Awesome interview! I have been preaching the free download idea to my band. And of course i am
just an idiot, right? So now that someone with Eric's background saying it should do the trick.
Can't wait to check out Label 2.0 blogs..Thanks.

Great advice. I understand the concept of giving your music away for free but it's still a really hard thing to come to grips with. I mean, my newest album which will be out in a month cost over $20,000.
Maybe giving away the current album and one song from the new album is a way around this? Or, giving away the MP3 but offering more songs on the physical product along with other merchandise too.
Try to entice them that owning the physical CD at the end of the day is better.

Has anyone tried letting the fans decide the price and found it works well? I'm curious.

Cheers,

Kelly Pettit

I,m a new home builder and I'm gonna give away the 1st 20,000 homes I build for Free.
Maybe I'm just programming everyone to expect free stuff from me.
My clients may spend 6 thousand dollars or more making a CD and now you think giving it away will help.
I'm not sure I'm sold on this concept.
I do agree with the poor communication skills that many musician seem to have.
Not that mine are all that great
Keith
KMH Recording Studio

What he says makes perfect sense. Crunch the numbers: You give away 20,000. Those 20,000 each tell 3 people. That's another 60,000. If they each tell 3 people, that's 180,000. That's 260,000 people! You GAVE AWAY 20,000 copies to reach another 240,000 people who you can expect to BUY the CD because of the 20,000 you gave away. In addition, you're building a market thta you can sell product to. AND you can do a 360 deal, getting label and sponsorship dollars to subsidize you in exchange for a piece of that merchandise revenue,giving you the chance to build relationships that may pay off VERY handsomely in the long run.

BTW, home builders DO sometimes give away 10 or 20 homes with the goal of selling 100!
nuraghirecords wrote:

I,m a new home builder and I'm gonna give away the 1st 20,000 homes I build for Free.
Maybe I'm just programming everyone to expect free stuff from me.
My clients may spend 6 thousand dollars or more making a CD and now you think giving it away will help.
I'm not sure I'm sold on this concept.
I do agree with the poor communication skills that many musician seem to have.
Not that mine are all that great
Keith
KMH Recording Studio

therhythmmethod wrote:

What he says makes perfect sense. Crunch the numbers: You give away 20,000. Those 20,000 each tell 3 people. That's another 60,000. If they each tell 3 people, that's 180,000. That's 260,000 people! You GAVE AWAY 20,000 copies to reach another 240,000 people who you can expect to BUY the CD because of the 20,000 you gave away. In addition, you're building a market thta you can sell product to. AND you can do a 360 deal, getting label and sponsorship dollars to subsidize you in exchange for a piece of that merchandise revenue,giving you the chance to build relationships that may pay off VERY handsomely in the long run.

Just curious how well this worked for you and how many units you gave away? I'd love to hear from those that have done this to leave their testimonies please. I'm thinking of trying it if enough people tell they did it with results.

Please come forward.

Did Eric give away 20 000 of his $50/month subscription? I have spent a lot of time thinking, reading, asking, etc... about this and in the end
I don't think giving away everything for free is a good thing. people want to get your music for free, clubs want you to play for free (when
they dont ask the musicians to pay), damn I want my rent to be free! I want Bandzoogle to be free. I want to have Eric's services for free. I
give one track to people who sign up my mailing list, then I have a few tracks and videos for free only to my website members.
There is enough websites where people can get your music for free. I can go through all the Bandzoogle sites and I'm ready to bet I can get
all the music without spending a dime. Does that mean you will have 250 000 visits? I mean, that is what's happening, your music is already
available for free, how many visits do you have? so for the few people who are coming to my website and might want to buy my music, I
don't want to spoil that chance by giving 20 000 copies away. For big names that might have some effect, for indies I don't think so.
That's just my opinion. I'm not a CEO or a guy who wants to help you for a monthly subscription (please find another advice than giving my
work away, I might as well just give it up). I'm a musician.

And here is a free advice: do not put entire tracks on your players but only clips (I edit my clips to show the different parts of my tunes), free
softwares are available (for Firefox users) to download ANYTHING in streaming: the tracks off your players, the videos on Youtube, the tracks
on Myspace...
I'm wondering: why on earth would I want to buy something I can get for free???

