Note: This article is NOT a gripe & whine session. It’s an inquiry of “what should musicians do now that the game has changed?”
- Below I will outline 12 points.
- Items 1 – 6 diagnose “the problem” with doing things the old way in the today’s environment (it’s a mismatch)
- Items 7 – 11 become solution oriented, so yes there is hope! (we have to think differently)
- Item 10 is my big AHA moment and I describe what I may do next
Yesterday, a simple discussion with my girlfriend while riding in the van turned into a brainstorming avalanche.
My girlfriend asked me “when will you make your next CD?”
I then thought:
- “YAY! It’s been 3 years since I released the last CD, I have tons of new tunes and it would be excellent to have a new CD to sell at concerts.”
- “HUH? Why should I – or any other musician – ever make another CD if it is now all consumed for free?”
- “HUH? How can I get a better return on my recordings, knowing that they will be freely distributed?”
The music world has changed thanks to Youtube, Facebook, Spotify, Itunes, and most importantly – smartphones.
I first imagined myself as the “consumer” rather than the musician.
- Would I buy a CD?
- Why would I?
- How would I listen to it?
- Is there an urgency to buy one?
And then as the musician I thought about
- What do I get in return for making a CD?
- What are people wiling to pay for it?
- What has worked for me in the recent years and given me maximal exposure / profit?
Here is a quick rundown of the “avalanche” of thoughts that came.
1. My current CD listening status (I haven’t touched a CD in years):
- I myself have not listened to a physical CD in years, and bought less than 10 CDs in the last 3 years
- I have bought a few CDs at live shows to support artists I dig – singer songwriters, fingerstyle players.
- I have been “given” a few hundred CD’s and have the best intentions to listen to them, but have not gotten around to many of them.
- I can fire up Youtube & Google and find whatever I want immediately & for free…why even bother putting a CD in?
2. My current listening setup (I have no stereo):
- I have no CD player / trad stereo hookup at all.
- I have a macbook pro that is with me when I am at my home base, but I travel with an ipad mini.
- I don’t want to overwork / break the dvd drive by putting CDs in & out of the laptop.
- Any CD I’d want to hear would go in maximum ONE TIME, be imported to itunes, sync to my ipad, and not be played repeatedly. Then again, I have limited drive space so I am choosy about imports.
- For one time listens, hey I can go to Youtube and listen for FREE.
3. There is no more “scarcity” of music if it is always available everywhere free.
The idea of “scarcity” in marketing is incredibly important. Something that is always available, 365/24/7 for FREE is not at all “scarce.”
“Scarcity refers to any limitation placed on a product or service with the goal of increasing sales through pressure placed on the consumer. The fear of missing out causes people to make the decision to buy. (you got in, where others missed out).”
The LP / cassette / CD itself was precious because only the object alone could give the musical treat. To go to a friends house & hear Led Zep required that someone owned the Led Zep LP.
All we need to do now is “think” of a song, and it’s there in full stereo for free.
Why would I pay for music I can get FREE at anytime?
4. If you don’t give away FREE music, no one will notice you. Totally weird.
To hold out & say “you must pay for my music!” will result in the following: nobody will buy, especially if they can’t have a free sample first.
But – if you want to be noticed, you have to give something away free like everyone else.
This is a real brain twister and catch-22.
Our music may have musical value, but it monetary terms, for many “it’s worthless”.
“Worth” is what people are wiling to pay for it.
5. Musicians Values are Different than 95% of the World
No “sane” person would spend thousands on producing a CD.
However, musicians are willing to make CDS (which I have done many times) and put music out for returns other than money, like:
- artistic expression
- sense of accomplishment
- launching a career
- magazine reviews, (helping career)
- we become a “musician that has recorded”, thus separating us from amateurs & hobbyists
This is VERY noble! But keep in mind…
6. The popular channels make money by offering musicians “false hope”…
Youtube, Spotify, CDbaby and other channels earn money off selling “false hope” to musicians. In return, we give them our music. Then, they piggy back paid ads on our stuff.
It’s the same thing as a bar owner having bands play for free and pocketing money for selling beer.
