced the actual creative process by soliciting feedback from fans regarding song ideas, lyric ideas, song title ideas, etc. Color Theory makes a great case study for modern day DIY music production. Check him out.
Any musician seriously considering digital distribution is thinking about getting their music on iTunes.
iTunes controls between 60-80% of digital music sales, depending on who you ask. Fortunately, the once impossible task is now possible through several services catering to bands and songwriters. However, the different pricing models make the decision less than obvious.
With my own first EP release approaching (at a crawl), I scouted out the various options currently available, and am posting them here for your convenience. Check ’em out, see what you think. (If I’m missing an option/service, let me know.)
Just a couple things to think about:
Here are 7 music services, in alphabetical order (lest you think I have a favorite), that offer bands a way to get their music on iTunes. The pricing models and packages are all different, as are the variety of core and ancillary services that each company offers. In this post, I am only comparing pricing options; you’ll want to do deeper research on your own (and I may write a follow-up post with a deeper dive). Hopefully, this list will help you make your decision.
Pricing:
UPC & ISRC Codes:
Digital Distribution Included:
Pricing:
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Digital Distribution Included:
iTunes, Google Music, Amazon On Demand, AmazonMp3, Rhapsody, Myspace Music, Medianet, 7Digital, Tunetribe, Tuneplay, Spotify, Rdio, Muve Music, We7, iHeartRadio, Sony Qriocity, Simfy, Grooveshark, Deezer, mFlow, Zvooq, AT&T, WiMP, Nokia, Eircom, eMusic, Beatport, Tuneplay, Amalgam Digital, Juno, Track It Down, Audio Jelly, Dance Tunes, FargoTube, Basepiont Media, 121 Music, Beezik
Pricing:
UPC & ISRC Codes:
Digital Distribution Included:
Pricing:
UPC & ISRC Codes:
Digital Distribution:
Pricing:
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Digital Distribution:
Pricing:
UPC & ISRC Codes:
Digital Distribution Included:
Pricing:
UPC & ISRC Codes:
Digital Distribution:
Pricing information not included on website. Service geared towards labels, and not DIY musicians/bands. I’d stick with one of the services above, unless you’re a label-ite.
This post focused on iTunes distribution and pricing only. There’s also the matter of other retailers, merchandise, selling music from your own site, etc. What music service(s) or widget(s) do you use to distribute your music digitally? What do you think is important in a digital music distribution service?
Screw "DIY" (do-it-yourself). It’s time for "SEDI" (someone-else-does-it).
Derek Sivers, the legend behind CD Baby, is apparently launching a new service for bands called Muckwork that will enable the outsourcing of tasks no band member wants to do, so bands can focus on writing and playing.
How will it work? It’s hard to say exactly, since the Muckwork site is virtually bare at the moment, but Derek explains that the service will work in a way similar to the outsourcing and virtual assistant services described in the article "Outsource Your Life: Sites Allow You to Create Army of Virtual Assistants." Derek further explains:
"MuckWork will have a big network of people around the world that are great at helping musicians with the boring stuff that can be done from anywhere.
Because we’ll have a huge network of people available to help, you never have to worry about someone flaking on you. MuckWork will take reponsibility to get your job done, whatever it may be"
In fact, he’s already hiring his virtual army of band aides (or muckworkers). They are:
Professional musician who now wants to stay home
* Under $20/hr, 5-20 hrs/wk
* You have already made a living as a musician
* You’ve booked your own tour, promoted your own album, etc.
* Now you’d rather stay at home helping others instead.
Experienced Virtual Assistant
* Under $10/hr, 5-20 hrs/wk
* You already have successful experience as a virtual assistant
* You would prefer to work for musicians instead of more-generic VA work
Pretty interesting. I can definitely think of some tasks that would be worth outsourcing:
What else? It’s a pretty cool idea, considering how DIY-weary some DIY-ers can become over time. Keep your eyes on Muckwork’s muck work.
A week ago, I paid broke a personal record by paying over $50 ($51.23) to fill up my 1997 Nissan Sentra’s gas tank. Ouch.
It made Bob’s new free white paper, with the very long but descriptive title, "How to Recession-Proof Your Music Career: 39 Ways Musicians, Bands and Record Labels Can Reduce Expenses and Prosper in Today’s Economic Times" quite a bit more relevant. If you’re looking to pinch some pennies during your next gig (or for that matter, your next night out, yeesh), you can download it here.
Two of the 39 Ways were completely new to me — BetterThanTheVan.com and CouchSurfing.com are sites bands can use to crash couches across America, one living room at a time, to reduce travel expenses. Awesome. A little unpredictable both for bands and hosts, perhaps, but would surely yield some interesting stories while gigging.
I had the opportunity to provide a little commentary to another recording-studios-facing-threat-of-home-recording themed article published today by the Courier News, kind of similar to the recording studio article last week.
My new hero is John Forrestal, a 19-year (old also quoted in the article) whose home recording studio became a small business while he was still in high school. He records jazz artists, singer-songwriters, etc. (I think I was still collecting comic books in 9th or 10th grade. Fortunately, I also started playing guitar around that time.) John’s way ahead of his time, but then so is the entire Apple GarageBand generation, I guess.
It’s great to be a songwriter in the 21st century.
Scott Galupo of the Washington Times wrote an article titled Music from a Closet about the recent passing of many large recording studios (the Hit Factory, Cello Studios, Music Shoals Sound Studios, and most recently, Sony Music Studios), and the explosion of home/garage/closet-based studios. A good read, check it out.
Scott was kind enough to invite my thoughts on the subject, but I (unknowingly) missed his deadline while boogie boarding in North Carolina. Rather than let mediocre writing go to waste, I thought I’d include my thoughts here so they would have a life outside of Gmail:
"Digital audio recording has advanced to the point where it’s difficult to differentiate between home-brewed audio and pro analog sound. While audiophiles may disagree, the vast majority of iPod owners are perfectly happy grooving to mp3 files, a "low fi" sound format. The recent 50/50 split between digital and analog single sales in the UK strongly supports that trend.
"The production process is evolving towards a point where the bulk of song writing, recording, tracking, and mixing will take place in home studios. Some studios will always exist to provide superior acoustic spaces, superior mixing and mastering software and hardware, and most importantly, expert mixing and mastering expertise, all of which are difficult for any DIY artist to duplicate. And of course, there will always be great bands who have no knowledge of or desire to record their own albums. The studios that can offer bundled services (CD duplication, studio musician rosters, music submission channels, song advice, industry contacts, mixing/mastering expertise, etc.) and other difficult-to-duplicate benefits will survive and succeed."
Quoting one’s self is so lame.
Great, great article in the NY Times yesterday about the new breed of Artist 2.0s in today’s online world, the ability to release music and video directly to the public, the ability to interact directly with fans (and the resulting challenges), the importance of touring, and some interesting success stories. Bands like Jonathan Coulton, OK Go, Hold Steady, and Scene Aesthetic are included. A good read.
Create Digital Music, MakeZine, and Etsy Labs sponsored a "Handmade Music" night in Brooklyn, NY recently. Seriously, these people are crazy. But it’s that lovable kind of crazy that paves the way for brilliance in digital music making. You need only see the Sonic Banana, Slime-O-Tron, Shock Glove, Beat Blocks, and the Singing Fish-related device to understand. I’m so inspired, I may trash my acoustic guitar and convert my Super Nintendo into a MIDI keyboard.
Check out video clips of the event at CDM here, or some pics of the instruments at Make here. And if that’s not enough, be sure to check out the Paper-made music event, also recently hosted by CDM, Make, Etsy Labs, and Popular Science.