Try to sell your music online? Good luck being found and cared about.
Get a record deal? Have fun with the paperwork.
Personally, I've done all the hard work, spent the money AND given my music away for the last 8 years. And I'm satisfied. Not rich, not famous, but hey, not frustrated. I wish the situation was better, but you got to stand up and make it better - not stand up and complain
That is why I even built a site to help other artists do the same as me: http://alonetone.com/
You must think I'm a complete nut ball. Not only am I giving away my music, but paying out of pocket for others to do the same! (bandwidth)
I think it is the wise move. If radiohead is giving away their music, it is a sign. Unless you are famous, you better be giving it away, else sit there wondering why noone wants to drop $15 anymore. How CAN you make money? That is another discussion, and is currently being tackled by SO many artists, companies, and folks like you and me who are doing it on their own.
Good timing! I just launched alonetone which gives musicians hosting, distribution, sharing tools - for free - in a non-commercial environment (no company, no ads, no bullshit).
Kind of like free album month, but as a way of life!
If you are a musician, or know music makers who need a good online home, let them know about us!
(for the interested, it is using ruby/rails and s3, which means I can deliver about 250 mp3s for around 18 cents. Not bad. And yes, it could scale huge and become too costly for me myself and I to maintain, but no, I won't worry about that till I get there!)
If you are an artist wanting to connect to an audience, giving away your music for free on the internet should be a no-brainer.
What I would like to know is: How does this work for the masses of musicians wishing to make a living, with and without record label representation?
In other words: Lets assume that you are going to give away your music for free and play into the internet culture. OK, great. But if you are an unknown musician, you are still stuck with a distribution problem (nobody is going to show up at your website.)
So, what I want to know is: What are some actual business models that a) support the free music idea and b)give exposure to unknown artists and c)actually are viable as a way to make a living.
I havent seen anything yet. Not iTunes, not Magnatune, nothing. Nothing that furfills those 3 requirements.
What is the next step?
It seems like what is difficult is distinguishing the scope of technological advancement.
It seems appropriate to take a look at innovation and really ask "is this changing our world in a large way, in a medium way, in a small way" And by "our world," the scope is the human race, not the slashdot population. Something is a large development in technology if it opens up new worlds of innovation, not if it is cool, or helps a few people in situation X.
For example, the iPod, despite it's desirability, is a simple extension/improvement upon the walkman. Not that life-altering....I could have walked around with my favoite tunes in the 80s. The walkman is an extension of the tape deck. The tape deck is an extension of the record player, and so on. I would argue that there is one major innovation in this 'branch,' and that would be the invention of the edison rolls - the first major instance of the recording of sound. Now THAT, was a big deal....THAT was the major innovation in this area. Look at what it has lead to. Look at the creative landslide that has followed that one innovation.
In general, technology today seems to be working on the branches, not finding new branches. If anything, that is what this article is about...Those major innovations that create landslides of creativity...What are they? Where are the new branches?
It would be silly to suggest we are not progressing, but wise to admit that the technological innovations of today have less of an impact than the invention of electricity.
Although, the internet was a good one...Lets keep making stuff like that.
I like this guy!
From a larger viewpoint, I have always thought that we are not progressing faster than prior generations.
Electricity, Lightbulb, Radio, Car, Plane, (the list goes on)...These are MAJOR innovations compared with the relatively minor ones of a P4 processor, the iPod, etc...Think of things in categories. Everything that is new these days is are minor extensions of the old (the computer, or the transmission of data over some kind of wire...)
I vote that things are stale and getting staler. However, this view need not carry negative connotations (except maybe for a/. crowd)...After all, don't we have enough already?
It is an exciting time for musicians! Digital signal processing has brought semi-pro recording to the masses and the internet has provided the opportunity for next-to-nothing-cost for world-wide distribution.
iTunes is providing a nice model middle-gound, bridging the crumbling and desperate existing industry with the ease of use and selection of the web. However, the iTunes model cannot last the test of time. The Audience is playing along for now, but they are aware (future audiences will be even more so) that distribution is free.
If it effectively costs the same amount to give 1000 people the music as it does 10000, what artist in their right mind would opt for the smaller distribution? You may say: the artist must get paid, and I will agree with you. However, the "pay per item" model is what is dying, not the abstract "record industry." Subscription services are arriving and competition is driving the $1/song price down.
Next up? Quality control! The artist websites out there, even on Mangnatune or other mp3 labels cannot survive unless they start informing the audience on what to purchase. Bad-mouthing the record industry crooks is valid, but they still provide a service - they tell the listeners where to spend their money. Is someone else going to step up and fill that role?
I would agree with most of what I have read here about putting out decent music as being the first priority. For the up and coming musician I would work hard on that, and trust that new models are arriving every day. Just watch out - there are a lot of bandwagons to jump on!