“You’ll get great exposure!” – yeah I heard that one a lot!
My question is “since we are producing the music, can we copy what the channels are doing ourselves by hooking ads / actions onto our music?”
7. Youtube vs CD Promo Case study – “Jill’s Song”
In 2008 I released my first fingerstyle CD “Gratitude” with a cut entitled “Jill’s Song.”
I did the whole “indie” shebang – a great CD design, radio promotion etc – just the way the system tells you to. I was even the “centerfold” in the Discmakers Catalog!
No one, I repeat NO ONE ever told me they liked “Jill’s Song.”
Fast forward to January 2013 – I upload a video of “Jill’s Song” to Youtube where people can consume it for free.
After uploading, I got overloaded with so many requests for sheet music that I make an instructional DVD for it. Within a month I practically paid the DVD production costs – which is unheard of for indie CD sales.
So – what do you think “got the song out there?” The whole CD “mill” or Youtube?
I’m not saying one is better or worse – I am just saying “let’s see what actually happened.”
AHA! The Avalanche of Solution Oriented Ideas Starts….
8. A Look at The Youtube Model (sort of…)
On Youtube, we get to consume videos almost for free, but there is a hidden price for watching.
We are offered “actions” that we can take such as:
1) do something the video tells us to do like join an email list, download a file, visit website
2) click on a sponsored ad (which by the way is based on our google & amazon searches)
Could we hook an advantageous action step for us onto our CD / mp3 tracks the way Youtube does with video?
Could we get listeners to take an action in exchange for listening?
9. ELVIS laughing.
I listened to an Elvis Record last year – a famous live recording of “Are you Lonesome Tonight” where he is laughing and “loses it” while singing.
I was surprised – in between every tune, there would be a 30 second version of some rocking blues tune slowly fading up & down.
The record company actually was “advertising” another record on the record by hard coding free samples.
Genius! His product (LP) leads you to take a next action (buy another LP). The adverts are built in.
10. Solution Idea for Recording today – Bumpers (Hard Wired)
Don’t laugh – I may very well do this on my next CD – radio style “bumpers.”
That’s right…directly in the audio track I may hard record something like “Visit AdamRafferty.com for free tabs” or something similar. Just as if you were listening to the radio.
These ads would NOT be separate tracks, they would be in the track.
So, if I record a song like “Imagine” by John Lennon and it’s 3:15 long, the song may fade to silence at 2:45 and then you get a 30 second advert – but the “track” is one file.
Why the heck not? That way, ANY service such as Spotify that plays the track for FREE also plays my advert, as it is part of the track.
And a computer based service such as Spotify would have no idea the way a real live radio programmer would.
11. Dynamic Bumpers (Serve up an ad)
The radio stations sell ad space between tracks, but what if, somehow the CD / mp3 audio track itself could pull an ad from a server the way Youtube rolls out an ad in front of a video?
Of course this technology is advanced, and who would fund it? Essentially it would put radio
out of business. It would be cool though.
Imagine if every time your track is played, someone hears an advert custom tailored for them and you get paid.
This is already happening with video, but would be cool with audio.
12. What if your next CD was Youtube or Podcast Only?
I am not advocating giving it away for free – but if you did something “youtube exclusive” people also have to “look” at something while listening.
Or, imagine offering a series of tracks, by Podcast subscription only. This would also allow for you to send additional messages & ads or actions you are asking listeners to take.
In Conclusion
- Like it or not, the cat is out of the bag. Most people don’t feel that they should pay for your music.
- They feel like it’s a cocktail party, they are guests and your music is free finger food.
- If we don’t give away stuff for free, we are out of the loop.
- If we give it all away for free, we have nothing to sell.
- What else would be of value (other than money) in the exchange for free music?
- Could we as musicians harness that power rather than let the biggies “youtube, google, spotify” get the benefit for content we create?
- Could we get our music files themselves OR delivery format to somehow act “smarter” so that there is a better return?
- Could we make listeners take an action other than spend money, so that they spend further with us down the line?
Do You Have Any ideas? Please Comment Below!
OK . FANPAGE .
