From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V11 #75 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Saturday, March 19 2005 Volume 11 : Number 075 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? ["Xenu's Sister] Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? [gordodo@optonl] Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? [Doug ] Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? [dmw ] Another CD Baby Recommendation ["troy j shadbolt" ] Re: Marketing ["Xenu's Sister" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 10:41:10 -0800 (PST) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? I don't get this. On ebay's site (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/downloadable.html) they say this: eBay prohibits the listing of items or products to be delivered electronically through the Internet. But then, a paragraph later they say this: Guideline If you are the copyright owner of the downloadable material that you are listing on eBay, make sure you say so in your listing! Which is it? Is it prohibited in all cases, or is it ok if you're the copyright owner? V __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 13:47:09 -0500 From: gordodo@optonline.net Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? I would think that there would be a couple ways to approach it: 1) set it as "buy it now" for a fixed amount and leave the listing up permanently 2) set it as a dutch auction where there were multiple "copies" available 3) set it as a "buy it now" auction (at the same $15 price) with a submit best offer option (where a reasonable offer could be accepted) 4) list it one at a time and keep reposting it as the high bid is reached (probably the least favorable as it could drive bidding wars and not get the music out to as many people as possible... The only downside may be in the delivery of the songs - once someone buys it how to prevent the person buying it to resell it/copies of it cheaper with none of the proceeds going to Happy...An option may be to just burn copies onto CDRs and send that along with a sticker on it for not for resale (and include details in the listing as such) rather than send winning bidders an email/link to the songs... i'd be more than happy to offer up my ebay account to list the items as I have done a bit of selling and have a very good feedback rating :) - -jason n.p. Mary Timony - mountains - ----- Original Message ----- From: Xenu's Sister Date: Friday, March 18, 2005 1:07 pm Subject: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? > I suggested to Happy that she sell mp3s of the Sampler (the whole > thing, not just individual songs) on ebay and she wants to discuss > it further, so I wanted to get input. > > Here are some of my random thoughts... > > All the Sampler CDs are gone now. Happy's keeping a couple/few > for her own archive purposes and of course, no more will be pressed. > > The new album is *at least* a couple of months away. > > There are a lot of Happy fans not on Ecto who would want to hear > this new music, but don't even know it exists. > > Every time a Happy CD comes up for sale on ebay, someone bids. Rarely > has an item gone by without bidders. And not always me, either. > They may or may not know about Happy's web site. I used to write > people who were bidding on CDs to tell them about her site and > many responded in the vein of "thanks, I didn't know." I did get > warned about contacting bidders so I quit doing that. > > An ebay listing could include, in its description, a link to her > web site where interested parties could find other, older CDs. > (Unless outside links are prohibited, I don't know) > > The description would be worded to make it clear to people that: > > 1) This ISN'T a CD, but rather high-quality mp3s of an > out-of-print item. > > 2) This ISN'T the full "Find Me" album, but rather an out-of-print > Sampler containing 8 of the eventual 11 songs. > > 3) The CD is upcoming, and besides being firmware, it will contain > 3 > extra songs, artwork (of course) and slightly different mixes. > > 4) whatever else should be made clear to potential bidders. > > Since there's no hard copy, and no shipping involved, the price would > be lower. What would be a fair price, and would anyone who has already > (and still will) pay the full amount for their copy be put out, upset, > feel cheated, that they paid full price and now mp3s were being sold > at a cheaper rate? > > I see lots of upsides: getting Happy much-needed extra money > (every little > bit helps); a weird kind of publicity that a new album is on the > way; giving > access to the songs to people who otherwise wouldn't know about > it; maybe > get her some attention in other ways (I know lots of places sell > mp3s of > artist's songs and albums, but do many artists sell their own mp3s > on ebay?); > if anyone were to be naughty and try to sell their Sampler CD on > ebay, this > would put a real damper on that. > > I don't see a downside, but maybe I'm not thinking of something. > > > > Does anyone have experience selling on ebay? I have a stellar > feedback rating > but that's from buying. I've never sold anything. I have no idea > what the fees > are. I don't know how to write a description, especially for > something as > unusual as this. Any tips? Any willing helpers (writing a > description) if this > becomes a reality? > > What do people think? > > Vickie > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! > http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 12:53:09 -0600 From: Doug Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? How is Happy going to deliver these MP3s? If she emails the winning bidder an URL where he can DL the file(s), the winner could easily hand out that URL to anyone. If she emails the MP3s, she will probably run into people who have weak email (i.e. can't recieve