Makes sense. I do Beat Production tutorials on my Youtube site and have gained almost 1200 subscribers. I thought this may lead to my beats selling more (I sell hip hop tracks for artist) on my page
but then I realized that the majority of my subscribers are PRODUCERS themselves (not artist)
and why would another producer buy my music when they are trying to do the same thing. I figured what can I offer them and I realized that maybe they need Radio Style Name Drops which I do professionally. In literally 2 days since I posted that I was doing drops on my YouTube page I have been swamped with people wanting drops.I guess this is sorta like What Eric Meant. My "giving away" part = my Youtube Tutorials and my "selling merchandise'part = the Drops I sell to that audience I gained. I just need to apply this to my music somehow..lol.

We live in strange times. I am doing music for over 20 years and my music is online since 1998. What really did change over the years is that my sales dropped further and further. This is the truth for me. I tried all the so called marketing tricks (free tracks, networking facebook, myspace etc.) and it didn't do anything for me. For myself I can say that I sold between 700 and 1000 CDS on average BEFORE I started my internet journey and I didn't even play live. I am into ambient and new age music. Sorry to say this but for me Eric is just another marketing expert who wants to take advantage of struggling musicians. Look at his website: he offers his services for $50 a month (not exactly cheap). Where are his freebies?
Do I really want to pay a guy $50 a month so that he can tell me to give away more music for free? Hey, don't give away a track, give away your whole album and forget about the bills you have to pay. I think the overall internet marketing concept comes down to this: give away your music for free.

I joined TAXI last year(all up around $500 so far)which is another example of how to make money with musicians rather than FOR musicians.

So my sad bottom line after 12 years personal internet experience: less sales than ever and a lot more businesses who try to make money with us! Yes, I agree the calculation does make sense but it is wrong. If a new bakery opens up and gives away 1000 breads - who cares?
There is nothing personal about it but we as artists are giving away our identity for cheap! I think what we really need is LESS Eric's and more musicians who stop giving away music for free. The more we give away the more it becomes standard and people are less likely to spend money on music because they all believe by now that music must be free.

Yesterday I read an article on cdbaby about not offering everything for free because it takes away anticipation and value of the music but
now this says to give everything away.

I believe in looking at the big picture. How far am I going to get trying to squeeze a few bucks out of people? How far am I going to get
getting my music in the hands of thousands of people instead? I'm going with the 2nd choice.

Think about the difference between you, the guy who sells a download per month, and the platinum artists who are selling millions of records... What is the difference? the only difference between you and those who are making millions is that people VALUE that music more. How do you get to that point? You must first built VALUE to your music... that is what is happening to these artists who are selling gold and platinum records... somehow, someway, they are building up the value of their music so high that people are willing to pay $1 or more to download every track they release, and they even buy t-shirts and bracelets too! For some reason, some people seem to be able to sell music to EVERYONE. do you have any bands that you HAVE to listen to, because they are so awesome? Why are they awesome? why do you value their music? Now, what must you do to raise the value of YOUR music to your fans, and get it at the same level? If you can figure this out my friend, then you will achieve your dreams sorry for my lack of a better way to put it, but i am tired and just goofing around on my new favorite site, Bandzoogle

Josh

Neil Peart did an interview for Guitar Center that I read and found very interesting. Here is a band that has been around for 4 decades now - FOUR DECADES - and sold millions of albums. What he said is that recording is now a luxury for them. If they are lucky, the CD pays for itself. That's what the last one did - it paid for itself, they broke even. When Rush(and I)was starting out, touring generally lost money. You toured to promote your recordings. Selling records was where you made your money. NOW it's the opposite. Many artists don't make money from CD sales, their income comes from concert revenue and merchandise. Personally I abhor the idea of file sharing and stealing music. If the trend continues, it will hurt music fans in the long run as it takes away the incentive to create new music. The only way to hear new music will be to buy a concert ticket because the artist won't record anything new. If you live in an area that's too small to attract artists for live shows, you lose out.

So you need to be creative about getting your music out there and getting paid for it. People do like the thrill of discovery. 20,000 free CDs in the hands of the right people can create a buzz that sells a lot of merchandise, a lot of concert tickets, and yes, a lot of CDs as well. The Beatles and Stones used to have fan clubs, who paid fees to join. As members of the fan clubs, they got advance notice of concert appearances and single/album releases. They also got FREE newsletters, FREE 45 RPM records produced specially for the fan club, FREE posters etc. The idea was that you gave them a free poster that cost less than a penny each to produce and they would BUY an album. It worked quite well.
pennylessrock wrote:

