Posted by Michael on November 29, 2008 under Misc, Recording Tips | 
Indies might actually have a real chance at sales and radio play when it no longer makes sense for the majors to spend MILLIONS promoting a single song to radio.
And judging from the list of best selling albums of 2008, that time might not be too far off.
When even the HITS aren’t selling a whole lot, the majors are going to have to rethink their strategies… hey, they might have to release GOOD music to get radio play instead of pay-for-play!
Lil Wayne may be #1 for the year, but at 2.7 million, it ain’t a lot to crow about. And with Madonna, 3 Doors Down and Katy Perry all WELL under a million… well lets say the general major label policy of the HITS helping cover the costs of the flops is coming to a close REAL soon.
Posted by Michael on November 25, 2008 under Reviews |
As a fan of The Killers and Coldplay, it was a good weekend, with the Killers new full length, “Day & Age” and Coldplay’s new Ep, “Prospekt’s March” both out.
So what are my first impressions? Well, I’m a little underwhelmed so far with the Killer’s new one. I still enjoy their music, but their edge seems to be sliding still further away from the glory of the “Hot Fuss” debut. The opening song, “Losing Touch” is a great grabber at first listen, but still a pale shell of the excitement I first felt (and hell, still do) when hearing “Somebody Told Me.”
Coldplay’s EP continues their bold move forward away from just sleepy corporate rock. The EP has more variety on it than all of X&Y and even Viva la Vida. The EP moves from Rock to classical piano, to alt soundscapes and Jay Z’s guest spot feels great. 3 of these songs are remakes, remixes, or “based” on songs from “Viva la Vida” but the whole ep feels fresh and new.
So, both acts are moving away from their indie roots, but I’m more excited where Coldplay is going at the moment. I’ll still enjoy the new songs from the Killers on random on my iPod, but I’m still hoping they can recapture a bit of their old excitement.
Posted by Michael on under Misc |
Audiosocket, a company that places music from independent artists in Film and Television has taken on four songs that Amora has recorded with me.
Congratulations, and we hope to be hearing the songs getting placed soon!
Listen to Amora’s songs on her MySpace Page.
Posted by Michael on November 11, 2008 under Articles |
Amazon has been doing something great to lure some business from iTunes. Every day they have a “deal of the day” where they sell a full album from $1.99-$3.99
It’s worked, I’ve bought 3 CDs from them this way. One that I would have bought anyway, and two that I wouldn’t have paid full price.
This got me thinking… With single songs going for $.99, shouldn’t the album feel like a better deal per song? And aren’t we all a little fed up with what the CD has wrought? I won’t go on about how vinyl sounded great, but what I miss is that most albums were 8-10 songs because you couldn’t fit more on there. Less bloat, more good songs, less filler.
So, how about the labels start charging $4.99 for a digital album? By necessity, artists would stop putting out god awful collections of 17 songs, and I bet go down to a much more palatable 8-10 songs, and it would still feel like we’re getting a deal. In fact, I bet more people would pick up a full CD at this rate. Something I think proven by Maroon 5′s old album storming back into the iTunes top 5 the week they sold it for $4.99
Digital delivery reduces cost, flat out. No distribution, mailing, returns to deal with. The record companies need to find new ways to market and value their products. Smaller albums would let artists release albums more frequently, enabling them to stay “on the pulse”… and those filler cuts? Make them what they used to be… B-Sides. Release the single for $1.99 with 2 unavailable bonus cuts!
It would be nice if iTunes or the other stores would allow independent artists this flexibility. Some sort of ability to set a price lower than $9.99 (or the total of .99 per track, whatever is less) would let the EP come back into play in a big way. I bet a lot of indies could and would be willing to release a five song EP if they could sell it for $2.99!