Way ahead of you, bud – but not the WHOLE song! I still sell a lot of CDs at gigs, but I’m taking down all the online JT catalog over the next few months, and re-distributing it with embedded ads on partial song files by year’s end. You can get PART of a song for free on YouTube, and II’ll give you live videos for free, but you will have to go the “ancient” route of iTunes, etc, and you will have to BUY the record if you want it. You can also get additional exclusive content if you BUY it from my site, and If that isn’t good enough for you, fine – you should really just go and listen to someone else’s music for free, and we’ll both be happy. And sure, the full files will eventually be out there to some degree via piracy. You can;t stop that, but why do the pirate’s work for them and GIVE it away? YouTube created an ad-based music music model, so instead of bitching about it, we’ll follow it.
Yes JT, the way to go is to build our own action steps / adverts into what we give away for free, and to not give it all away like so many people suggest we do!
…The game might have changed but the artist in you and your business acumen ‘always’ give you the feather in your cap and you ‘always’ arrive the victor…
…Yes there is hope…you ‘always’ excel in everything you do…
…Cheers for the next endeavor of ‘yours’!!!
Hey Adam!
Heres another thought… Why not write a song lyric that is comical in nature and explains the problem from the musicians point of view? Ala Weird Al Yankovich except not a cover… An original. You would get your point across to your general audience, and may get great suggestions or solutions from them. Remember, 100000 heads are better than one! Love ya, Funk Dawg! From “the DOOD”
Awesome idea, His Doodness!
I have a huge number of albums and songs on my devices, computers, mini computers etc. but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to one song. (maybe very rarely as background music at work or on the subway)..I’m surprised that you listen to music in those formats. You must have one very good computer and set of speakers. But as someone with musician friends, it’s distressing that ‘free’ music is available: I don’t know how and don’t care to know how. (I do watch you tube vids of performances a lot, and if I like the music I buy it–its cheap and I want the artist to continue and succeed).
I listen to a wonderful a new stereo system that just blows me away and was also very affordable–and I just don’t and can’t enjoy listening in my car and certainly on my computers. I’ve read and been told that the quality of sound available through I tunes is also substandard; don’t know if that’s right tho, and if pro-produced cds and new and old lps are that much better. I do notice lps sound.a little better.
I’ll pay to see you when you come to the Toronto area, and will buy at least one of your cds. Both are a real bargain. I’ll listen to the cd, loud, at home. Wish you were offering lps. .But good for you for coming up with ideas to get paid for what you do, you deserve to.
Thanks Mike…
For what it’s worth, I think you’re on the right track. However, I wonder if the expectation of what a CD can generate needs evaluated. Perhaps it’s just not able to generate the same revenue it once did, regardless of how you protect it? Look at albums…songs of an album used to be like chapters in a book. One sat down and listened to the entire album, hearing the tracks in the order the artist intended. Today people listen to single tracks assembled in a “playlist” and they listen while doing something else, always moving. Although I’m not in the business, my brother is (drummer in L.A.) and I have seen the destruction of the artist, first hand! The market has beat the crap out of music and along with it, the artist. CD’s compressed it, Amazon, Spotify, iTunes, etc commodified it, radio (controlled by big labels) filters it and software has turned everyone’s home into a recording studio! As a friend once said, ” Thanks to the internet, today’s consumer knows the price of everything and the value of nothing!” People have lost sight of the human artist and their endeavor to perfect their craft. We’ve taken for granted the hours of precious life spent for 4 minutes of enjoyment. That’s why I believe the live show is the holy grail of the artist. Being live puts the focus back on the human and allows the artist-consumer connection to be re-established creating value. YouTube played on 60 inch screen with a $4000 sound system is still just YouTube. There’s nothing like a live performance! It’s the one time people stop and actually focus on the artist.
Just my two sense worth.
I wish you all the very best!
John – Thanks for the comment!
Hey Adam, thanks for the article. I think when people enjoy a good musician live many of them want to contribute. I perform in upscale restaurants and small venues and find people like to tip what they can and then take a CD or stick with them. That is the time to make any money, when you’re right there in front of them and they are enjoying what you do. I worry that when people don’t invest something, the music is easily discarded or forgotten. Just a thought.