Think about the difference between you, the guy who sells a download per month, and the platinum artists who are selling millions of records... What is the difference? the only difference between you and those who are making millions is that people VALUE that music more. How do you get to that point? You must first built VALUE to your music... that is what is happening to these artists who are selling gold and platinum records... somehow, someway, they are building up the value of their music so high that people are willing to pay $1 or more to download every track they release, and they even buy t-shirts and bracelets too! For some reason, some people seem to be able to sell music to EVERYONE. do you have any bands that you HAVE to listen to, because they are so awesome? Why are they awesome? why do you value their music? Now, what must you do to raise the value of YOUR music to your fans, and get it at the same level? If you can figure this out my friend, then you will achieve your dreams sorry for my lack of a better way to put it, but i am tired and just goofing around on my new favorite site, Bandzoogle

Josh

How is this shit any different than those late night infomercials offering sure-fire ways to make money in real estate? Sure, there are a handful of people who can make the system work and make a fortune - but there's always the mousetype, "results not typical." I'd like to know, of all the people who subscribe to this service for $50, what is the average return on investment for this company? With Bandzoogle, we pay our monthly fee for a clear service with clear value (a great website and associated features/tools and hosting). With Herbert's company, you get a claim, for $50 a month, that they'll walk you through this theory. I'd like to know: What's the OVERALL AVERAGE return on investment for Herbert's clients?

This whole idea of giving away 20,000 copies of your CD may in fact be the right strategy for certain artists with certain goals, genres, markets. However, for a working singer-songwriter like me whose music helps put food on the table for my wife and kids, it goes against my grain. I'd rather focus on a small niche market of folks who value my work enough to pay for value received. I have this funny tendency to get really pissed if I find that I'm working for free.

I don't sell many CDs online anymore. Virtually all of my online sales come through iTunes and Rhapsody. At my gigs, I sell CDs. Most of my music income, however, comes in the form of payment for performances (in fees and tips).

My experience with music sales reflects my own buying habits. The only time I buy CDs anymore is when I'm at a show and the performance is so good I have to take the music home with me, and even then the music goes straight to my hard drive for iTunes. Everything else I either buy on iTunes, or listen to streams on Rhapsody or Pandora.

I'm sort of rambling here so I'll try to sum up my points: 1) I think artists ought to be wary of businesses that charge $50 a month for access to a marketing theory. 2) I think artists ought to examine their own music buying habits and form sales expectations accordingly. 3) Most of my music income is live performance. 4) Most of my music sales happen at shows. 5) With the universal access the Internet provides indie musicians, there's an expectation that everybody can be a star. Everybody can't. There's an unprecedented amount of clutter - "look at me, look at my site, check out my tracks, etc." I think the best thing to do is focus on writing and practicing and performing mostly, book yourself as many gigs as you can, and win fans over with your performances small numbers at a time. Perhaps that's the long hard road to critical mass, but I think it's less of a crap shoot that way.

There are good points in each posting here. Music is unique to each artist. I think about the days when only the Grateful Dead allowed recorders and cameras into concerts for bootlegers and fans that wanted to save the memory. They got a lot of respect from fans, even a special concert seating area! The music as an industry has changed dramatically. There is a lot of free music - even from big time artists. Neil Young has always been one of my favorites and his website currently plays current and past music. Some is downloadable for free in video format. Yet, he is also progressive, by offering CD and Blue-Ray Archive Collections.

People who download for free are not getting the same quality as a CD. Therefore, if they like your music, probably someday they will buy. We are trying free downloads, since Internet sales were not panning out. I find music is hard to give away too - and it isn't that there is anything wrong with our sound. Once again, as stated earlier, examine your peronnel music purchasing habits. Compared to years ago, I personally buy very little music - and most often it is as a gift. Also, as stated before nowdays the gigs bring home the bacon instead of the CDs in stores. I have had the priviliege of meeting a number of successful artists who say the same. Most are living on previous investments and savings, and music is just an expensive hobby for them (can any of you relate to that?)

Buyer beware of marketing schemers that want to take advantage of your overwhelming desire to hit the Big Time. There are many factors involved - hard work, connections, etc., but in the end it comes down to the providence of God. Either it is your destiny or it isn't. I am probably not the first to inform you that not everybody is going to be like Janet and Michael Jackson (not even their brothers and sisters) or the Stones and can you name anybody who recently acheived anywhere near the success of these or Elvis. Times have changed, but anything is possible, keep working and practicing, you may be that one in a trillion!

