Free Vs. Not...

[KeithRT99]

Hey everybody, i've been contemplating some ideas as of late as to how i should "release my first album. At this point pre production is complete; all the songs are written, arranged, etc. All that's left is to record to final versions.

my question is, which do you think is a better idea:

1) give my entire album away for free online, as a way to get people interested. then when i release a second album(currently halfway through pre-production) i will sell it.

2) sell the 1st album as normal, perhaps give out 2-3 free songs as a taster.

3) sell the album as normal, but intentionally leak it to P2P and bittorrent.

4) hustle the album to a label ( this is probably the worst and least realistic idea.)

As to how i would independently release and sell it, i figured i would use tunecore/cd baby.

what are your ideas?

The album is pretty dark and ambient, and i think the songs are good. It runs about 40 minutes with 13 tracks. I don't have an "fans" per se, although at least from myspace(perhaps not the best way to gauge popularity) i get alot of interest from metal fans, as well as prog/ambient fans. The idea is to get a fair amount of people listening to my music. Also, money isn't really my goal at this second: i'd be willing to give my music away if enough people want it, but if people are willing to pay for it i would love to make alittle money to possibly re-invest in related things.

"into the darkness" one of 2 "metal songs" on the album.
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=5425400&q=hi

"the empty streets" an ambient piece from the album
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3545331&q=hi

"the prisoner" the title track/opener
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4648703&q=hi

more of my stuff is on my myspace, and soundclick in the sig.

thanks.

 

[cobhc]

I can't listen right now, but I believe our very own James Murphy mentioned that record companies will actually use myspace hits to gauge how popular a band is.

 

[devouredremains]

Murphy speaks the truth. JFAC are the poster boys for this. I dont mind them musically but I doubt they would be as successful as they are without myspace and the 16 year old girls who live on the site. Apparently death metal boy bands are the wave of the future. uke:

 

[Remy_5150]

boy bands? I have both JFAC CD's, I've seen them live, and I've actually hung out with them. I don't think they are the greatest band ever, but the fact that none of them are drinking age (in America at least) makes them very impressive. I think in a few years they will be really really sick. There is nothing about them that appeals to 16 year old girls, and they definitely don't try to appeal to that crowd. Plus, they are a great band to introduce kids to death metal, and hopefully that'll make the really extreme bands (cannibal corpse, hate eternal) more popular in the long run.

Yeah, they get a lot of MySpace hits, and that may be why they got signed to Metal Blade. So what?

 

[RemoWilliams]

To add to the JFAC aspect, I think that a lot of the Myspace people were into them for the Doom E.P. era. Mainly bits of death metal, with breakdowns and bass drops. Their new album has non of the above and will hopefully be a gateway for the new breed to get into older bands. Though, from my experience, a lot of kids still have some prejudices against the older death metal bands. Maybe because of lack of breakdowns, or "ninja dancing", or what not.


Sorry, think I went off tangent. You could probably stream your whole album, just to give people an advanced listen, so they can want the better quality sound on CD.

 

[NickL]

To add to the JFAC aspect, I think that a lot of the Myspace people were into them for the Doom E.P. era. Mainly bits of death metal, with breakdowns and bass drops. Their new album has non of the above and will hopefully be a gateway for the new breed to get into older bands. Though, from my experience, a lot of kids still have some prejudices against the older stuff. Maybe because of lack of breakdowns, or "ninja dancing", or what not.


Sorry, think I went off tangent. You could probably stream your whole album, just to give people an advanced listen, so they can want the better quality sound on CD.

I am not a JFAC fan but I think Genesis is more listenable due mostly to the guitar tones (I still think the music is boring, can't help it and wish I could) but anywho a lot of the highschool kids around here don't like the new JFAC and are calling it "sellout." Personally I think it's the opposite of selling out because they've alienated half of the ninja dancers, but what do I know

 

[KeithRT99]

maybe i shouldn't have mentioned myspace, as it has derailed the thread.

(i like JFAC)

 

[JeffTD]

JFAC used a bot adder for a lot of their hits... lots of bands do that.

I'd personally go with the 2-3 song taster and sell it off your site for 7-8 bucks or something, 12 shipped, etc...

 

[Nebulous]

I'd think in your situation you could consider selling the album at almost cost price (maybe make $1-2 off each copy) and just spend alot of time and some money promoting the album yourself.

