Purchase a Virtual CD – get listed

[pheeleep]

Ya, I know it may seem too low to some.. I just think that when competiting with major labels (99 cents itunes, 99 cents musicmatch jukebox ) as independents, since a larger part of the profits goes directly to the artist.. the customer's should be entitled to a break on the price.. 65 cents is what I would charge, but again, I completely understand that not all of us share the same beliefs

[CypherOne]

I haven't had a chance to read all the details yet, but it seems like a great initiative Spe3d.

I would be interested in being listed perhaps.

[Spe3D]

Ya, I know it may seem too low to some.. I just think that when competiting with major labels (99 cents itunes, 99 cents musicmatch jukebox ) as independents, since a larger part of the profits goes directly to the artist.. the customer's should be entitled to a break on the price.. 65 cents is what I would charge, but again, I completely understand that not all of us share the same beliefs

I think itunes have a small problem to resolve regarding locking the formats, also I am wondering what the quality is like with the downloads from itunes and musicmatch, how much freedom does the consumer really have with what they purchased?

The tracks at audioshots will be of a high grade, not locked, and directly supporting the artist. Plus making the artist visible to an audience that’s not just downloading tunes, the idea is to promote the artist and make them recognisable from each other. The tune will connect to the artist and then the consumer - but hopefully make a good place for producers to stop by in the future , It’s evolving and open to fine tuning though.

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

I haven't had a chance to read all the details yet, but it seems like a great initiative Spe3d.

I would be interested in being listed perhaps.

Thank you Cypher , it’s a given that I would like to set up a profile at AudioShots for your music.

I have a number of outstanding emails to reply to, after this I will write to you and give more details and discover what aspects of audioshots you would most benefit from.

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

[foosnark]

Interesting... I'll have to ponder this.

[cptgone]

Would .wav files be OK?

I'd prefer to offer full albums with the original wavs and artwork.

[Spe3D]

Interesting... I'll have to ponder this.

Thank you foosnark , give me a pm or email should you need any further info, I will be happy to clarify any aspects.

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

Would .wav files be OK?

I'd prefer to offer full albums with the original wavs and artwork.

Hi! cptgone,

If you would like to make available your work as wav, just let me know when you are ready and I will allow .wav – the only thing about wave files is their size, this may cut out an audience that are on slower connections – but it could be provided as one big file in a rar plus lots of smaller files for the purchaser to download.

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

[jtxx000]

probably a daft question but what's an EP?

[pitchdrifter]

I'm not sure the pricing idea is overly attractive to be honest.
Wouldn't it make more sense, to raise the bar in terms of demanded quality of the music and it's production, than to consider the site a dump for 'self produced' half assed attempts? Because thats what the pricing and price suggestions further up make it look like.
I might be having illusions about people's goals, but usually artists want to get better, reach higher and get further with their work. That would include not setting the pricing level like this.
I for one would have no problem to pay say 12 bucks for an album, 5 or 6 bucks for an EP and 1.25 or 1.50 for a single.

The point is... just because its dumping prices I for one won't buy music I don't like. But when I like music and I can instantly get the album for download, I'm happy to pay for the music, as long as the price is just a little under the usual physical CD price. And just because its not sold on amazon, doesn't mean the album may not cost the normal (for amazon price levels) 13-14 bucks on a CD. I'm happy to pay that price when I find music I enjoy. And I feel great because I know the artist who wrote the music I just bought gets more dash than he would with normal distribution.
And these prices are just below amazon level. And amazon is below record shop level. So a price level just below amazon (without shipping costs factored in) is more than fair for ANY listener.

If you do want that service to take off, I seriously would recommend raising the bar from "songdump" image to 'I gotta tweak my new album before I'll release it on audioshots, I want it to be perfect perfect'.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the artists that use audioshots would be 'better' ones. I'm saying artists would feel better using audioshots, and actually be proud to release the results of their hard work, and not feel inferior quality wise and economically to acts/music distributed via "normal" distribution channels.