Don Roberts

I do music cauze I love it...and God willing, will do it till I die...
I play prisons, old folk homes, mental health facilities, on the streets, or clubs,
the people dig it, and I dig it real good too...
I give it away for free...I'm existential that way...
There are no marketing or demographic considerations, to anything I do...
and I do anything I want...
Yes it could be argued that I suck, so who cares, right?
Mongo cares, and does what he wants, with no pesky paparazzi lurking about...
Good luck with your careers, and I sincerely hope it works out for all of you...
I'd buy your CD's if I wasn't so broke...
Peace...Mongo...

daveturnerband wrote:

How is this shit any different than those late night infomercials offering sure-fire ways to make money in real estate? Sure, there are a handful of people who can make the system work and make a fortune - but there's always the mousetype, "results not typical." I'd like to know, of all the people who subscribe to this service for $50, what is the average return on investment for this company? With Bandzoogle, we pay our monthly fee for a clear service with clear value (a great website and associated features/tools and hosting). With Herbert's company, you get a claim, for $50 a month, that they'll walk you through this theory. I'd like to know: What's the OVERALL AVERAGE return on investment for Herbert's clients?

This whole idea of giving away 20,000 copies of your CD may in fact be the right strategy for certain artists with certain goals, genres, markets. However, for a working singer-songwriter like me whose music helps put food on the table for my wife and kids, it goes against my grain. I'd rather focus on a small niche market of folks who value my work enough to pay for value received. I have this funny tendency to get really pissed if I find that I'm working for free.

I don't sell many CDs online anymore. Virtually all of my online sales come through iTunes and Rhapsody. At my gigs, I sell CDs. Most of my music income, however, comes in the form of payment for performances (in fees and tips).

My experience with music sales reflects my own buying habits. The only time I buy CDs anymore is when I'm at a show and the performance is so good I have to take the music home with me, and even then the music goes straight to my hard drive for iTunes. Everything else I either buy on iTunes, or listen to streams on Rhapsody or Pandora.

I'm sort of rambling here so I'll try to sum up my points: 1) I think artists ought to be wary of businesses that charge $50 a month for access to a marketing theory. 2) I think artists ought to examine their own music buying habits and form sales expectations accordingly. 3) Most of my music income is live performance. 4) Most of my music sales happen at shows. 5) With the universal access the Internet provides indie musicians, there's an expectation that everybody can be a star. Everybody can't. There's an unprecedented amount of clutter - "look at me, look at my site, check out my tracks, etc." I think the best thing to do is focus on writing and practicing and performing mostly, book yourself as many gigs as you can, and win fans over with your performances small numbers at a time. Perhaps that's the long hard road to critical mass, but I think it's less of a crap shoot that way.

Dave..you my friend have written the best thing I have read in awhile...

points 1-5 I TOTALLY agree with.

Especially when you wrote "focus on writing and practicing and performing mostly"

negraszus wrote:

For myself I can say that I sold between 700 and 1000 CDS on average BEFORE I started my internet journey and I didn't
even play live. I am into ambient and new age music.

I'm curious as to how you were selling that many CDs without the internet and without playing live. Where were your fans coming from?

I still lived in Germany at the time and there was a radio program called Schwingungen (Oscillation). This was a special program for electronic and ambient music, every Thursday night for 2hrs. When they played my first CD in 1990 (2 tracks) I received around 150 CD orders via post (most of them with money in the envelope) within 2 weeks. Unbelievable. The DJ mentioned my address since I was a newcomer. This was pre-internet. After that my distributor (Cue_Records) sold hundrets of CDS in CD shops, mainly in WOM (World of music) in Cologne. This was also the town where the radio program was broadcasted from. It just shows how important and powerful radio was at the time PLUS the availability of your CDS in the region where people received the station. Unfortunately this program was taken offair in 1995. I also went to a few live shows for electronica and I used to have a table with my CDS. As I said my sales were pretty good until the end 90s. Now its a joke. I struggle to sell 50 !!! Maybe I should go live?

atomicskunk wrote:

negraszus wrote:

For myself I can say that I sold between 700 and 1000 CDS on average BEFORE I started my internet journey and I didn't
even play live. I am into ambient and new age music.

I'm curious as to how you were selling that many CDs without the internet and without playing live. Where were your fans coming from?

negraszus wrote:

I still lived in Germany at the time and there was a radio program called Schwingungen (Oscillation).

And now it is the time on SHPROKETS zat we dance...

Great Info,

Love the Article and All The Feedback.

I am in a Cover-Band and would like Tips, Suggestions or Comments on how our Website is from anyone willing to give it a Look.

