I was in the Apple store yesterday, checking out the new video iPods. It seems to me that an artist could deliver artwork, lyrics and video along with the music all digitally. Later that night I was at a seminar where they have a panel discussing the state of the industry. The guy who worked for the major label said something like "...there's a whole generation of kids, about 15 and under, where the CD means shit to them..."

I'm seriously thinking about going only digital for future releases. Yes, it means moving back to a "singles" style market as opposed to album, and then there's the whole argument about the sentimental value of actually holding something in your hands.

CD's, going the way of the 8-track?

CD's are sucking wind right about now. This is truly the mp3 generation.

theSpark said:

One of the biggest problems as a musician these days, is not too little avenues to market but way too much great ones. Everyone has a website, a video a cd now and everyone has access to all the same ways of marketing. The problem I have is that if you put out your material in any way it's only one in a million and won't even get seriously considered and even if it does of course it's all subjective anyways. Demand is outweighed by supply in our business. Too many musicians, too many ways to market and fewer ways to specialize.

It's the same way in the writing world - seems like everyone writes, everyone has a blog, and it's so much harder to cut through the trash to find the treasures.

mozfonky said:

See i find beauty in that. i believe that makes the artist much closer to his fan base.
the only real hard part about that is getting your stuff listened too!
the promotion aspect!
which for me is basically doing gigs and word of mouth
if people like your sound, give em your site and tell em to pass you along!

Well, pressing a CD (a proper CD), sending it out to review sites and to distros will definitely make your music seem more worhtwhile than just offering files for download. And also, you are putting more effort into the whole thing, taking financial risks with it, people are going to appreciate that more. Mere downloadable files are going to make very few individuals noted.

I'd hoped the next musical revolution would be a style of music, not a medium.

Sigh.

Technology period has practically destroyed craft. Prince is right about that. Musicians used to have to be great as hell to make it. Listen to 50's music and you'll see many examples of finely honed talent. Technology makes it easy for us to cheat with our shortcomings and so we don't work as hard on our craft(I say we as a general group Of course). doesn't take as much talent to create great music.

It's funny because I just posted on the Vinyl thread and a...

never mind

Have U ever done a search for music on MySpace just within a 50 mile radius of your city and had a kazillion pages pop up? It's insane the amount of people out there with CDs!!! I have no idea how to go about truly reaching a fan base. I have one now, albeit a very small one, LOL. But I'm definitely feeling whoever said supply outweighs demand right now, that is so true.

Man, ain't that the truth. Which is why I'm baffled as to how these same cookie-cutter pop/R&B/hip-hop artists of today get record deals at all. But, this also explains the success of American Idol and other ventures of discovering new artists.

Adisa said:

I love your bootie. As far as American idol, and cookie cutter people, those people aren't people who have any control over anything, they are just puppets.

I don't see the need for em' anymore...





J-

There's three types of music artists out there:

Those that play the game well
Those that play their music well
THOSE THAT DO BOTH>

Just because there's a million CDs/mp3 artists out there doesn't mean you have no chance of success. You have to learn how to play the game. There's two ways to play: with money, or with time. If you have money, pay somebody else to pollute the internet with your name. If you don't have money, then it's up to you to get online and find every avaialable outlet for your music, and put your music THERE.

There are sites dedicated to reviews and all they want is for you to send them a copy of your music. There are sites - a MILLION sites, out there hosting mp3s. Some have charts, some sell your mp3s, some rate/review your mp3s. Get your music on every site and constantly - DAILY - have your butt up on all of those sites, creating a presence.

Follow up with the review sites. Post your music on podcasts. Make phone calls to radio stations. Create online blogs on myspace or any of the million other sites to CONSTANTLY maintain communication with your fans, and then you have to CONSTANTLY have something going on - gigs, demos, studio, photos, anything and everything.

People are like goldfish in a big pond. You can throw sand in the water and they'll come running for it until they realize it's just sand. You can throw lemon peel and maybe some will eat it, but not many. And then you throw bread and woof everybody's on that stuff. And fish who weren't looking for food are coming running because everybody else is on it.

30 years ago, it was tapes. In 1975 the record industry was whining that cassette tapes were going to kill the industry and music was dead and well now any moron could make a recording of their band and quality was gone.

Instead, you had two major music revolutions take place: Punk Rock and Hip Hop - both occurred because music bypassed The Man and driven, creative artists were determined to put their music in the hands of any person who would listen. So much so, in fact, that Hip-hop re-wrote the way music is promoted. Prior to that, you had to book shows, do radio, postering, etc... but hip hop started handing out tapes - HUNDREDS per night, out of the trunk of cars. Rock bands didn't have a clue for years about this.

So. Back to my initial point. If your music is sub-par, you can promote promote promote and build up a following of interested people, but in the end, they'll be like the fish eating lemon peels.

Or, you can be an awesome artist who is determined to wait for the world to come to you, or get frustrated and feel like, what's the use? No amount of amazing talent will get your music out there, on it's own.

You have to be good, and you have to be driven. The crap you hear on mainstream radio is corporate radio trying to make money off of those few original driven bands. Since there's only ONE Dave Matthews band, Clear and Sony have to go find DMB Wannabes. And Madonna wannabes, or whoever you think started these trends 20 years ago.

Who cares. Stop whining, develop a business plan to get your music out there, and DO something. Radio is free but you never hear anybody whining that radio is making it hard for artists. Back in 1997 when MP3.com started getting going, I REVELLED in the fact that my music was online for anybody to hear. The possibilities were limitless. They still are, it's just that there's a million morons clouding up the stage. But don't worry - you can still cut through the clutter if you've got something good to say.

I rarely rant on here anymore, sorry if I ruffle feathers. MP3s, cassettes, Television, moving pictures, photographs, there's always SOMETHING that scares the status quo of the artist community.

Doesn't sound like anyone was scared or whining, Beau. The original poster was simply asking a question. Save your rants and long posts for one of the many other websites you visit. I think most of the orgers who post in this section know the many possibilites out there, so a condescending post/attitude isn't needed...

But then again, you are out there doin' your thing (and being pretty successful at it), so spread the knowledge

I like your attitude beua and you do have some good points. However, when I say that it's difficult to market, I'm just saying it in a detached way more than anything, a realistic way. The bottom line is, musical talent is a dime a dozen, it doesn't really mean anything. There are very few truly special artists out there who history is inconcievable without. Hard to imagine no Elvis or no Beethoven,just because of their singular greatness. But, those type of men are few and far in between, most great musicians are just people with a lot of skill at something, thats not anything special really. This leaves us with lots of wannabe stars who may play live or have a cd but nothing special about them. Everybody wants to be a big shot, fact is, the chances of it happening are approaching zero. If you are like me, you do it because you are sick and cannot stop yourself. If you are someone who has some need for attention then you do it because you think people will think you're some kind of stud. I've told other musicians, who are in it for the posturing, that I'd rather not have any success at all and keep my ideas intact rather than going after some kind of personality cult. Anyway, lots of surplus talent out there. Music bigwigs don't worry about finding the next whatever, they have thousands of them, and all of them think they're special.

Which reminds me I haven't bought a copy of UNH! yet.Better do so before Cd's become extinct...
I listened to 'Superhot Lady Cop' today; stumbled across it on my p.c. after being totally distracted for the last six months .

FLUX said:

Cash or check?