Evaluating a System for Selling and Delivering MP3s?

Dredd2Kad asks: "I'd really like Slashdot's opinion on this. I recently secured an MP3 distribution deal with an indie record label, and negotiations with other indie labels and artists are in the works. The music will be distributed through my internet radio station's website. As you know, if you can sell music in a format such as MP3 you eliminate the costs of packaging, shipping, handling. You do have to contend with bandwidth charges though. Most indie labels and artists seem happy to pass along the savings to customers and stimulate sales. What I have built is simple and functional. We are trying to add value to the MP3 albums we sell by including quality artwork that can be printed onto CD labels and jewel case inserts (so you aren't just getting a 'bunch of files'). What would make you want to buy music in this way? What types things would turn you away? What are the positives and negatives of selling music in this manner? Do you think this is a viable alternative to someone who doesn't want to pay $10 or $15 for a physical CD? Does the format the music is in or on have an impact on how serious you take it?"

Comments

Re:People also want quality features.

[HanzoSan]

Because your bands suck, I know bands here who sell way more than that.

Not only that, but $60,000 is more than enough to feed, clothe, house, restring, and rehead at least 4 musicians for a year. That's $15,000 a year, per person.

No one said musicians had to be rich. No one said there had to be 4. For 2 musicians this is just fine. For 4 musicians, you can still survive, $15,000 is not poverty according to the government.

If the musician has talent they can sell more than 5000 CDs, if they cant, well then what are you complaining about? They couldnt sell 5000 CDs before, and they wont be able to sell 5000 subscriptions, because they suck.

Yeah.. and this is my point of view:

[OmniVector]

First off, kudos for doing whole albums instead of track-by-track. This allows experimentation and breadth of style.

First off, kudos for doing track-by-track and not whole albums. This allows me to sample individual songs and not have to pay the full price of an album if the first few tracks sucked.

-7, Flamebait

[Mikey-San]

Quickly, before my coffee's ready:

1. "I want Ogg!"

Not happening. Get realistic. Anyone outside of Slashdot know about Ogg? No? Okay. Next.

2. "I want raw CD audio rips!"

Not happening until all or most mainstream high-bandwidth ISPs remove transfer caps.

On a related note, transfer caps suck. I was lucky enough not to get one imposed with my 1.5Mbit residential service.

3. "I want every possible feature under the Sun, including complete album art collections and sheet music. Otherwise, it's not worth it."

Not happening, either. Rights to reprint and retransmit sheet music transcriptions for distribution-controlled recordings are licensed to sheet music companies like Cherry Lane, etc. Print music publishers are already here, so if you want to give out over the Web what they sell, the price will go up. Sorry. (Sites like OLGA don't reprint, so to speak, copyrighted transcriptions, for reference. It's a bit of a grey area, or at least, it has been a grey area in the past few years with agencies like the Harry Fox Agency suing tab and lyric sites left and right. I won't get into whether I agree or don't agree with it, but I /do/ think it's a bit stifling for music fans.)

I'll address the "every feature under the Sun" part in the next few seconds.

4. "I want all of this for a quarter per song."

This is ridiculous. You can't have every feature and more for a quarter per song. Yeah, $18 or $20 for a CD is /really/ high, but $10 for complete records and a buck for single songs, well, that's really good. Want sheet music? Price goes up. Want the highest possible rips? Price goes up. Want someone to take the time to get all of the album art, from head to toe, in a high-quality format for you? Price goes up. An obscure format that won't make nearly, NEARLY as much money as mainstream formats like MP3? Price goes up, if it happens at all.

I don't like the modern music industry, but I see it changing soon enough. A dollar isn't a lot to pay for a good song. (You ARE buying good stuff, right? If I catch you with an Edwin McCain or Celine Dion track, I'm coming to your house and kicking your ass.)

Flame ON! /human torch

Might pay

[Archfeld]

a small 'sample' fee to test an MP3 but unless you are selling AT LEAST 256 kbps it WILL never FLY as a money maker, sorry. Even then you'd HAVE TO BE REALLY AREFUL to make sure you are not aswscociated with the RIAA in ANY WAY. I stopped buying music 2 years ago...the audio resolution on MP3's in general is so poor only fools with TIN ears would collect them in lieu of REAL music...

We have the internet now

[HanzoSan]

With many "indie labels" sales of 100,000 for a single record would a break-out hit. Labels on this scale would be lucky to have one of those a year, many will not have one this year (or next year). And yet thats what you'd need to get 5,000 online subscribers, figuring about a 5% conversion rate which is being overly generous.


Yes but its all about talent. 100,000 sales means you have talent although we arent talking 100,000, I was thinking more around 20,000. I know websites which have more than 20,000 visitors.

You seem to confuse total album sales with subscribers for your pet service over and over. You would do well to realize that many fans of a band will buy the record at a live concert or store, never go to the website, and wouldnt care less about what you're trying to sell there.


Thats because anyone who would pay for an Album would pay for a subsubription, or at least the majority. Whats the difference? Money is money, consumers who like you will spend money on you, Album sale or subscription, it doesnt matter, to the consumer they base their decision on the value they get per money they spend.

Lastly, if you are going to run around saying "if you can't sell 20,000 records your music must really suck bad" or whatever it is you said, you should really re-evaluate they way you judge and appreciayte art. One of my favorite CD's of last year "A rough mix..." by steinski sold only a few thousand as i understand it but it has been critically aclaimed and is without question both thoroughly enjoyable and pushing the genre.

Unlike you I actually make music. If you are talented, theres the internet, theres P2P, theres no reason why you shouldnt have people from Africa to Japan listening to your music. Because you have over a billion internet users as a market you are telling me you cant sell 20,000 subscriptions? if you cant its because YOU SUCK.

Just because you think something is critically aclaimed does not mean its good. Sure its art, I'll give it that, but people dont want to pay money for it because it sucks, and music that sucks wont get subscriptions just like they wont sell CDs, it doesnt matter the model, if you suck you dont sell.

Also if you are going to run around saying things like album sales == suck/not suck in a way that claims that a huge amount of indie artists must suck, I'd like to request that you play us some of your own music. Get my point... shut the fuck up about it.


Most indie artists DO suck, just be honest here.
The main reason indie artists who dont suck cant sell is because like you, they are too stupid to try new models, they are dumb and think people want to go to an obscure record store and buy their music before ever hearing any of their songs.

WRONG, you have to be good at marketing as well as making music, if you arent good at both you just plain suck. I dont hear any other businesses or industries acting like this, trying to get slack, if you dont market your stuff on P2P and spread it around the web, no ones going to buy it. IF you dont have a loyal base of fans, no ones going to buy your shit no matter HOW good it is, you could have the best record ever create but if no ones ever heard it, it sucks.

It sounds to me like you may have developed some OK musical taste lately and have gone to see a few unsigned bands but your head is still stuck thinking that music is mass market and that indie means only having one video on mtv2. A vast majority of the world's music is made on a relatively small scale.


I know alot about the music industry, more than you. Both my mother and father were musicians, I myself make music although I am not sure I can claim to be a musician because I havent made much money. All I can say is I know how it works from experience, so shut the hell up and go back to your programming job, thats what you do right?

In summary: Please stop posting 100 times trying to act like you know a lot about the