Joan Armatrading sells sheet music to some of her songs on her website. If I remember, a whole album was about $15 (hard to tell exactly because it was in pounds). There isn’t any sheet music available for her first album. I can’t even figure out what tuning “All the King’s Gardens” is in, so I’d pay some money to have the artist tell me. It could be an advantage to be medium famous. Nobody wants to go to the trouble to figure her songs out and post them, so she gets to do it herself. I suppose guitarists are a small subset of music lovers in general, but they’re certainly willing to pay for stuff.
Cool that she owns her tunes & has the rights to sell em!
Hello Adam,
I liked your line of thought a lot…You do have a point, people do not buy CDs anymore. Nevertheless I think there is a very important concept you need to consider before inserting anything in between your songs: forced advertising.
You spoke about it in point 6. You never asked for those ads, yet they appear in the same page you have your videos.
Even worse, since google bought youtube they add some “imposed” videos in between the videos you are watching. This had a very negative effect when they started doing it so they introduced another factor, the possibility of skipping this ad. This not only improves the perception of the customer, it also increases the cost (and the profit) for those adds because if someone watches the ad in it’s whole length having the option to ignore it, it means they WANTED to watch it.
This is a very important lesson. You have to be very careful about forced advertising, adding a catch phrase or whatever in the middle of a song will most probably induce a negative reaction in the listener because what they want to do is to finish listening to what they are listening to. Their ears are waiting for the next chord, not the next page to visit. To minimize this I would suggest you add these kind of “resources” at the beginning or the end of the song, where they do not disturb the listener so much as to hate you, but will surely make a difference between buying your music or listening to it for free. It adds value to the music you sell without ruining the experience for the listener who does not want to pay yet (or never). They could obviously delete the last or first part of the song but it would take more time, they would lose quality and they would eventually consider even more the possibility of buying your music if they dig it.
Just saying…
Have a nice day!
KR
Jaime
Jaime – thanks. I may do this at the END of tracks, rather than the beginning. I am considering all options! Great ideas, thanks.
This is a really great blog. I like your thought process though I hate to say it, but the value of your music is precisely what youtube pays you, per viewer. It may take 10k plays to get you $10, but that is more or less fair, because unless you play bullshit music-tainment like Rhianna or Beyonce, where else are you going to get 10k viewers? If you upload 13 songs, you’re going to get $100 every time 10K people watch them-without lifting a finger with regards to distribution and with zero risk of packaging, etc.
Also consider that it is free promotion. They could pay you $0.15c per play and charge you $0.149 for marketing/lawyer fees with roughly the same profit margin. Technology has improved so much that for about $500 (and about 2 weeks labor), you can record a pro-quality, homemade CD. Relish in the strides of technology that help you rather than hating on the internet companies and lawyers that are profiting more than you due to creation of the platform.
Yes, corporations suck, but you cannot get a ‘fair’ deal with them so why get frustrated about it. If you want to fill the seats in a national tour, you need thousands of subscribers. Take advantage of redirection to your website and offer books, transcriptions, etc to cut the corporations out of your profit margin. With today’s society, there wouldn’t even be a fingerstyle community without these platforms, we would simply be fed the lowest-common-denominator boom-boom-bap repeat ad nauseum if it weren’t for free self-promotion via social media. If you think you can do better than YT reimbursement, try selling mp3’s off your website or Myspace with 30second previews. All and all, I think you have some great ideas about how to insert ad’s and redirect viewers, no need to get frustrated about the leaches. Those who can’t earn will always pilfer, rejoice in your gifts and your worldwide audience, you are a true master of the instrument which is a greater gift than a fat paycheck!
-J
This post has come at a great time. I am about to record my first holiday “album” and trying to figure out the best format to use- CDs or downloadable cards. I still sell CDs at my gigs and people seem to like to have a tangible souvenir of the music. I can’t imagine giving away music for free and I guess I am lucky that I have gigs where people are still willing to pay for music. I agree with one of the other posters that mp3s are substandard. Unfortunately, most people don’t realize they are consuming aural junk food. I wish it were easier to record and sell LPs.