Thanks,

MIDTOWN METHOD

negraszus wrote:

I still lived in Germany at the time and there was a radio program called
Schwingungen (Oscillation). This was a special program for electronic and
ambient music, every Thursday night for 2hrs. When they played my first CD in 1990 (2 tracks) I
received around 150 CD orders via post (most of them with money in the
envelope) within 2 weeks. Unbelievable. The DJ mentioned my address since I was a newcomer. This
was pre-internet. After that my distributor (Cue_Records) sold hundrets
of CDS in CD shops, mainly in WOM (World of music) in Cologne. This was also the town where the
radio program was broadcasted from. It just shows how important and
powerful radio was at the time PLUS the availability of your CDS in the region where people received
the station. Unfortunately this program was taken offair in 1995. I also
went to a few live shows for electronica and I used to have a table with my CDS. As I said my sales
were pretty good until the end 90s. Now its a joke. I struggle to sell 50 !!!
Maybe I should go live?

Those are pretty impressive numbers. I think you just need to adapt to the times. People just don't buy
physical CDs as much. Are you using social media like Twitter and
Facebook? Do you have a mailing list? Here's a great post by Trent Reznor with his well informed
advice on how an Independent artist should proceed in these times:

trent reznor post

Trent makes alot of sense. I know some people want to put food on the table with their music, but in the current climate, it really doesn't seem likely. Saying there's a glut of music out there is a understatement.

I would encourage every recording musician to give it away and see what percentage of real people that visit your site hit that download button. It's the most important feedback you can get. If the download button is collecting dust, time to reevaluate.

I hate that people think that music should be free.
In a perfect world, musicians would be loved and
honored with suitcases full of money to encourage
the creation of music. Managers and labels would
never take advantage of artists. But it's not a
perfect world.

Nightwolf gives CDs away. When people ask price,
they say name a price you think is fair and give
it to charity. But except for Jay, who plays FT
for a living, the rest of that band has day jobs.
They aren't in it for the money. That being said,
they play around 159-180 dates a year and make a
pretty decent piece of change.

Next New Years Eve, they're already booked - in
New Hampshire! A couple of weeks ago, an
entrepreneur was in town. He asked Jay if they had
a CD. Jay gave him one & a few days later got a call.
This guy is throwing a party for NYE, and is going to
fly them via first class air, provide full backline
and put them up in a 5 star hotel. On top of that, the
money he's paying them is asounding!

You Make Sense and I got it. Allot of other members are still confused. Yet! Doing the equation like I have reviewed here. You're right! Thanks for the knowledge and support.

HF
www.MurderMorgue.com

To give music away for free, or not for free: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and give it away,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing sell them?

Ah Shakespeare, he knew man, he knew, lol.

I think that in these times of musical independence, the people that make the most money from unsigned music are the people that prey on an artists inherent desire to be heard. When an artist desires fame, they will willingly part with money on the hope that a paid promotional campaign will catapult them into stardom. Not likely to happen me thinks.

I truly believe the most important thing for an artist to do is forget about being famous. Focus on local respect, work it, get out and gig, make friends, grow your own mailing list, be creative with your mail outs and blogs, be friendly and down to earth, learn from others, be inspirational...it’s all grass roots.

Enjoy the challenge of conquering your town and then the next and then the region etc. It’s fun, it’s your life and it is happening right now.

Do not be drawn into the desire for world domination it almost certainly will not happen. Rehearse your live performance and play your heart out to those eight people who turned up in the crowd. Talk to them, try to get them to join your mailing list ask them to tell their friends about you.

Spread your wings and book further afield, spend time perfecting your art, do it for you, not to be famous, offer rewards for people who plug you, make them feel special because they are, consider success to be every live performance you put a smile or a tear on peoples faces.

Sell your CDs at gigs or offer a few as a prize in a competition, you spent a lot of money and time on that album, you deserve a little financial reward for all your hard work. If people are genuine fans they will buy it, giving it away for free with nothing in return is desperate in my humble opinion and cheapens all your work as an artist, in Union terms you could almost consider yourself to be a scab.

However giving it away can be good but you need something in return, you need audience participation, you need an email address you need a return you need to know who the people are that have got your music for free, you need them to offer you something in return, a barter, an album for an email, that’s a tiny price for your years of hard work and own financial backing and still breaks my heart because it is a really bad deal for the artist but maybe that next person will buy the next album, then again, maybe they won't.

