Hello Saggy-Pants readers, this is Ben from MoshMonkey.com here, I wasgonna write up a quick introduction about us but the following article kind of ended up a little longer than intended. So, lets just dive straight in at the deep end, do you need the music industry, or don't you? Thats a question that has plagued the minds of musicians on a global scale for many a year now.
The common ideal, the concept that most people believe is that, if you want to get anywhere in the ever increasing world of the Music Biz, you need to get signed.
You start off doing a few small shows in your local area, you get a demo recorded, try and get a few gigs further afield, carry on doing the 'same old same old' for a few years, and hope that one day, you'll walk off the stage to be greated by a tall, dark, mysterious figure who shakes your hand and says, 'here, have the keys to heaven'. He promises to make you the biggest thing since the Beatles, and as if by magic, you open your eyes to find that you're playing in front of 100,000 dedicated fans who are all sporting your bands logo on their T-shirts, and waving your latest
album in their hands.
Now before you say anything, I know thats a slight over exageration, it takes a lot of work, nothing happens over night etc. etc.
But who says that you need to be signed to sell 100,000 CDs, or to fill Wembley stadium. Why should you sign your life away to a company that doesn't give a damn about you, your message, your music or anything else for that matter, that isn't cold, hard cash.
Admitedly, I'm talking about the Major labels here, you know who I'm talking about. Yes, there are independant labels out there who do actually care about you, and your music, and want to help you. But do you even need them? I don't really want to say either which way, I'll leave that down to you.
But let me say this, can you imagine a world where bands actually own the rights to there songs. A world where 100% of Net Profits of record sales, merchandise and even gig ticket sales go straight to the musician. Hard to believe I know, but believe it or not, it is possible.
Have you ever heard of the expression, 'exponential growth'. well the basics of it, in the context that I will be using the term anyway, is that, say for instance you had 50 records printed. You sell your 50 records and now have enough money to get a further 100 records printed. You sell all of those, so now not only do you have 150 records out in the world, but you also have enough money to get a further 200 records printed, once all of those are sold, you'll have 350 records unleashed on the world, and enough cash for a further 400 records. You can quite easily see how this can escilate very rapidly into rather large figures.
O'K, so you're no doubt now starting to think I'm just wafflin' a bit, nothings that simple right. Well let me break it down a little more realistically for you,Lets say, for arguments sake, you managed to get a free recording of your material. I don't know, maybe you won it in a Battle of the Bands, or
your Uncle owns a recording studio, use your imagination. Anyway, you have your recorded tracks and you want to start selling them. Now again, for arguments sake, lets say it costs £1 to make a CD.
So for £50 you now have 50 CDs. And you want to sell your CDs for £2 a piece. But before you even start selling the CDs, you've already given
5 copies away to music review sites (wink wink nudge nudge), so that potential buyers can see other peoples opinions of your work and to get your name out there a bit more. And on top of that you've given out 5 more copies to promoters, venues etc. to help with getting gigs.
So, you're left with 40 CDs. You start selling them at your gigs, on your website etc. Granted, it may take a month, maybe two, possibly even
longer to shift those initial units. But, once they've all gone, you're left with £80. Then what? well then you get another 50 copies made up and spend the other £30 on some cheap posterflyers and what not to advertise your cd. Lets say you give away another 10 copies, you sell therest and again you are left with £80. But this time, you only need to spend £20 on photocopying some flyers and can afford to print up 60 CDs, you haven't had to give any away this time either so you make £120. You decide to really kick things into gear now and get 80 copies made up and spend £40 on promotion, bearing in mind that word of mouth from your previous CD sales should of kicked in by now. This time round you make £160, there are already 230 copies of your CD in the world, a shed load of flyers and posters, a few reviews and enough money to sort another 100 copies of your CD and really start promoting it heavily.
Are you starting to see how the idea of 'exponential growth', and more importantly, doing things off of your own back is actually plausible now?
Granted it may take a bit of time, and a hell of a lot of hard work and dedication, I'm not denying that. But just imagine when those figures start hitting the thousands, and thats not even going into merchandise or ticket sales yet.
The key thing that you have to remember though, and (as my mother used to tell me) I shall say this only once. You can sell ice to an Eskimo, as long as you go about it the right way. Promotion is the key, you need to turn your Band's name, into a household name.
So how the **** do i do that then? I hear you cry. Well, unfortunately, there is no real definitive answer, but my next series of articles, available from MoshMonkey.com, will provide you with tips, tricks, guidelines and advice on all aspects of getting your music out there, getting heard and turning your Band Name, into a household name.
See you next Month