Any thoughts on formats for the future and for people willing to pay for music?
Quinn, do the CD but keep you eye on where it’s going year by year!
Adam,
I just wanted to add one more antidotal element to your YouTube experiment. I am in the music business (I own a company that manages performing arts venues) and I am also a lifelong guitar player struggling to learn fingerstyle. I discovered you (and Jill’s Song) on YouTube, for FREE as everyone else did. Not only did this lead me to purchase all of your great instructional DVD’s but I followed up by purchasing your CD’s on ITUNES. I think the YouTube model works but you have to really work the concept hard. I know the CD market is directed at music listeners but I really think the market for guitarists looking for knowledge from people with your skill level is huge.
Have you ever considered Crowdfunding such as Kickstarter for a specific project? In some cases, the “investors” may only need to get the product or an invitation to a “product launch” as a return on investment. I would certainly consider that to gain access to more of your educational materials especially if it came packaged with a produced CD of the same music.
John wow, lots to think about.
1) I am working on a teaching site taht I will soon launch – it will be two fold. Lessons of my arrangements to watch & learn, and then a lesson exchange as well for one on one instruction. So, I am working hard in all the cracks of my schedule to launch this.
2) Kickstarter…hmm, I have the dough to do teh projects I want, just not the time. KS Also feels like begging to me, I just can;t get over it. I’d rather do the crowd funding AFTER I create the product.
3) Teaching and making a CD require 2 different heads, hard to do both at the same time…but yes, bundles where the material matches make sense!
Stay tuned please – new site announcement coming soon!
AR
I have a cooking, scientific, fun and useful video blog where I film in a studio like “Rachel Ray” Or “Good Mourning America”….. Why can’t we go low tech and just literally have signs or adds hanging or appearing in the back ground of the vids? Literally, Adam holding up a card board sign ,or on you guitar..or in the mirror, a framed pic on the wall……it won’t disturb the tune and people might like the adds….LIKE THE SUPER BOWL ADDS. It could actually add to the “user experience” Thanks you, JACK BEARD
Jack lemme know what to send ya! Thanks for commenting!
Everyone I know want to support musicians financially but not YouTube iTunes or Amazon
So you should provide the tracks free with ads at the end and on these so called free media but if one want to buy the track he should be able to buy it directly on your website at the fractions of the cost of a CD
The fraction you would get from selling a CD via a record deal
That way everyone is happy !
Laurent if I do this with the ads, the paid version would be ad free 🙂
Everyone I know want to support musicians financially but not YouTube, iTunes or Amazon
So you should provide the tracks free with ads at the end for these so called free media but if one want to buy the track he should be able to buy it directly on your website at the fractions of the cost of a CD
The fraction you would get from selling a CD via a record deal
That way everyone is happy !
I just got CD’s printed to sell and when I saw that you have to send a physical master I had the same problem, I don’t even have a cd player or burner – nothing. Got that done though, but still haven’t thought of that it might not make a lot of sense to get CD’s printed. I once saw a guy selling vouchers for his album on iTunes – it was Tyrone Wells in the Troubadour in Los Angeles, great guy btw! – that is a great idea, but how do you get those? A voucher for his Album – not a generell iTunes voucher!??
And a big question that I have is before releasing a CD on iTunes, how do you get the permission for cover Songs? That would be an interesting subject!
Tobias
1) You need mechanical licenses. I am not sure about the UK, but in the USA I use the Harry Fox Agency https://songfile.com
You can fool around on their website to see how it works. It’s per song, per CD and based on the length of your performance.
After paying, you show that to the CD manufacturer so they know they are not creating an illegal product.
2) For now, people still buy CDs at GIGS – a memento that I sign that is a keepsake for them. So if you are playing live, make CDs!!!
3) I use DISCKMAKERS to manufacture CDs. For about $40 they do an all inclusive “Itunes, Rhapsody, Spotify, Amazon” etc upload – so a new release appears on all those sites. They do all the work, saves loads of time.
Keep Rockin!
