A Song A Day

A few months ago I was approached by an A&R who was interested in signing me to a new, supposedly ‘revolutionary’ digital-only record label called Red Skin Records. Dubious as always, I got on the phone to the label boss and picked his brains for about an hour, to try and work out what I […]

Popularity: 100% [?]

Here’s the second part of my interview with Andrew Dubber from New Music Strategies:
Do you think subscription stream-on-demand models are the best option for the industry? If not, what would be your ideal model for the future of music consumption?
The answer here, as with most things to do with the online music environment is ‘Well, […]

Popularity: 15% [?]

I interviewed Andrew Dubber of the excellent New Music Strategies last week, and received some fascinating and insightful responses to questions concerning online promotion for musicians, future distribution models - and how the RIAA could dig themselves out the hole they’ve got themselves into. Here’s the first part:
What would be your advice for new artists […]

Popularity: 11% [?]

Slicethepie was launched today, another new site attempting to ‘revolutionize’ the ‘fan/artist relationship’ or something equally zeitgeist-y. Much like Sellaband, it provides bands with a chance to raise funds to record and release an album through the patronage of music enthusiasts. Essentially, a band’s fans become street teamers, pseudo-PRs and investors and can “gamble on, […]

Popularity: 45% [?]

Thanks to platforms like Indiestore and Snocap, it’s getting ever easier for unsigned bands to sell their own music via their websites, blogs or Myspace pages. But the vast majority of consumers still go to iTunes (and, lately, emusic; and, soon, the Amazon download store) to buy downloads. It’s vital for any unsigned artist to […]

Popularity: 52% [?]

A new online music service called Poptopus claims to offer musicians a chance to actively make money when their music is streamed on the internet. The Poptopus music player is a widget that plays MP3s and shows video adverts at the same time. It can be placed on blogs (and, one would assume, Myspace pages […]

Popularity: 5% [?]

One of the only good things (assuming you’re OK with it) a major label record deal would provide you is the chance to get your songs used on adverts and films – syncing, as it’s known in the industry. It’s hard to get your music noticed by the kind of people who license songs in […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Currently the best place to sell your music online is Indiestore. It gets a lot of things right (with a Pro account you get assigned ISRC numbers automatically, it’s viewed by A&Rs and journos looking for the next big thing, they work with sync companies so there’s a chance you’ll get your tracks licensed to […]

Popularity: 5% [?]