Slashdot Mirror
...no advertising, no making profits from the musicians:
http://alonetone.com/
(disclaimer: i made this app!)
What else are you going to do?
Try to sell your music online? Good luck being found and cared about.
Get a record deal? Have fun with the paperwork.
Personally, I've done all the hard work, spent the money AND given my music away for the last 8 years. And I'm satisfied. Not rich, not famous, but hey, not frustrated. I wish the situation was better, but you got to stand up and make it better - not stand up and complain
That is why I even built a site to help other artists do the same as me: http://alonetone.com/
You must think I'm a complete nut ball. Not only am I giving away my music, but paying out of pocket for others to do the same! (bandwidth)
I think it is the wise move. If radiohead is giving away their music, it is a sign. Unless you are famous, you better be giving it away, else sit there wondering why noone wants to drop $15 anymore. How CAN you make money? That is another discussion, and is currently being tackled by SO many artists, companies, and folks like you and me who are doing it on their own.
Good timing! I just launched alonetone which gives musicians hosting, distribution, sharing tools - for free - in a non-commercial environment (no company, no ads, no bullshit). Kind of like free album month, but as a way of life! If you are a musician, or know music makers who need a good online home, let them know about us! (for the interested, it is using ruby/rails and s3, which means I can deliver about 250 mp3s for around 18 cents. Not bad. And yes, it could scale huge and become too costly for me myself and I to maintain, but no, I won't worry about that till I get there!)
If you are an artist wanting to connect to an audience, giving away your music for free on the internet should be a no-brainer. What I would like to know is: How does this work for the masses of musicians wishing to make a living, with and without record label representation? In other words: Lets assume that you are going to give away your music for free and play into the internet culture. OK, great. But if you are an unknown musician, you are still stuck with a distribution problem (nobody is going to show up at your website.) So, what I want to know is: What are some actual business models that a) support the free music idea and b)give exposure to unknown artists and c)actually are viable as a way to make a living. I havent seen anything yet. Not iTunes, not Magnatune, nothing. Nothing that furfills those 3 requirements. What is the next step?
It seems like what is difficult is distinguishing the scope of technological advancement. It seems appropriate to take a look at innovation and really ask "is this changing our world in a large way, in a medium way, in a small way" And by "our world," the scope is the human race, not the slashdot population. Something is a large development in technology if it opens up new worlds of innovation, not if it is cool, or helps a few people in situation X. For example, the iPod, despite it's desirability, is a simple extension/improvement upon the walkman. Not that life-altering....I could have walked around with my favoite tunes in the 80s. The walkman is an extension of the tape deck. The tape deck is an extension of the record player, and so on. I would argue that there is one major innovation in this 'branch,' and that would be the invention of the edison rolls - the first major instance of the recording of sound. Now THAT, was a big deal....THAT was the major innovation in this area. Look at what it has lead to. Look at the creative landslide that has followed that one innovation. In general, technology today seems to be working on the branches, not finding new branches. If anything, that is what this article is about...Those major innovations that create landslides of creativity...What are they? Where are the new branches? It would be silly to suggest we are not progressing, but wise to admit that the technological innovations of today have less of an impact than the invention of electricity. Although, the internet was a good one...Lets keep making stuff like that.
I like this guy! From a larger viewpoint, I have always thought that we are not progressing faster than prior generations. Electricity, Lightbulb, Radio, Car, Plane, (the list goes on)...These are MAJOR innovations compared with the relatively minor ones of a P4 processor, the iPod, etc...Think of things in categories. Everything that is new these days is are minor extensions of the old (the computer, or the transmission of data over some kind of wire...) I vote that things are stale and getting staler. However, this view need not carry negative connotations (except maybe for a /. crowd)...After all, don't we have enough already?
It is an exciting time for musicians! Digital signal processing has brought semi-pro recording to the masses and the internet has provided the opportunity for next-to-nothing-cost for world-wide distribution. iTunes is providing a nice model middle-gound, bridging the crumbling and desperate existing industry with the ease of use and selection of the web. However, the iTunes model cannot last the test of time. The Audience is playing along for now, but they are aware (future audiences will be even more so) that distribution is free. If it effectively costs the same amount to give 1000 people the music as it does 10000, what artist in their right mind would opt for the smaller distribution? You may say: the artist must get paid, and I will agree with you. However, the "pay per item" model is what is dying, not the abstract "record industry." Subscription services are arriving and competition is driving the $1/song price down. Next up? Quality control! The artist websites out there, even on Mangnatune or other mp3 labels cannot survive unless they start informing the audience on what to purchase. Bad-mouthing the record industry crooks is valid, but they still provide a service - they tell the listeners where to spend their money. Is someone else going to step up and fill that role? I would agree with most of what I have read here about putting out decent music as being the first priority. For the up and coming musician I would work hard on that, and trust that new models are arriving every day. Just watch out - there are a lot of bandwagons to jump on!