AR
Welcome to the world of personal services.
Last centuries music industry marketing concept selling products began to break with Napster. Before that, the majority of decent musicians was neglected by the industry (and the radio stations) anyway. Will their successors YouTube, Spotify, etc pay fair shares? Well, did the music industry pay your fair shares in the past?
At least YouTube is sort of helping good guys and gals to become popular without weeding out the maybe not so successful or marketable. And you, the musician, gets a marketing lever only the music industry had before. A sometimes huge lever. Convergence at its best, you have control every aspect of your music. And you have to care to earn your share. That is, if you are not making music for fun, which the majority does on YT.
Spotify is a different beast. I am a paying subscriber, but am often get told that I rip off the musicians. Huh…
But again, music is a personal service for the listeners. Think service, not product. Play live, sell merch and CDs and DVDs and Tabs and whatever (SWA). Offer only what you are able to sell. Demand and supply.
Crowd funding a CDs is a viable alternative for somewhat popular musicians. Am asking myself if voluntary donations via patreon.com really work? Tried that, Adam?
Hi Adam
Lots of good thinking. And I thought I might weigh in on this one. What you are talking about is how to defeat what is Consumer Behaviour. If I understand correctly, because customers are used to getting music for free they are not likely to buy your brand-new creative intelligence on disc. Again, if I understand correctly, your thought process is to give it away for free and hopefully regain the cost from spin off sales by embedding ads or ‘call to action’ in the music track.
Whilst I believe the idea is sound, you are playing around with consumer perceptions. And there is more than one perception here.
The first is “Music is Free”. This one you’ve got covered. The other one that you might like to consider is the perception that “CDs don’t have ads on them”.
With your idea you go with one perception and against the another. This could be a mistake. Whilst you will win some customers through the strategy, you will lose others or alienate them when they have to listen to ads or discover ads on their CD. They know what to expect with Youtube etc and this is not what they expect on a CD free or not.
So how to get around the perception?
My idea would be to give your customers a choice. They can have the CD for free on the understanding that it has promotional content at the end of each track – really good stuff like where to join the site, where to get the TAB, directions to other musicians work etc. OR ‘If you just want to listen to some great music’ order and pay for the CD as usual. I would probably take one of each 🙂
There are lots of examples in marketing where things backfire on companies when they go against consumer perceptions. One related example where ads were forced on consumers was cinema advertising. I know from my work that cinema advertising is very ineffective for 99% of businesses despite what the advertising agencies tell you. It remains ineffective because a large part of the audience believes that because they paid they shouldn’t have to watch ads; don’t want to watch ads; want what they paid for. So they switch off, talk, make restless comments all the while the ad is screening. For some advertisers the media actually drives business away because it confronts peoples perceptions. For reading this and wondering why – ads were not always included in your cinema ticket.
Anyway I hope this comment is useful and whatever you do continues to be successful.
Michael
Michael – thank you for your excellent comment. I agree.
Actually I am putting a new CD out that I just recorded at my home studio.
I’ll get to the perceptions in a sec.
On the cost side, licensing the cover songs cost $1100 for 1000 CDs and 500 digit downloads. A 6 panel digipack at Disc makers with shipping & tax is about $2100. My guys who mix and master will probably come to $1700 or so.
So – right out of the gates, that’s $4900. Think about folks who record in a studio on top of that. 10K easy, for 1000 CDs.
And I am established, I have a following and I have concerts I can sell them on.
Now to perceptions…
I asked the nice folks at CD baby about the idea to do 2 versions of a CD and here’s one perception thing that could really piss people off.
Spotify and others offer an “ads free”. Service. God forbid my ad would play on that, customers could get pissed.
Other than that,the logistical hassle of “listen to this version, but buy the other”. Is almost a technical impossibility.
Another perception is that a successful artist should be able to afford to make a CD. I can of course!
And – another perception is that artists should not market themselves. We should just love our art so much that we give it away. Yep, that’s a perception.
So, I’ll follow through and go with the other lemmings, and make my CD :-
At most I’d offer a free download from my site in exchange for an email address and maybe put some promo in the zip file – and let people know in advance.
