The Buzz Factor (Share the Weed) Bob Baker's "The Buzz Factor" Delivering music marketing tips, self-promotion ideas and more since 1995 - http://TheBuzzFactor.com/ October 30, 2003 - Vol. 9, Issue 31 In This Issue: 1. File Sharing, Indie Touring, Selling 5,000 CDs 2. Give It Away and Share the Weed 3. Musicianship vs. Image and Play for No Pay __________________________________________________ See the end of this message for details on how to get on and off the Buzz Factor mailing list. __________________________________________________ Welcome! => 1. File Sharing, Indie Touring, Selling 5,000 CDs Man, I really stirred things up with the last issue. I received some passionate opinions and even criticism that bordered on hate mail. I'll share some of that below. Be sure to read it. But first, this is my final chance to remind you about the two Guerrilla Music Marketing Workshop workshops I'll be presenting this week. The first is this Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Musicians Expo in the Minneapolis, MN area. The second is Monday, Nov. 3, at the Regional Arts Commission building in St. Louis, MO. Visit http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/boblive.html for details on how to attend. News of Note ... Rich Egan, president of the indie Vagrant Records, says his label would not exist without Napster and its file-sharing successors KaZaA and Morpheus. Check out a good article on this at http://marinij.com/Stories/0,1413,234~26641~1726699,00.html Andy Taylor, chairman of Britain's largest independent music company, says, "In the initial stages of an artist's career, you can't make money touring because you haven't got the fan base. Once you get into a career, touring becomes a greater element of the income stream. I'd estimate that a long-term career act can make four to five times as much out of touring as they make out of a record." Read more of Taylor's comments at http://makeashorterlink.com/?X10B51166 Indie sensation Melissa Ferrick had a lot to say in a recent online interview, including "You can make a living selling records on your own. I have so many friends that sell 5,000 records a year and don't have to have a second job. There is a huge market for independent music. It's really inspiring. It's great to watch artists doing their own thing and owning it. "But it gets complicated when you try to be a rock star, when you try to play the big games with the big corporations. If you care about getting played on the radio and being on MTV, then you're talking about a whole other ball game." Read her entire interview at http://makeashorterlink.com/?P23B26166 __________________________________________________ => SPREAD IT AROUND Forward this issue to your friends and fellow musicians. Encourage them to subscribe. It's easy ... and it's fr-ee! __________________________________________________ => 2. Give It Away and Share the Weed According to Rob Lewis of http://www.weedshare.com/ "There is a way for artists to give away their music ... and get paid!" Here is part of the e-mail Rob sent me last week. Sounds pretty cool: "Our new Weed service turns any Windows Media file into a self-promoting asset that can spread 'like a weed.' The file can be given away by e-mail, peer-to-peer, download site, CD or any other way you can think of. Anybody who gets a copy can play it three times for fre-e. On the fourth play, they're asked to buy it (at whatever price the artist sets). "When you buy a song, 50% of the price goes immediately to the artist. 20% goes to the person who turned you on to the song. 10% goes to the person above them, and 5% to the next person up the chain. Weed gets the remaining 15% for operating the service. "Once you've bought a song, send it to your friends. If they buy, you get 20%. And so on." This concept seems like it has a lot of potential. It takes advantage of the file-sharing craze while building in an automatic sales mechanism. Very cool. I'd like to hear from any artists who use this service. I'll pass along any feedback I get. ============================================= Don't Settle for a Crappy Web Site Looking for a good source of custom web site design services? I highly recommend you check out my friends Corey and Derek. In addition to the basics, they can help you set up Flash files, streaming media and more. For more info, go to http://www.cdkweb.com/buzzfactor.asp ============================================= => 3. Musicianship vs. Image and Play for No Pay Okay, here are some of those vibrant opinions I mentioned earlier. On the topic of musicianship vs. image, subscriber Antony wrote: "The music buying public is musically desensitized. It has all been done. Gone are the days when every other song on the radio has a soaring solo that turns everyone into an air guitarist, or triplet drum fills that everyone holds their breath for. "Being something of a musical purist, I have swallowed this slowly. Musicianship and instrumental proficiency is now not the major draw card of artists who are succeeding. Music is a