A tiny, tiny fraction of us will ever make it on a relatively big scale, the sooner we realise that, the happier we will be. Think of success as doing your thing to the best of your ability at a grass roots level, love it, it could be a lot worse. Think small and make that small thought huge, one step at a time, love your life, love your surroundings and the people surrounding you. It’s already pretty great isn’t it?

This is my humble opinion. I am not where I thought I was going to be as a blossoming songwriter, I haven't sold big units of CD's I don't sell out venues, I struggle to put bread on the table but the bread is always there and so are my friends and so is my music and for that I am eternally grateful. Life is beautiful.

darren fisher

evermoregreen wrote:

To give music away for free, or not for free: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and give it away,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing sell them?

Ah Shakespeare, he knew man, he knew, lol.

I think that in these times of musical independence, the people that make the most money from unsigned music are the people that prey on an artists inherent desire to be heard. When an artist desires fame, they will willingly part with money on the hope that a paid promotional campaign will catapult them into stardom. Not likely to happen me thinks.

I truly believe the most important thing for an artist to do is forget about being famous. Focus on local respect, work it, get out and gig, make friends, grow your own mailing list, be creative with your mail outs and blogs, be friendly and down to earth, learn from others, be inspirational...it’s all grass roots.

Enjoy the challenge of conquering your town and then the next and then the region etc. It’s fun, it’s your life and it is happening right now.

Do not be drawn into the desire for world domination it almost certainly will not happen. Rehearse your live performance and play your heart out to those eight people who turned up in the crowd. Talk to them, try to get them to join your mailing list ask them to tell their friends about you.

Spread your wings and book further afield, spend time perfecting your art, do it for you, not to be famous, offer rewards for people who plug you, make them feel special because they are, consider success to be every live performance you put a smile or a tear on peoples faces.

Sell your CDs at gigs or offer a few as a prize in a competition, you spent a lot of money and time on that album, you deserve a little financial reward for all your hard work. If people are genuine fans they will buy it, giving it away for free with nothing in return is desperate in my humble opinion and cheapens all your work as an artist, in Union terms you could almost consider yourself to be a scab.

However giving it away can be good but you need something in return, you need audience participation, you need an email address you need a return you need to know who the people are that have got your music for free, you need them to offer you something in return, a barter, an album for an email, that’s a tiny price for your years of hard work and own financial backing and still breaks my heart because it is a really bad deal for the artist but maybe that next person will buy the next album, then again, maybe they won't.

A tiny, tiny fraction of us will ever make it on a relatively big scale, the sooner we realise that, the happier we will be. Think of success as doing your thing to the best of your ability at a grass roots level, love it, it could be a lot worse. Think small and make that small thought huge, one step at a time, love your life, love your surroundings and the people surrounding you. It’s already pretty great isn’t it?

This is my humble opinion. I am not where I thought I was going to be as a blossoming songwriter, I haven't sold big units of CD's I don't sell out venues, I struggle to put bread on the table but the bread is always there and so are my friends and so is my music and for that I am eternally grateful. Life is beautiful.

darren fisher

Excellent advice here.

I find it interesting that most of the bands that
I really admire didn't worry about the world. They
set goals the way that you suggest: Be the best band
in our neighborhood, be the best band in town, now be
the best band in the county, best band in the state,
the region - We're the best band in the Midwest, let's
go down South and make their heads spin so they won't
know what hit 'em!

Being an older guy, working alongside people such as
John Mellencamp, that was how we did it. We set our
goals just a little higher than where we were at any
given time. That's still the best way to do it, IMHO.

It's a learning curve - you learn how to write songs
and just as importantly, you learn how to present both
on and offstage. As you learn and get better, you gain
confidence, which feeds the artist which attracts the
audience which feeds the artist some more. Cool how it
works!

It isn't just musicians who struggle with this. Writers are struggling too. Why pay for a magazine or a newspaper when you can go online for free and find stuff. At some point people realize that the stuff they REALLY WANT, they'll have to pay for. So maybe you have to put your FREE music in front of 20,000 to find enough people who like it who are willing to pay for it. Maybe that's 1/2% or 100 people. OR, you use strong marketing tactics and techniques and sell to 100 people. In scenario #1 you pay to have the music produced. In scenario #2 you pay for marketing and advertising. I don't think either is right or wrong. Just two different approaches.

Great interview, i agree with the giveaway completely, would you want to also offer a paid release along side this?

This is interesting stuff! keep talking, I am enjoying the read!
Deborah Pira ...British, but live in SC