One has to think though about the hours and time (and money) that a musician puts in, and how a company can just give it away…it’s criminal.
And then the flip side. If you / I choose NOT to be present on Spotify, etc there are plenty who will not discover you. My Dad at age 75 has Spotify rockin all weekend and said “son you need a new CD for your Spotify fans”….
So, I’ll have a nice chunk of change for a tax write off this year and eventually sell enough on gigs to make it back.
You are right on with taking care about the perceptions, it could very easily backfire.
Thanks again – AR
I have enjoyed your thoughtful commentaries in the past and have a personal question
I am a retiree and a guitar player for the past 50+ yrs (that’s frightening in itself) – I have finally gotten round to recording a half dozen fingerstyle arrangements of cover tunes. I would like to make @ 100 copies for friends – these will be gifts – none will be sold by me anywhere – anytime
(if any of my friends tried to sell one I’d get them professional help !)
Given that this is purely a private effort and nothing will be offered commercially do I still require mechanical licenses etc in your opinion ? Thanks for your time and wonderful playing
Great post, lots of thought provoking stuff in there. I’m happy to do the lot, i.e. take advantage of what is free on YouTube, but also to buy sheet music/arrangements where they are legit and licensed (like yours!), and also I still buy CDs – they get listened to while driving or while in the bath or shower – and I’m old enough to want to “own” something physical, not just keep on paying to rent it from somebody’s cloud! (Just as I’d much rather have a real book than a Kindle.) It does all have to be paid for in the end – streaming, etc, by using download allowances on phones and so on. I realise somebody could say “Well, you’re paying on top of the purchase cost of the CD by paying for your electricity to power the CD player at home so you’re kidding yourself…”
Your instructional DVDs are terrific value and this is only another example of buying and owning something like a CD. (Without getting into complications about anybody pirating your instructional material when you’ve paid for the rights, so you have to swing into action with lawyers to stop them [or maybe just formal complaints to YouTube would shut them down]. I’m happy to be publicly recommending them, and I’ll be sending for another one soon!
More true than ever, Adam. Thanks for the insights.
Radio. If you want your music to be played on radio, whether commercial or non-commercial, it has to be on a disc. The program directors still want discs, across the board. This may change in a handful of years, but for now there’s no way around it.
Otherwise, I agree with your conclusions, absolutely.
But I dearly hope you don’t ever put ads in the middle of a track on Spotify – that would guarantee I’d never listen to it a second time!
Daryl – yes yes yes, and I’d never put an ad in a Spotify track! Late reply, I know. God Bless!
My daughter (19) and I still buy CDs. More recently purchased 4 CDs in the past month. She likes having something physical and contributes to the artist. I guess we’re still old school.
Diana thanks. Yes, CD’s are still around….I like buying them too.
Adam, Have faith. You are a rarified talent. Now, I’m just an anyone.. stated for case in point, (I’m actually rather fond of me)..
But as an enthusiast of fingerstyle players, I’ve seen my fair share of players as they come through LA. I mean, SO many of them are real knockout players.. Here’s what’s curious..
I continually go back to Adam Rafferty when I’m wanting to get my fingerstyle listening buzz going.
What appears to be unique to you is your taste, your style, as well as a crazy-good skillset. That ethereal ‘mojo’ people speak of. God the inexplicable is annoying!
I’m not knocking anyone.. But as cool as it is to see a sill noodle-ist (er, fingerstyle guitar player) knock out a badass rendition of ‘Cannonball’.. it never pops into my head to suddenly want to hear it.
Yet I’m driving down the road and I find myself suddenly wanting to hear Adam Rafferty play Stevie, or ANY of the more exclusive bits of repertoire you master in your own signature style.
You’ve got something my friend. It extends beyond a guitar skill set. I know monetizing your work more effectively seems like the logical thing to do… Money is pretty handy stuff..
Keep at it my friend. Your day is coming.
Hey Bob, thanks for the comment and kid thoughts. When I was studyin, it always came down to my teacher Mike Longo singing something super groovy, melodic and in the pocket – and then getting THAT to the instrument.
