What do other people think? I read that there are 75 million songs being sold on Itunes. Add another 100 million for other digital stores, and that's 175 million, which is probably a conservative worldwide estimate.
Such a high number makes me think that a very conservative approach to the market is a "judicial" approach.
Meaning what? Start with Itunes and AmazonMP3 only. Forget all the subscription sites, streaming sites, internet radio, all of which would produce pennies; surely nothing to get excited about for an artist who is not famous already. Why sell your hard work for practically nothing? Not me.
Should I pay for Soundscan? Why? Wait until any of your songs show acceptance or popularity. Who knows? All of them could bomb, even your most imaginative, inspired, superb work.
Should I pay to have my own web site? Probably not. I know a talented composer singer. She has her own site, which is doing nothing for her. Facebook is good enough for those just entering the market.
Should I join ASCAP or BMI? I think that I would do. I don't know exactly why.
Bottom line: I just don't see the point of giving away your work, especially when it takes 1-2 years to produce a polished album.
What do you think?
Digital Distribution - Taking it in steps, Slowly, very slowly
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- Banned
- 43 posts since 29 Apr, 2014
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- KVRian
- 502 posts since 14 Aug, 2012
To be honest, these days, I simply do not purchase any music I can't sample first in full, either on Spotify or Bandcamp (with a very few exceptions, almost exclusively for artists I'm already familiar with or saw live). Actually, I routinely randomly "wander" on Spotify and Bandcamp for new music to listen to, which I then frequently (but, to be fair, by no means always) purchase if I like it enough to listen to regularly.
I may be part of the problem that's destroying music. I may be missing a lot of great music. But there's so much great music that I can preview in full before purchasing -- far more than I'll ever be able to find or listen to -- that, quite simply, I can't be bothered by any musicmaker who doesn't make their full tracks available for streaming.
I'm not saying it's fair or right. I'm not saying your music doesn't deserve better, or that you're in any way wrong for feeling as you do or proceeding as you are. I'm just stating a current fact of life for at least one music purchaser (me).
I may be part of the problem that's destroying music. I may be missing a lot of great music. But there's so much great music that I can preview in full before purchasing -- far more than I'll ever be able to find or listen to -- that, quite simply, I can't be bothered by any musicmaker who doesn't make their full tracks available for streaming.
I'm not saying it's fair or right. I'm not saying your music doesn't deserve better, or that you're in any way wrong for feeling as you do or proceeding as you are. I'm just stating a current fact of life for at least one music purchaser (me).
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- Banned
- Topic Starter
- 43 posts since 29 Apr, 2014
That's new reality of the music business. But I sense that it will change. I do know several artists who only place one song, maybe two, at the most, on sites like those you mentioned. So, you are missing a lot of great music. Probably, in 3 years, a lot of these free, streaming, subscription sites, or whole song sites will disappear. With people like Taylor Swift leading the industry away from them, I'm guessing that what is left will be the amateur stuff. I feel that listening to a 90 sec demo of an Itune song is plenty of time for a person to make a buy decision. Obviously, it makes it a whole lot easier for thieves to steal a song with the entire song being used as a demo. I don't believe you could convince any pro label to allow their artists to give away their music or allow it to be thieved easily. I guess I am fairly confident that most artists will eventually reject the giveaway approach to music. I made my decision. No way am I going to prostitute or give away my songs. Ain't gonna happen. It's Itunes and Amazon for me. That's it.