Posted January 19, 2008
So, would you buy music on a USB Flash drive?
The idea has been around awhile and lots of people have suggested it to me. I've always balked for two reasons: 1) even in bulk, the drives are expensive and 2) it's a lot of work to come up with extra content to fill out a 1GB drive and make it feel worthy of the price tag. I about tore my hair out doing the CD extras on Where I've Been and the MP3-only mini CDs awhile back.
That said, IndieDrive looks like a pretty cool idea. I've signed up so I could poke around on the website, but haven't uploaded any music yet.
I think there's an opportunity here to offer pressed-for-time musicians (like me) some pre-made templates for doing flash drives, CD extras, etc. Something like: drag and drop your music files here, some photos and video here, put your lyrics here, then pick a layout template and bang, instant kiosk complete with autorun which you can then just drag onto the USB drive or CD.
But then, I'm still skeptical. Personally I wouldn't buy an album on a USB drive unless there was some serious value add, like bonus tracks or video you can only get by purchasing the drive. Or maybe the artist's entire back catalog. "The Complete Works Of..." etc. What would move you to purchase a USB drive over a CD?
Posted January 18, 2008
I'm starting to send out pre-release copies of Save You From Yourself to the press. Every few days I mail out a handful of puffy envelopes.
I had a long phone conversation (I know! The phone!) with my pal Kym Tuvim last night. She's in the middle of promoting a new album herself. Aside from teaching piano, Kym is otherwise a full-time touring songwriter.
Get this, Kym sent out packages to over 140 radio stations! No spam cannon, no "check out my MySpace!" nonsense. Just polite emails asking for permission to send a CD, and then a follow-up email awhile later. (Also: her CD is awesome, and in top-notch packaging.)
And it's working. She's getting airplay.
See, this is one of the reasons I'm not worried. Sure, anyone with little or no money can record an album and slap it onto the web these days. That used to be hard, now it's the easy part.
But the extra-mile stuff that actually gets results is still hard. Picking up the phone, going out on tour, following up without coming off like an insane person, writing a really good song that won't be forgotten the moment another dramatic chipmunk comes along.*
(* yes, everyone knows it's a prairie dog by now.)
I figure if I try 10% harder, that's 10% more than most will even bother doing.
Posted January 16, 2008
I've leaked another track from Save You From Yourself out onto the interwebs.
That is all.
Posted January 14, 2008
The last of the international pre-orders went out today. I goofed up the addressing and had to rewrite all the customs slips by hand. Not a big deal, except that writing out things like "Hellevoetsluis" is difficult when you spend all day at a keyboard like I do. Man, my handwriting has really gone downhill in the last few years.
I also sent copies to Pandora and the All Music Guide. I've been frustrated with AMG in the past, as I've tried several times to have my listing info updated there to no avail. I even had correspondence with a real live person once! Maybe this time I'll get lucky.
I've also submitted to several online stores in the hope they'll include me in their catalogs. No word yet as I just sent out the packages last week. Most of these places have a "don't call us, we'll call you" policies so I won't know for sure until I hear back. Fingers crossed!
Posted January 14, 2008
So there's now an official release date for Save You From Yourself: February 19th.
You might be wondering why on earth the release date is over a month away when I have the boxes of CDs sitting in my dining room right now (proof!). There's a few reasons I came up with this.
First: now that the pre-orders are shipped, I'd like those people to bask in the privilege of exclusivity for a little while.
Second: if you're a member of the Demo Club, fear not. You'll be able to get the album well before 2/19.
Third: the 2/19 date is artificial. The whole thing is a concession to traditional media -- newspapers, magazines, radio -- which still expects an official release date, with press releases and review copies sent weeks in advance.
Why am I bothering with "traditional" media, when I've been putting out music online since 2002? Mostly it's because I've never really, really tried before. Part of it is: with so many bands spamming everyone in the nation with MySpace bulletins, I might actually rise above some of the noise by reverting to old-school methods.
But also: a lot of people who like the kind of music I write aren't online as much as you and I are. I want them to hear about it. It doesn't hurt to swing for the fences now and then. (I'll be reporting the results here in the near future.)
So if you want to get a copy of Save You From Yourself sooner than later (and quite possibly at a discount), sign up. If you want to hear some songs in advance, keep your eye on your favorite social networking sites over the next few weeks.
Posted January 11, 2008
So, over the next few weeks I'll be "leaking" some key tracks from Save You From Yourself out on the web.
I've decided that my #1 goal for 2008 is reach. Money is nice, and yes, I hope I get some money. Thank you for money! But money is hard to come by these days without spins, plays, adds, shares, recommendations, thumbs-ups, etc.
That's why I hope that when you find one of my songs out there, you'll share it with friends, add it to your profile, post a review, playlist it, scrobble it, iLike it, podcast it, twitter it, vote it up, down, sideways -- whatever you do when you want to share music online.
In the meantime, I'll be working the other end of the spectrum, the "real" world, trying to get some reviews from newspapers and magazines. Most of my efforts are going to be excruciatingly local. I have separate blog post about this plan waiting in the wings.
The first "leaked" song is out there right now. Go find it :)
Posted January 7, 2008
Attention valued customers! The US pre-order packages are now in the mail, winging their way to you. International orders will ship later today.
Man, what a crazy week. I've had a few extra days off and I spent a good deal of it stressing over padded envelope sizes, wrestling with Paypal reports, shipping early copies off to media and other stuff. I revamped my about page. I learned that OpenOffice Calc clips the leading zero off of Massachusetts ZIP codes. I wrote a press one-sheet, a distributor one-sheet, a radio one-sheet and a booking one-sheet.
Wait, what business am I in again?
Assembly was a pain at first but I eventually found a rhythm:
We were giddy when we finally sent the last batch down the postal chute:
The pre-orders should be in your hands in just a few days. Thanks everyone!
Posted January 7, 2008
Yesterday I ripped the shrinkwrap off of 132 CDs and signed them in preparation for shipping the pre-order packages. I got a little buzzed on Sharpie fumes but my wrists are fine.
The digipaks are made of matte-finished cardstock. They've got a really nice feel, nicer than the standard plastic CD jewel case. I'm glad I went with the matte instead of glossy finish, which tends to get scratched up and fingerprinty.
Tonight I'm unwrapping another 132 so I'll have a stock of them for mailing to press, radio, etc. It's a long-standing cardinal rule that you should remove the shrinkwrap in advance, lest some frustrated sleep-deprived music writer pitch your hermetically sealed art into the wastebasket.
Posted January 3, 2008