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scenario.
years back i did an album of 9 songs useing hi end studio gear.
2 inch tape multitrack etc etc . top flight gear and not just mine..
at the time..but hi end studios.
i was so busy as a puter engr in my day job i never released it.
the other reason i never released it was due to a screw up i thought the masters were lost.
( i just had ruff cassette copies.)
well as it turns out , i forgot i had given a master copy to a elderly relation.
in summary i'm darn happy the relation still had it.
ive now backed it up to god knows how many puters n back up drives
n dvd's etc ..lol.
friends have been urgeing me to release it.
but the question is where on the net is the best for selling song albums ??
i'm sorta sceptical cos in these economic times n given all the free downloading etc
(ie one copy is sold..then the person buying it can just put it up on the net somewhere
for free downloading.)
i dont know if any revenue would be generated.
twould be nice to make something to help my stinky pension tho'..lol.
as well as help elderly relations if it sold well.
some people have told me amazon, others cd baby, others itunes.
any advice would be appreciated.
frankly i'm really thrilled to find the pristine masters.
cos i was sad at the time of course.
its no biggie cos ive done loads of songs.
but any advice would help me think things through.
cheers.
ps..think i'll call it "the lost album"..lol.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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From what I see most people suggest CD Baby and Itunes also linked to your own website. Congrats on the find!
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CD Baby is great and can get you onto iTunes and other online places.
I do not recommend Amazon for independent CDs. They take so much in fees and give so little pay percentage to artists that it is hard to avoid losing money, much less make it. Each time I sell a CD, they ask me to ship another. Shipping one at a time is very uneconomical. For all those reasons, I try not to use Amazon for my own purchases.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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cheers for the input folks.
i dont want a service of course where i have to send CD's.
just upload the album n they send out a cd say.
on the radio today was how the USA record industry is down
billions in revenue. tough biz.
the biz model is obviously broken.
due to all the free downloading.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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CDBaby preferred here too. They do a lot of the work for you. It will cost a little up front though. I think 15-20 bucks.
I think it's minimal for what they do; host the songs, handle the sales, get you an official product barcode so sales can be tracked, set it up on iTunes, Napster, etc. etc.
I think they do require having 5 CD's on hand, so you may have to burn a few copies.. they can't sell the CD without having one!
Last edited by rharv; 03/25/10 04:07 AM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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http://bandcamp.com/ is a free song and hosting site that allows you to sell product. At the moment, they don't take any cut for themselves (although that will probably change in the future), but PayPal will want theirs. The problem is not finding a good place to sell stuff, it is how are you going to get folks to find it and buy it!!! Good luck, Kevin
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Kemmrich
re how are folks gonna find it.
THIS IS VERY WELL PUT MATE.
from my own research over the last little while it seems there is a major problem .
there are lots of great artists on the net
(i dont count myself..its just fun to me.)
but i feel there is a major disconnect tween music consumers n music makers..
see if you agree with..
1. lots of consumers are still scared of the net n useing payment schemes etc etc.
it doesnt help they read in the media bout security issues on the net.
2. a major problem is consumer inertia of course.
i mean one cant push people to a site.
just human nature.
i think frankly the whole model in the music biz is broken.
cos there is no structure for talent development like in the past
with record labels.
(and i dont count myself..) ..
i mean those huge talents like the next dire straits or whatever to
break through.
so its an unstructured zoo. sorta a wild west.
in summary your point is well taken and incisive.., and one ive thought bout many times
without a resolution.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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Joined: Aug 2008
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Enthusiast
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The music industry profit model is shattered beyond repair. The industry leadership, not the artists, broke it themselves. They refused to see the huge, glowing hand writing on the wall about the digital age, and fought digital music with a pathetic passion. They tried copy protection schemes and lawsuits, but to no avail.
The vast majority of music will be sold online in the future. Piracy cannot be controlled, and duplicating is flat out simple. If the music is in any digital form, it can [and will] be stolen -- that's just a fact. Sad, but true.
Some folks believe that performances will be the big money generating machine for future artists. Who knows, but it makes sense to me. At least until full-blown, 3D digital bands finally replace humans...alas.
I hope you have registered your works with the gov copyright office before you put them out there.
CD baby is a good site to sell stuff, as long as the market holds out.
For duplicating, give Kunaki a look. It's very inexpensive and very fast, and you can set it up for direct shipments, etc. All robotic.
Fire, the wheel, and the I IV V -- foundations of civilization.
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I don't know if there's ever going to be a 'big money generating machine for future artists' that works as a template.
I'm guessing what happens is there will be many more artists making a little bit of money with their art, than in the past. People that would have never dreamed of making one red cent on their music 15 years ago can now make a little 'walking around money' through CD and sticker/T-shirt sales at local shows, CDBaby disc and download sales, etc. And maybe that is the way it should be.
Several different business models have existed over time for making money as an artist or writer.
