sserendipity wrote:jtienhaara wrote:
On the other hand, I've seen a lot of talentless bands sweat on stage for 1-2 years and get a loyal following. Even though they sucked. (Hope none of my friends are reading this...)
The time is really ripe for the internet superstars. They will not look or feel like the old superstars. Maybe they'll never make any money at all. Maybe they'll make a better living than the Bitch Slap generation, but no-one outside their tiny fan base has ever heard of them.
I've had 3,500+ downloads of songs from my current project's free EP at this point, and a growing mailing list. Am I a rock star yet?
(Let's see - Platinum is a million, Gold is a hundred thousand, so Bronze is ten thousand? What goes below Bronze? :>)
I haven't read this whole thread so maybe I'm guilty of redundency, but I gotta give some big ups here.
I went to Groovetronica's site about a week ago after reading his post on some thread where he said something to the effect of "at this point it's not about making money, it's about getting a fanbase."
Well, this is a key component of a sorta theory I've been developing myself. I suspected that it wasn't original with me -- in fact, it's pretty damn obvious and simple. The sad fact is that most music folks tend to look at the way things have always been done and copy them, never stopping to look at other possibilities. Example: a band I advise from time to time here in Boston wanted to pick my brain about "getting to the next level" (they have a sound fanbase in this market and some solid college airplay, and they recently won a major Boston band contest that gets a lot of attention from the industry, and they keep putting out material, and they have a great live show and now can get a gig in the best club venues in town, and in RI and some in NYC too). Point? They worship (not musically, necessarily, but the journey to fame and superstardom) the likes of Led Zeppelin. They wanted, at the time, to hit the major labels like a hurricane inside of 2 years and grab the brass ring and hang on tight. Thing is, talent and savvy-wise, there's no reason they couldn't. Except for one key thing that I tried to remind them of:
LED ZEPPELIN WAS SIGNED CIRCA 30 YEARS AGO. (not to mention that their members had prior pedigrees and a million other factors).
Point? The industry then and now are almost polar opposites. It's like me saying that I want to make the Olympic sharpshooter team, but using a 200-year-old ball-and-powder musket. The rules have changed.
I've been thinking, what if you put up a killer website with great content that is updated often to encourage folks to come back a lot. What if you include free, downloadable mp3s of every recording you make. What if you just give the music away instead of spending a ton on packaging and manufacture, only to end up giving away a bunch and having the rest collect dust. What if you provide downloadable PDF files of full-color art that can be printed, trimmed, assembled, and stapled into the kind of cd insert that would cost 100s of dollars to have done yourself -- encourage folks to assemble their own cd of your songs. What if you don't sell cds at shows, but instead give away stickers that are eye-catching and have the website url prominently featured. Ditto for a t-shirt, which, if it looks cool, people will buy it even if they hate the band. And it's free advertising.
SSerendipity (Groovetronica) did and does this, or very close to it. See above for his testimony regarding his website.
If you don't have distribution, much of a fan base, and are only selling a handful of cds at shows, why not get the music out there in greater numbers by giving in away? Once you've gotten some stats on your downloads, that will impress some people who then might sign you up, get you a show, or decide to distribute your next recording. Meanwhile, you are doing something that most wouldn't even think of, and it will set you apart. I am behind Sserendipity 100%. Right now, it's all about getting a fanbase. Kudos.