Stop thinking that cheap music sells better. It doesn't!


best

Markus

edit: spelling, grammar, 1am stuff

[vurt]

i kind of agree with xravenx
but i dont neccassarilly see cheap as bad quality
for me personally i have the option of putting mp3s out all the time and here i admit i dont always hone them to the best of my ability tweaking every last nuance,but if im even going to charge 1 penny for a track i would then put my darndest into making that track worth while.
so i would maybe raise the bar for paid tracks to a certain standard but not neccassarilly the price.
for your own sake even spe3d you have to maybe sometimes tell people the track isnt good enough for sale.
your a label boss now get ruthless(cept with me )

[pheeleep]

Exactly,

I think it should be cheaper and of course the music should be very good. I don't believe in posting half ass attempts, that's for sure.. let's put it this way, as an independent I would sell my Cd's for $10 and it would be the same exact CD you would find at the store for $15 if I was signed on a label..

Now Vurt, I'll give you 10 cents for that linesandlinesnadlines piece..

[Spe3D]

I'm not sure the pricing idea is overly attractive to be honest.
Wouldn't it make more sense, to raise the bar in terms of demanded quality of the music and it's production, than to consider the site a dump for 'self produced' half assed attempts? Because thats what the pricing and price suggestions further up make it look like.
I might be having illusions about people's goals, but usually artists want to get better, reach higher and get further with their work. That would include not setting the pricing level like this.
I for one would have no problem to pay say 12 bucks for an album, 5 or 6 bucks for an EP and 1.25 or 1.50 for a single.

The point is... just because its dumping prices I for one won't buy music I don't like. But when I like music and I can instantly get the album for download, I'm happy to pay for the music, as long as the price is just a little under the usual physical CD price. And just because its not sold on amazon, doesn't mean the album may not cost the normal (for amazon price levels) 13-14 bucks on a CD. I'm happy to pay that price when I find music I enjoy. And I feel great because I know the artist who wrote the music I just bought gets more dash than he would with normal distribution.
And these prices are just below amazon level. And amazon is below record shop level. So a price level just below amazon (without shipping costs factored in) is more than fair for ANY listener.

If you do want that service to take off, I seriously would recommend raising the bar from "songdump" image to 'I gotta tweak my new album before I'll release it on audioshots, I want it to be perfect perfect'.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the artists that use audioshots would be 'better' ones. I'm saying artists would feel better using audioshots, and actually be proud to release the results of their hard work, and not feel inferior quality wise and economically to acts/music distributed via "normal" distribution channels.

Stop thinking that cheap music sells better. It doesn't!


best

Markus

edit: spelling, grammar, 1am stuff

Thank you Markus, projects are of high quality, in fact I will have news for AuidoShot hosted clients regarding obtaining a discount with a leading mastering house - one of the two banners at http://audioshot.com will give you a clue.

The classic account is a different package - the classic cd listing is Independent but of high quality only – I through out so many (low quality it is crazey)

The AudioShots Classic Label has yet to be announced, but it will tie in with top line mastering that's for sure.

Best regards,

Peter

[Spe3D]

Oh! regarding the prices - Don't forget all the money goes to the artist you support the artist directly.

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

[Kriminal]

I missed this, just had a quick look. Sounds interesting. I see you only have two albums up so far, what sort of response have you had?

[Steven West]

probably a daft question but what's an EP?

From the days of 'vinyl' - you had 'singles' (2 Songs) EP's ('Extended Play' - 6-8 songs?) and LP's ('Long Play' 10-12 songs usually) EP's still survive in our CD world as much the same. Maybe having 3-4 songs and a 'remix' or 'alternate version' thrown on?
Price is usually about 'half' what a CD would be as well. It's a good way to get 'the hit song' and hear what else the band/artist does without spending $13 on a CD and find out you only like the 1 song.

I'm considering as well Spe3d. Looks intriguing.

[Spe3D]

Hi! Krim,

Thanks, yes good response as far as enquiries go, its not so easy to find people with material that is going to be ok to sell though – hence so far only two albums listed, the artists pages have been viewed quite a lot and the demos heard – but I don’t know how many sales this has resulted for the artists – they both have physical cd’s too – and the virtual cd uptake is not as high as it could be that’s for sure. I need to add the crucial piece of info – just how big is a virtual cd anyway = about 97 MB – some people have been thinking they are 650 MB – so that’s my next job for today.

Thanks Steven, I had another Steven contact me, about virtual cd’s too – I have sent off an email giving more details.

I have had both artists send back some new buttons – so those prices might finally be going up a tad later tonight – I can see Markus getting the flags out now.

Cheers guys,

Peter