Back in the really old days, one was selected as an artist and placed into basic servitude at the behest of the 'owner'. I don't like that model.
Then, later on, commissioned works, or (can't think of the work) all of the work that went into finding a benefactor to fund the mass production of your book/art. I don't like that model.
Recent modern times: Had to get a 'record deal' which was nearly impossible, and the artist's take from that was pennies on the dollar. I don't think that model works for most folks.
Make a little money on self-made CDs at the local coffee shop. Sell some T-shirts and stickers that you can get made up at cafepress.com. Make a few hundred bucks a year while still enjoying the hobby. Now, that I like.
-Scott
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I think the web is a good way to market all sorts of products to niche markets that would be cost-prohibitive to target otherwise.
Find a special interest group
join their forum, find out about their passion
write songs about that passion
people who identify themselves by their special interest WILL spend money to accessorize their identity.
For example, you could make money all day long selling cat songs on a cat lover forum. Or political songs on a political forum... or backing tracks on a poetry forum
You'll never get rich serving niche markets, but there is a virtually inexhaustable mother lode of small opportunities there.
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All good advice IMHO. CDBaby is the most trusted, and the most popular...$35 is the best deal out there for all they do. Kunaki is a steal...$1 a CD or DVD up to 10, and then after that the price depends on how busy they are. They will drop ship anywhere that you want, and will create on demand....I love this place, and so do the 20 or so folks that I know that have used it. A sad fact is this....if your music gets popular it WILL get ripped off, and there is really not a whole lot you can do abut it. The GOOD news is that there are still folks out there that like to support an artist if they like them.....and I am one. I am also "old fashion" in that I like CD's...I LIKE a material object to hold when I hand over my money....digital just seems like your paying for air, but that is just me..... There is a forum member here that is fighting the piracy of his CD (sorry, I can not remember who, only that it is Brazilian music and very good!). He has made some headway, and I hope he can jump in here to let us know how it is going. Pay the few, get EVERYTHING copyrighted thru the LoC, and promote, promote, promote! Good Luck! 
i5 3.20GHz, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD OS, 12tb HDD, 4gb gForce vid card, 32" monitor, Audient id44, Win10 x64, BiaB/RB 2023, Reaper 6,IK Multimedia Total Studio 3.5 MAX, Waves 10
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Hi JCS. I am a forum member with recent posts about fighting piracy, who composes and performs Brazilian jazz.
With some great advice from Bob (rharv) I was able to slow the bleeding to a trickle. If the numbers of some of these illegal sharing websites are to be believed, there have been well over a hundred thousand illegal downloads of my CD in the last few months. I'm glad if I'm that popular, but I wish I had a few bucks from each of those downloads.
Most of the illegal downloading was linked back to two websites, and they cooperated by removing the multiple copies of my CD from their sites when confronted with a properly-formed complaint from the copyright holder. It took me a long time to find all the copies in various places on each site, and I had to identify every one to the website before they would blow it away. The dozens of websites that still advertise my CD for free all link to those two 'master' sharing sites, who now show a message saying the music was removed due to a copyright violation. I appreciate that the websites are willing to teach those who illegally upload that it is a copyright violation; it's just unfortunate that they look the other way until there is a complaint. I'm willing to bet many artists do not know the extent of illegal activity, as I did not.
Monday was the first day that I could find no instances of illegal copies of my CD on the Internet, after a month of effort.
Thanks for asking.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Pat Marr
as a huge cat lover..i loved your comment bout
writing songs bout cats. lol.
a very incisive comment. niche markets.
(i actually wrote a ruff song bout a siamese cat once.
comical ditty. just me being daft. )
Matt Finley
what is interesting is..
when one actually talks to people bout how they might be hurting
the little struggling artist by getting stuff free,
most people actually get it.
i still believe most people are decent human beings.
normally the point i make is this (particularly to youngsters.)
viz.."when your older n start a band, fork out for gear and/or studio time,
how will you feel if zillions of people get your stuff for free".
its interesting how the arguments change when put in those terms.
frankly i agree with axegrinder.
the model is broken.
what concerns me are the likkle struggling artists n new ones
coming along.
and my REAL CONCERN is, in the future how many great songs
will never be heard by the mass consumer market cos artists
just dont want to put their stuff "out there" cos of the
many problems mentioned. therein lies the rub.
ive already come across gifted people who are starting to think like that.
thus the consumer is drip fed the sorta stuff we hear in todays top 20
on the radio.
-------------------------------------------------------------
ps..re my harmonica thread..a follow up.
well..lol...after listening to a ton of harmonicas over
the last few weeks from very expensive ones n ones with all the keys..
to c heapies...
whats interesting, and mebe i'm a dunce, but there didnt seem to me
to be a huge sound quality diff tween the pricey n cheap ones.
so as i'm just learnin at this stage i got a cheapie to futz around with.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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