I'll answer here instead of privately, because you ask a valid question!
The answer is two-fold... compilations, and college radio. There are dozens of compilations released each week - by indie labels, community arts groups, do-it-yourself types, radio stations, you name it. The comps are generally in the price ranges of (a) cheap, and (b) free, and get a surprising amount of coverage. Plus, they are a staple of the used CD stores.
Campus radio - that is the tradtional outlet for indie bands, and still very valuable, especially now that CDs are cheap to make. We sent our debut CD to every campus station in Canada and the States.
So... the upshot is that there are a TON of people who might have heard one or two songs by an indie band. Buzz comes and goes, and every band gets some. The advantage to Napster is that all the prospective fan needs is a name, or even a partial name, and they can find the tunes. The web is often not as forgiving. And believe me... free digital music is a great way to sell CDs. We have sold over 14,000 copies of our debut, at least 10,000 of those via our web page. I dont think that people would have been as eager to buy if they hadn't heard the songs first...
There is a forgotten group in all of this... people who (like myself) share our OWN MUSICAL WORKS via the Napster system.
We create music, we control the copyright, and we use Napster as a suppliment to our web site - a way to get our music into the ears of people who might be interested. Our web site is fine, and we get constant downloads - but Napster gives us more exposure.
See - for bands like us, the important thing isn't to own 5 cars and a Malibu home. What counts is getting people to hear our music. As an added bonus, offering our music for free has probably led to more CD sales than an indie band with a very local stature would get otherwise.
So what about us? Did the legal community take us into account? Does the RIAA care about people making music, or just record sales? Our copyrighted music is shared on Napster, and we want it to continue...
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I'll answer here instead of privately, because you ask a valid question!
... compilations, and college radio. There are dozens of compilations released each week - by indie labels, community arts groups, do-it-yourself types, radio stations, you name it. The comps are generally in the price ranges of (a) cheap, and (b) free, and get a surprising amount of coverage. Plus, they are a staple of the used CD stores.
... the upshot is that there are a TON of people who might have heard one or two songs by an indie band. Buzz comes and goes, and every band gets some. The advantage to Napster is that all the prospective fan needs is a name, or even a partial name, and they can find the tunes. The web is often not as forgiving. And believe me ... free digital music is a great way to sell CDs. We have sold over 14,000 copies of our debut, at least 10,000 of those via our web page. I dont think that people would have been as eager to buy if they hadn't heard the songs first ...
The answer is two-fold
Campus radio - that is the tradtional outlet for indie bands, and still very valuable, especially now that CDs are cheap to make. We sent our debut CD to every campus station in Canada and the States.
So
There is a forgotten group in all of this ... people who (like myself) share our OWN MUSICAL WORKS via the Napster system.
...
We create music, we control the copyright, and we use Napster as a suppliment to our web site - a way to get our music into the ears of people who might be interested. Our web site is fine, and we get constant downloads - but Napster gives us more exposure.
See - for bands like us, the important thing isn't to own 5 cars and a Malibu home. What counts is getting people to hear our music. As an added bonus, offering our music for free has probably led to more CD sales than an indie band with a very local stature would get otherwise.
So what about us? Did the legal community take us into account? Does the RIAA care about people making music, or just record sales? Our copyrighted music is shared on Napster, and we want it to continue