inputs/outputs

About a year ago, I started looking into platforms that would allow me to release my new album as efficiently as possible.  My initial requirements were:

1. user-friendly digital download
2. fans have the ability to name their price
3. fans have the ability to download the album for free in exchange for marketing data (email address/location)

That’s not an enormous list, but you’ll learn later that I had some other requirements that I didn’t even know about when I was planning the release.

I looked at Tunecore, which distributes your record to sites like iTunes, Amazon, and eMusic.  I did end up using Tunecore as a secondary distribution channel because these services are familiar (requirement #1 was met).  I didn’t want to alienate fans* who only know how to use the iTunes store to download an album.  But I couldn’t allow my fans to control the price, so these distributors would become secondary to whatever I chose.

There were places like Amie Street, which would allow my album to start off free but would increase in price as it got more popular.  It would be a stretch to say that this meets Requirements #2 and #3, because it’s the community that is technically controlling the price and not the individual fan.  I also didn’t want to punish those who just happened to get into the music later than the early adopters.

I took a look at some of my favorite musicians.  Glen Phillips had just released an album through Bandcamp.  Bandcamp would let me meet all 3 of my requirements, so it seemed like the perfect choice.  My only qualm with it was that it wasn’t exactly widget friendly.  You could attach a widget to your own web site, but it’s a small player and it just links back to your Bandcamp page anyway.   It was important to me to have my own site.  I wanted to run my own analytics and be able to make it a central hub for my fans.  Nonetheless, Bandcamp still met my basic needs, so I kept it as an option.

Then I stumbled across Noisetrade.  It met requirements #2 and #3, but it had the added feature of requiring the downloader to tell 5 friends about the album (via the widget) if they wanted the album for free.  I figured this was absolutely the way to go.  Every time someone downloaded my album for free, 5 people would get an email alert and would possibly check out the album as well.  And it was extremely widget friendly (in fact, the entire thing IS a widget), so I could embed into my site seamlessly.  I took a big breath and shelled out the $200 set up fee that Noisetrade required at the time.

I began working on the record, picking out good songs, re-working old demos, and finally it started to take form.  In the meantime, Noisetrade dropped its startup fee and refunded me, which I thought was a good move.  I was reading Seth Godin’s Purple Cow at the time, and Seth tends to make me re-think marketing.  I thought, how would Seth Godin digitally distribute my record if he was in charge?  Seth’s way of life is to make the product remarkable, and that viral spread will happen naturally (this became Requirement #4).  He believes it’s more effective this way, and I’m with him all the way.

The first thing that got me thinking about not using Noisetrade as my primary distributor was the interface.  Pretty, yes, but the entire thing is a flash widget.  It’s almost 2010, but there’s a possibility someone won’t have a flash browser and in that case, they wouldn’t even be able to listen to samples, or see the cover art.  It might not load quickly on a slow internet connection.  Noisetrade also creates 30 second samples from the first 30 seconds of the song.  For some of my songs, that’s a horrible place to demo a song.

(To be fair, I still use my Noisetrade account in case someone is browsing the Noisetrade store and sees my record and decides to download it.  No takers yet.  Though I did get some downloaders when I released an ambient record on the site called Still Life as a placeholder while I finished my folk album).

But more importantly, why should I require my fans to tell others about the music?  I’m giving them the option to pay nothing for the album because I don’t want to dictate what my music is worth to them.  If the music is good enough, I figured, they’ll tell anyone who they think will enjoy it.  If not, I didn’t create a product that can go viral naturally.  Bandcamp does feature a big Share button on the artist page, so Viral spread is just as possible, but not forced.

Bandcamp also streams the entire album for free (no 30-second samples here), which turned me off at first, but their explanation is quite convincing.

“…whether it’s a pop tune, a heavily political punk album, or an experimental, avant-garde suite — the key is very simple: people have to hear music, then they will grow to like it, and then finally, if you’re lucky, they will engage in an economic relationship in order to consume (not just buy and listen to) that music…

And a 30-second sample is a waste of your time and bandwidth. It’s worse than useless. That’s not enough to get to like your music. Let them hear it, keep it, live with it. And then bring them back as a fan.”

I think of it like this:

Approach #1:  Hello.  Would you like to stream my record for free?  If you like it enough to make it portable (downloading the MP3s), you can pay whatever you want and make it happen.

Approach #2:  Hello.  Would you like to check out these 30-second clips and somehow figure out from those clips if my music is worth buying, let alone worth the bandwidth/time/effort required to download it for free?”

What would you want as a fan?  I’ll take Approach #1 any day of the week.  Bandcamp has got it right.  So why aren’t other digital distributors following suit?

Well, I understand Noisetrade’s point of view.  That whole tell-5-friends thing is super attractive to artists.  The only problem is that, to the fans, it can feel forced.  I’d rather one of my fans take the time to think of two people that will really like my stuff than just send email blasts to the first 5 people they think of in order to get a free download.  I don’t want to force my fans to be viral marketing tools.  I want to create good enough material that they choose to go out and spread the word.  Not only that, but Noisetrade has to stay small and relatively unknown in order to not be annoying.  Can you imagine if that was the only option for free downloads?  Spam city.

I also understand iTunes’ (and the other big players) angle.  Letting artist control the prices will shrink revenues, and I imagine it takes a lot of money to keep those huge stores afloat.  It’s similar to paying $15 for a CD in the old days.  Some people only know iTunes for digital downloads and $10 seems completely reasonable to them.  ‘

But, for the reasons outlined above, neither of these methodologies are as simultaneously advantageous for the artist and the fan.  Bandcamp wins.  Not to mention the amount of customization you have access to is really exciting.  You can set a minimum, you can have the site collect e-mail addresses or not, you can make the download completely free, it can come in any format, you can bundle extra goodies into your digital pack, and you can now sell physical merch.  If you were on the fence before, it’s not even a choice anymore.

The moral:  when marketing your music, forget about forcing anybody to do anything.  They don’t owe you anything until they become a fan, and that’s on you.

*I don’t use the word “fans” to make myself sound important and famous, but “users” seemed too unnatural for a digital album.  I consider you a fan if you enjoy the music, and evidently some people out there do.