large attachments). I support Happy in anything she would like to do, but this approach is not without problems. - --Doug "Instructions are for people who don't know what they are doing" - Bob the Builder ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 14:04:35 -0500 From: "Allison Tartalia" Subject: Indie Music for Life Cancer Research benefits - Philly, Montclair Hello, I hope you won't mind this post. I've lurked on this list for a couple of years but post only rarely. However, I'm trying to get the word out about two concerts next week. They are benefits for an organization called Indie Music for Life, which raises money for cancer research through concerts and compilation CDs featuring independent artists. You can learn more about Indie Music for Life at http://www.indiemusicforlife.org. In addition to the shows next week, there are concerts coming up in MA, NC and GA. Any support would be greatly appreciated. Tuesday, March 22, 8:00pm World Cafe Live 3025 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA Featuring Vicki Blankenship (http://www.spottedkivaproductions.com), Kevin So (http://www.kevinso.com), Denise Barbarita (http://www.myshytune.com) and Allison Tartalia (http://www.allisontartalia.com) http://www.worldcafelive.com Wednesday, March 23, 8:00pm Luna Stage 695 Bloomfield Ave. Montclair, NJ $10 Cover Featuring Denise Barbarita (http://www.myshytune.com), Vicki Blankenship (http://www.spottedkivaproductions.com), Jennifer Edwards (http://www.jened.com), Allison Tartalia (http://www.allisontartalia.com), & Kelsey Warren (http://www.pillowtheory.net/) http://www.lunastage.org Thanks so very much. Allison ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 12:02:54 -0800 (PST) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? - --- gordodo@optonline.net wrote: > I would think that there would be a couple ways to approach it: > 1) set it as "buy it now" for a fixed amount and leave the listing up permanently > 2) set it as a dutch auction where there were multiple "copies" available > 3) set it as a "buy it now" auction (at the same $15 price) with a submit best offer option > (where a reasonable offer could be accepted) > 4) list it one at a time and keep reposting it as the high bid is reached (probably the least > favorable as it could drive bidding wars and not get the music out to as many people as > possible... 4 was never an option. It would be a fixed price (say, $10? $15.00 is way too much) so 1 or 2 would be the way to go. > The only downside may be in the delivery of the songs - once someone buys it how to prevent the > person buying it to resell it/copies of it cheaper with none of the proceeds going to Happy... That's exactly what's happening now whenever a CD comes up for sale on ebay. You have to be the copyright holder on ebay for downloadable items and recorded media. An > option may be to just burn copies onto CDRs and send that along with a sticker on it for not for > resale (and include details in the listing as such) rather than send winning bidders an > email/link to the songs... CDRs are out. Happy hasn't the time. Happy's not Madonna, people who buy these are not going to turn around and re-sell them. Definitely not on ebay since you HAVE to be the copyright owner. > i'd be more than happy to offer up my ebay account to list the items as I have done a bit of > selling and have a very good feedback rating :) Happy has an ebay account, she sold her paintings last year using it. I would be asking for a lot of advice from you if this happened. Thank you for the offer. - --- Jeffrey Burka wrote: > vickie sez: > > > I suggested to Happy that she sell mp3s of the Sampler (the whole > > thing, not just individual songs) on ebay and she wants to discuss > > it further, so I wanted to get input. > > > a) why ebay? why not cdbaby, audiolunchbox, or some other method of > distribution? how about looking at how other folks have done something > like this (e.g. Kristen Hersh/Throwing Music with the WiP series; our own > Scott Andrew, etc)? I don't know the answer to that. Happy has no manager to take care of these things for her. No one should look to me as filling that role, I'd slit my wrists before I ever got on Happy's payroll, even if she had the money to have a payroll, which she doesn't. I wrote CD Baby once to ask why they didn't have any Happy Rhodes, and they said the artist has to contact them. I told Happy about CD Baby (I'm sure others have too) but I don't know what's on her mind wrt them or others. You know this Jeff, but maybe newer Ectophiles don't: I have nothing to do with Happy financially or professionally, and would never want to be beholden like that. I'm just a fan and a friend trying to help her out now and then whenever I can (like sending out Samplers, and gathering this information for her). > b) if she does this, she ought to include an image file of the cover... Possibly, but since they're not getting an actual hard copy, I'm not sure what the point would be. It's something to consider though. If they wanted to make a color copy, they could. It would never be exactly the same as the real ones. > c) if Happy goes through with this, something really ought to be done > about updating auntiesocialmusic.com. as far as I know, the last time it > was updated was when the shirts came out (what, 6-9 months ago? I don't > even remember anymore!). And that's not even referenced on the News page > -- which, incidentally, starts off with "NEWS (November 2003)." > auntiesocialmusic.com is the first result when you search google for happy > rhodes...and anyone what looks like nothing happening for the past two > years is going to give up right away. Yes, Happy knows this. She's going to fix that. Whether it gets done before the mp3s go on sale, if they do, remains to be seen. > I don't think you'll find anyone upset about buying a disc if the