Promoting Musical Artists in the Post-RIAA Music World?

Mattcelt asks: "While we're all discussing the eventual demise of the RIAA and the triumph of the MP3, what should a small independent music publishing company do to sell a new artist to the public? My publishing company recently ran a $4,000 advertising campaign on a local radio station (107.9 the Link in Charlotte, NC). Despite reaching an average audience of more than 10,000 during peak times, we netted *0* sales. That's right, absolutely nothing. I've made the entire album available in MP3 format on the Ephelian Records website to facilitate adoption, and I know some people have downloaded the songs, but I can't figure out why no one has pre-ordered the CD. How does an indie artist make a living when gig prices for unknown artists will barely cover the gas money and CDs won't sell? Are we really wrong about the availability of MP3s affecting music sales?"

Comments

Ahem.

[skinfitz]

I've made the entire album available in MP3 format on the Ephelian Records website to facilitate adoption, and I know some people have downloaded the songs, but I can't figure out why no one has pre-ordered the CD.

Er, dude...

You've found the answer!

[ShmuelP]

Well, I don't know the answer for other bands, but it seems like getting linked on Slashdot is a good approach.

I use Ogg Vorbis you insensitive clod!

[Frac]

I've made the entire album available in MP3 format on the Ephelian Records website to facilitate adoption, and I know some people have downloaded the songs, but I can't figure out why no one has pre-ordered the CD.

I suggest you encode it in pristine ogg VBR @ 320kbps. Also, include scans of the album cover and back, a nice .nfo describe the release, a .sfv that verifies the checksums, and all packaged in a nice RAR file. Now put it on Kazaa, and share it on "release" priority on eMule on the eDonkey network.

Oh, did you ask how to make money off it? Err, nevermind...

Re:I use Ogg Vorbis you insensitive clod!

[Fweeky]

Sorry, your release does not meet the requirements for posting on the KaZZa media network. In case you need reminding:

• For MP3 release, the maximum bitrate is 128kbps if you're using LAME (although not with an --alt-preset); unlimited if using Xing (with a requirement of at least 4 annoying artifacts and 1 annoying flanging effect through at least 20% of the track).
• For OGG Vorbis, you have two choices: -q-1 (that's minus 1), or any quality setting provided you transcode from an MP3 that passes the MP3 rules. Any and all OGGs must come with ID3 tags; preferably for a different album.
• No NFO, no scans of albums. Either the ID3 tag must be empty, incorrect or missing, or the filenames must be of the form track[1-12].{mp3,ogg}.
• SFV's and similar are out of the question unless they were created during processing; i.e. before adding ID3 tags (especially for OGG's), or created using some oddball tool that nobody uses.
• All these rules may be waived provided the files are only served off a single 200bps modem user in Alaska, who connects for five minutes every week.

Remember, failing to abide by these rules may result in your removal from the search database (except for those movies and crappy partial mp3's you haven't bothered deleting yet). The KaZZa Media Network thanks you for helping to reinforce the quality of service our users expect from the network.

Post on slashdot...

[clambake]

Well, one way to make sales would be to post on slashdot mentioning that you might be wavering on your belief that MP3 sharing may not be all it's cracked up to be... Ahh, I see, you're way ahead of me!