Scott Andrew - lo-fi acoustic pop superhero!

March 13, 2008

Fan-funded albums

9 Comments

1. And Tim Walker did speak thusly:
   

   “And if you don’t have a fanbase yet, write a bunch of songs and give them away for free on the internet.”

   As a thirtysomething bedroom musician who never gigs and hardly ever even plays live, I think this would be a good way of finding out if there’s an audience out there for me…

   I may end up taking this approach with my current writing/recording project – i.e. release a solo “demo” version of the album for free download, and ask those who download it to let me know they’ve done so (and what they think of the tracks). Not expecting to get rich off it (!), but at least it would tell me whether I have a potential audience or not, and whether it’s worth launching a funding drive for a “proper” album…

   
   
2. And Vincent Blackwood did speak thusly:
   

   Scott;

   Your advice is dead on. The Internet is the new frontier in music and Jill Sobule has used it very well. You pointed out;

   “And if you don’t have a fanbase yet, write a bunch of songs and give them away for free on the Internet.”

   Well, Jill on her web site, gives away songs and has a link to a live bootleg site, and encourages her fans to tape her shows. It is certainly a very Grateful Dead approach to her music, but that’s how I was exposed to her. Her smart, witty songs just don’t get airplay. I had to hear more and bought her CDs — and I was eager to donate to her new record.

   I know a number of young musicians who are just getting into the business and are recording CDs. They seem to think that once the CD is done, they will hand it to a radio station and become famous overnight. Good luck, right? Now there is a new way of doing things — a new way of getting heard. Is giving your songs away any different than having them played on the radio. Well, a little, you are by passing all the middlemen who may not care and going straight to the fans. This might be just what music needs to get out of it’s rut. We don’t have to hear the music someone thinks we should hear — we can hear the music we want. Thank God.

   
   
3. And scottandrew did speak thusly:
   

   @Tim: that’s pretty much how I started out. I had MP3s on my site for years before I started playing live again.

   I think with most musicians, it’s a classic chicken-and-egg problem. You need listeners first, and the easiest way to get listeners these days is to put your music out there and not worry about getting paid for every single spin or download.

   
   
4. And Adam J did speak thusly:
   

   Hey Scott,

   Love the songs man, been listening around here for a while now and had to chime in. I think what you are doing is right on in terms of getting your music out there. I’m recording my own music as well, and frankly am very impressed with the model you have implemented.

   It’s either that, or become a high priced escort and sleep with a governor who then is exposed in scandal and is forced to resign, making you the center of all media talk, which attracts thousands of potential fans to your web page, resulting in hundreds and thousands of downloads and airplay.

   Just throwin’ that idea out there too….

   
   
5. And JY did speak thusly:
   

   If giving away free music is a good career-builder for the complete unknown, then wondering why does a really great musician at http://www.comeg.org (who gives away 6 albums of excellent music) still have to work at a regular job? What does that say for everyone else’s chances of becoming job-quitting internet superstars?

   
   
6. And scottandrew did speak thusly:
   

   @JY: good question. Six albums is a LOT of free music.

   Then again, looking at Comeg’s site, he doesn’t seem to have a mailing list. (If he does, it’s seriously buried ’cause I can’t find it.) His News page looks like it’s updated every few months. There’s no blog, no RSS, no signup. How does he stay in touch with all the people who’ve downloaded his albums?

   I wouldn’t say that giving away free music is a “career-builder.” It’s just a way to build a base of listeners, without having to beg radio to play you and press to write about you. How you build a career upon that base is another question…

   I’d say the chances of anyone becoming a job-quitting internet superstar is probably slim to none, regardless.

   
   
7. And JY did speak thusly:
   

   “I’d say the chances of anyone becoming a job-quitting internet superstar is probably slim to none, regardless.”

   Very true. It did happen to one person, but regardless of how much work he put into it, he’s still an extrememly lucky exception.

   
   
8. And scottandrew did speak thusly:
   

   Well, if that One Person you’re talking about is who I think it is, I think it has less to do with luck, and more to do with a confluence of things, the most critical of which being that he wrote a handful of hit songs that resonated very deeply with a specific niche audience. Everything else was sort of secondary, but made for a cool story.

   I think it’s a perfect example of a Seth Godin bon mot: it’s far easier to reach people when you share a particular worldview…

   
   
9. And JY did speak thusly:
   

   By lucky, I don’t mean that anyone elses songs would have gone viral. There are plenty of other songwriters, like Comeg, whose music is as good, but don’t enjoy writing the kind of songs that would become viral hits on their own. To get that kind of attention would require a massive promotion machine because the world really doesn’t seem to care all that much about good songs per se.

   Call me crazy, but when one songwriter happens to enjoy writing the kind of songs that get viral attention without much promotion, I still say that is an extremely lucky person.

   
   

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