About this site
For the longest time I thought that I needed to play live and tour constantly in order to continue making music and producing CDs. In most cases an artist in this business is an indentured servant who never earns their freedom. While I’ve certainly seen my fair share of successes, I’ve seen more disappointment and futile struggle in the old “music business” paradigm. The artist was usually the last to reap the benefits of their hard work and sacrifices. Things have changed.
This site allows me to pursue my deepest passion without the need for a band or constant touring. I’m certainly not against touring or playing live to support an album, however, in my past experience touring has been an expensive endeavor and not a great business decision. If done correctly, touring is a breakeven affair. My goal is to continue writing and producing the best music and distributing it. One avenue that I’m pursuing is getting music placement in film or television. To do that I need to have highest possible production quality…which is expensive. Although, digital recording technology has gotten better and much more affordable, there are still considerable costs associated with any professional quality music production. For example, although my last recording project, No Real Direction, was a home studio production, the total cost was about $8,000. Those costs include paying the studio drummer for tracking his parts, mixing the project , equipment costs, mastering the final mixes and manufacturing the CD packages. About $4,000 of that project was funded through listener donations, the rest was out of my own pocket.
Unknown artists have written the most beautiful songs that you’ve never heard. Now that the music industry has been turned upside down, thanks to digital distribution and disruptive business models, you may actually get a chance to hear some of those songs. The paradigm is changing and websites like Sellaband are enabling artist to do what they love and make a living doing it at the same time. Independent artists are leveraging the concepts behind MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn to find interested and supportive listeners with whom they can build “high touch” personal relationships. The best part is everyone can profit financially from the exchange. The internet has connected music lovers and artists in the best possible way.