The fingers and brain can run amok, but always coming back to what you’d sing is the key. That’s what you are hearing me do when I play.
I hope I said this right 🙂
God Bless!
AR
Hi Adam, I had a guy tell me after a gig that he didn’t own CD player anymore, & asked if a particular CD of mine was available for streaming. He was interested in how much an artist receives from streaming. When I told him how little it was, he was shocked; he announced he was going to buy a Cd player. A week later I got an email from him, he sourced a CD player on eBay, & ordered my CD!
(If only there were more like him.)
It’s really helpful to know who your audience is. Older audiences still like CDs. I’ve just completed a tour, & CD sales were actually a little higher than usual, and every buyer wanted their disk signed…suggests to me that the concept of ‘buy CD as gig souvenir’ is still strong (for an older demographic.)
A platform like Patreon allows you to build your own base of supporters / fans, your own patrons without running the risk of irritating them with ads. That way you receive revenue per patron, at whatever level you decide and for that subscription, the patrons (possibly at several levels) receive unique benefits, such as: Video, Audio, transcriptions, documents, advice, etc. You can offer various benefits for example discounted courses or transcriptions. You can advertise the Patreon presence on an attractive Utube channel.
thanks for your thoughts and your article. I read it with mixed emotions though, because, my answer to the first question below is: Yesterday, I received two new vinyl albums and I enjoyed the thoroughly. Unpacking them, looking at the cover and the booklets, the first listening on the turntable… it is not only about sound quality etc, which is a BIG reason compared to the youtube-quality of sound, but it is about getting in touch with the artist, to see the whole Album, which is, in my view, mostly a coherent piece of artwork, which should be therefore treated with the due respect. Streaming and consuming music for free and with not spending thoughts on it, using it to have some background noises, is to me very inflational, it reduces the value of the music. So, from my point of view as a listener, I would say it is worth doing traditional hardware based publications of music, which of course does not mean that the internet based stuff should not be used. When I buy an album, I mostly learned about it/heard it the first time on the internet, but for real listening, I prefer the old fashioned style, and I think there are many people like me out there. By the way, vinyl records are regaining some popularity, which I appreciate…
For me it works the other way, a while ago I found some great music on the internet, (the Prague Cello Quartet, very recommendable, check out their version of Bohemian Rhapsody…) and was eager to buy a CD or an Album, but, to my disappointment, they are only available by streaming stuff, which is a NoGo for my sound equipment, so, I did not purchase anything.
Of course I completely understand the financial and marketing-relevant aspects, no doubt you have a point here, but this coin, as usual, has two sides.
Just my two cents on the subject.
All the best from Germany
Thomas
thanks for your thoughts and your article. I read it with mixed emotions though, because, my answer to the first question below is: Yesterday, I received two new vinyl albums and I enjoyed them thoroughly. Unpacking them, looking at the cover and the booklets, the first listening on the turntable… it is not only about sound quality etc, which is a BIG reason compared to the youtube-quality of sound, but it is about getting in touch with the artist, to see the whole Album, which is, in my view, mostly a coherent piece of artwork, which should be therefore treated with the due respect. Streaming and consuming music for free and with not spending thoughts on it, using it to have some background noises, is to me very inflational, it reduces the value of the music. So, from my point of view as a listener, I would say it is worth doing traditional hardware based publications of music, which of course does not mean that the internet based stuff should not be used. When I buy an album, I mostly learned about it/heard it the first time on the internet, but for real listening, I prefer the old fashioned style, and I think there are many people like me out there. By the way, vinyl records are regaining some popularity, which I appreciate…
For me it works the other way, a while ago I found some great music on the internet, (the Prague Cello Quartet, very recommendable, check out their version of Bohemian Rhapsody…) and was eager to buy a CD or an Album, but, to my disappointment, they are only available by streaming stuff, which is a NoGo for my sound equipment, so, I did not purchase anything.
Of course I completely understand the financial and marketing-relevant aspects, no doubt you have a point here, but this coin, as usual, has two sides.
Just my two cents on the subject.
All the best from Germany
Thomas