Checking out your Myspace I notice two things:
-Your material is pretty kickass
-You don't seem to have a band together. I'd change this one. Get out and playing in front of people.

 

[Polpotkin]

We released our first for free. I dont really see the piont with selling it. It's not like you're gonna make big money out of it (at least not for us, doom metal isn't the most selling type of metal).
And if you're managing the distribution on your own it will probably be demanding and probably not as profiatable if you have to either charge extra for shipping which will scare even more people off (If you're buying from an online store you often byt several CDs and the shipping is free).

As I see it there is only advantages with releasing the first one for free. And as for promotion - Myspace SPAM SPAM SPAM!

 

[-Gavin-]

My band did the free thing.


Free gigs, free music and such, put our own shit on the website and all the p2ps.

Got into the myspace thing only a few months ago after we'd built a following but did it world wide.


Now, we're in negotiations with a very large label.

 

[cobhc]

As much as I hate to say it, in my experience, not many girls like Extreme Metal, because they like the music. It's very hard to come by a proper genuine Extreme Metal chick, a lot of it is a passing trend as to whichever vocalist/guitarist they happen to find cute, etc. that week. I apologise if there is any females who frequent this forum and are actually seriously into Extreme Metal, but like I said I'm going on past experience.

 

[James Murphy]

as far as the free thing goes.. if you give away literally everything free... your whole album and your shows you are breaking a very well established axiom of good business.... if you don't think enough of your wares and services to charge for them, no one else will think they are worth anything either. it's a little trickier applying this to music... but take a look at ozzfest.... they made it "free" this year... and then had to cancel it (at least this what i've just read in Decibel Magazine).

 

[Nebulous]

As much as I hate to say it, in my experience, not many girls like Extreme Metal, because they like the music. It's very hard to come by a proper genuine Extreme Metal chick, a lot of it is a passing trend as to whichever vocalist/guitarist they happen to find cute, etc. that week. I apologise if there is any females who frequent this forum and are actually seriously into Extreme Metal, but like I said I'm going on past experience.

So he should offer it for free yeah?



??

 

[kev]

We had our bands music online for free, and tried to sell a few copy's whenever we gigged really

 

[TheStoryteller]

as far as the free thing goes.. if you give away literally everything free... your whole album and your shows you are breaking a very well established axiom of good business.... if you don't think enough of your wares and services to charge for them, no one else will think they are worth anything either. it's a little trickier applying this to music... but take a look at ozzfest.... they made it "free" this year... and then had to cancel it (at least this what i've just read in Decibel Magazine).

Thanks James, I was just about to say something like this... and you did it better than I would.

 

[KeithRT99]

as far as the free thing goes.. if you give away literally everything free... your whole album and your shows you are breaking a very well established axiom of good business.... if you don't think enough of your wares and services to charge for them, no one else will think they are worth anything either. it's a little trickier applying this to music... but take a look at ozzfest.... they made it "free" this year... and then had to cancel it (at least this what i've just read in Decibel Magazine).

I've definately thought about this. The thing is i do think my stuff is worth it, but in today's music market, where almost everything is illegally traded online, anything can be had for free.

Also, i've also thought that if i charge money, people aren't going to be as open to taking a chance and buying it, as opposed to downloading it for free and liking it or deleting it.

i think you're right though, i should probably charge. On the other hand i'm not really in it for money as much as getting my music out there and creating a demand for my music.

who doesn't want to make money in music though?

 

[KeithRT99]

I'd think in your situation you could consider selling the album at almost cost price (maybe make $1-2 off each copy) and just spend alot of time and some money promoting the album yourself.

Checking out your Myspace I notice two things:
-Your material is pretty kickass
-You don't seem to have a band together. I'd change this one. Get out and playing in front of people.

thanks. i would get a band together, but the extreme metal scene out here in the San Francisco bay area isn't too good. If i was doing punk/hardcore, it would be a different story. At least half of my music is soft though, and i don't consider my soft material to be doable live.

also it's tough to organize when you and all your friends have jobs and are in different colleges.

 

[Jaymz]

Option 2

 

[ryanojohn]

K-dog I'd go with the 4 free songs, and then the entire album for a few dollars... no one can turn that down...