section of the package. When the buyer supports an album, they are buying a package. The band's outlook on life, message and general attitude are as marketable as their tunes. If you want to call that image, so be it. "As musicians, where does our challenge lie then? Certainly not in out-shredding the guy in the garage across the road. Certainly not in trying to sound like someone we're not. It's in moving with the times, but not at the expense of your musical identity. There are too many bitter purists who think that the industry has gone down the crapper because all they loved and aspired to when they were young has a different face now. "Things have changed a lot. Accept it, folks. We need to compete in the market as it stands presently, and only the artist will know what that means in his/her particular genre. Let's step out of the music box." And now for the ugly stuff. Regarding bands that play for fre-e, subscriber Barb opined: "Bob, I am usually okay with what you write -- even cheer you on occasionally -- but this last one has me wondering and scratching my head. I am not happy. I feel you missed the boat. "Even if you want to play to get popular, why ruin yours and everyone else's arena of work by not asking to get paid a fair amount either for services (performance) or product? It's all part of growing and learning how to properly price yourself. Part of growing up as a full-time musician. And part of working as a team player with other players in your industry. "Lots of us (including me) have learned the hard way to not do fre-e gigs and how that harms us. So this is a warning to newbie musicians to not do fre-e. "By not asking to get paid by the clubs, you're also pissing off a lot of other hardworking musicians who do this full time for a living and have worked very hard at making it into a viable business. Who wants to work with someone that will ruin that? "If you're 'playing opportunities that expose you to your ideal fans' for fre-e ... then what the hell are you in the industry for if you're not practicing being a real musician by learning everything about the industry, such as pricing yourself and asking for money and building that side of your business as well? Is this a hobby or your life? If it's a hobby, then get the hell onto a hobby stage. "It's kind of like going to the neighborhood swimming pool on a sweltering hot day but not being able to swim because someone peed in the pool. He ruined it for the rest of us. All it takes is one fre-ebie musician." Wow. Strong stuff there. And the thing is, I mostly agree. I must have done a poor job in the last issue of articulating my thoughts on this topic. Let me set the record straight on fee vs. fre-e ... But let me do that in the next issue. My brain hurts right now. I'll gather my thoughts and spew them at you next week. Hope to see you at one of the upcoming workshops. In the meantime ... Get out there and promote yourself! -Bob __________________________________________________ => Most Popular Books and Reports at TheBuzzFactor.com Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook: 201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians & Bands - "The most directly applicable, start-tomorrow, creatively inspiring book I've ever seen on promoting your music!" -Derek Sivers, president of CD Baby, www.cdbaby.com http://bob-baker.com/buzz/music_marketing.htm Unleash the Artist Within: Four Weeks to Transforming Your Creative Talents into More Recognition, More Profit & More Fun - "The strength of Bob's book is that it gives you specific actions steps to follow on a daily basis." -Cady Finlayson, www.violincady.com http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/unleash.html Branding Yourself Online: How to Use the Internet to Become a Celebrity or Expert in Your Field http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/byo.html Online Music PR Hot List: 101 Publicity Sources http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music_pr.htm Killer Press Kits: The 29 Most Important Elements in Creating Sizzling Music Publicity Materials http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/presskits.html __________________________________________________ REPRINT PERMISSION Would you like to run some of the content from this issue on your web site or in your e-zine? You may do so for free as long as you add the following credit: "Reprinted from Bob Baker's The Buzz Factor, featuring free marketing and self-promotion ideas for songwriters, musicians and bands on a budget. Visit www.TheBuzzFactor.com for details." __________________________________________________ To START getting The Buzz Factor, send an e-mail to addme@thebuzzfactor.com with the words "Send Me the Buzz" in the Subject line. Or visit http://TheBuzzFactor.com/ __________________________________________________ The Buzz Factor is published by Bob Baker PO Box 43058 - St. Louis, MO 63143 Phone: (314) 963-5296 - E-mail: bob@thebuzzfactor.com http://www.TheBuzzFactor.com/ (c) 2003 by Bob Baker - All Rights Reserved |