mp3s > become available -- after all, we're the ones with the rare, limited > edition disc which can be autographed! True that! ============== - --- Doug wrote: > How is Happy going to deliver these MP3s? If she emails the winning > bidder an URL where he can DL the file(s), the winner could easily > hand out that URL to anyone. If she emails the MP3s, she will > probably run into people who have weak email (i.e. can't recieve large > attachments). Again, she's not Madonna. I can't even imagine there being a problem with people handing out URLS willy-nilly. They could be downloaded from a specific, personalized directory, then the directory could be deleted. Happy probably has less than 500 fans in the entire world (that's a wild guess). Who's going to tell who what, and why? If Happy's album comes out and is successful, by then the URLS would be long gone. The people who would buy are people who *already* know and like her > I support Happy in anything she would like to do, but this approach is > not without problems. True, and I want to make sure I know all the possible ones. It's not as unique as I thought: http://stores.ebay.com/PassAlong-Digital-Music-Downloads/Home.html You can buy and download songs and albums from this company, which has permission from the copyright holders. On the surface, I don't much like it. You have to download software from them, and the music doesn't come in mp3 format. V __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 15:08:58 -0500 (EST) From: Bernie Mojzes Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? On Fri, 18 Mar 2005, Doug wrote: > How is Happy going to deliver these MP3s? If she emails the winning > bidder an URL where he can DL the file(s), the winner could easily > hand out that URL to anyone. If she emails the MP3s, she will > probably run into people who have weak email (i.e. can't recieve large > attachments). oooh oooh! i've got an idea! require the winning bidder to set up a linux or other *nix server, and then scp the file to them. on a serious note tho... i suspect that happy's fan base is very different from, say, brittney spears' fan base. it's just a hunch on my part, but i think that for the most part happy rhodes fans will respect her intellectual property and will not share the file inappropriately (or will not accept someone else sharing the file w/ them inappropriately), particularly if it is stated explicitly that the $$ for this are going toward production of the album. which is not to say that i don't agree with the sentence below... :) > I support Happy in anything she would like to do, but this approach is > not without problems. > > --Doug > "Instructions are for people who don't know what they are doing" - Bob > the Builder > - -- brni i don't want the world, i just want your half. www.livejournal.com/~brni ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 15:05:29 -0500 (EST) From: dmw Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? On Fri, 18 Mar 2005, Xenu's Sister wrote: > I suggested to Happy that she sell mp3s of the Sampler (the whole > thing, not just individual songs) on ebay and she wants to discuss > it further, so I wanted to get input. > > Here are some of my random thoughts... > > All the Sampler CDs are gone now. Happy's keeping a couple/few > for her own archive purposes and of course, no more will be pressed. My recommendation, fwiw: Sell the demo through CD Baby -- CD Baby doesn't have an anti CDR policy, and you only need to send them 4 copies and a nominal setup fee. Fill out the digital distribution agreement with CD Baby (no cost). Unlike many distro agreements, these are both non-exclusive -- CD Baby operates like a record store, not like a record label, so you don't lose rights to make other distribution deals if you need/want to, and there are no funky termination clauses -- you can shut it down whenever you like. (There even are a fair number of aritsts who sell independent records through CD Baby in parallel with major/major indie lable relases.) MP3Tunes.com has licensed the ENTIRE CD Baby digital distro catalog (unlike other affiliates such as iTunes and eMusic, which take only selected items from the catalog). Then MP3Tunes.com handles all the billing/delivery etc. The guy behind MP3Tunes, incidentally, is Michael Robertson lately of Linspire, and SIPPhone, formerly of the original mp3.com. Much easier than dealing with eBay's increasingly confusing policies re: promoting outside links, eligibility of CDR and digital delivery, etc. the pathetic caverns: a zine - opinionated and eclectic reviews a studio - specializing in indie/rock/mobile/live/demo recording http://www.pathetic-caverns.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 12:28:55 -0800 (PST) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? - --- dmw wrote: > My recommendation, fwiw: > > Sell the demo through CD Baby -- CD Baby doesn't have an anti CDR > policy, and you only need to send them 4 copies and a nominal > setup fee. Fill out the digital distribution agreement with CD > Baby (no cost). Unlike many distro agreements, these are both > non-exclusive -- CD Baby operates like a record store, not like a > record label, so you don't lose rights to make other distribution > deals if you need/want to, and there are no funky termination > clauses -- you can shut it down whenever you like. (There even are > a fair number of aritsts who sell independent records through CD > Baby in parallel with major/major indie lable relases.) > MP3Tunes.com has licensed the ENTIRE CD Baby digital distro > catalog (unlike other affiliates such as iTunes and eMusic, which > take only selected items from the catalog). > > Then MP3Tunes.com handles all the billing/delivery etc. The guy > behind MP3Tunes, incidentally, is Michael Robertson lately of > Linspire, and SIPPhone, formerly of the original mp3.com. That's all good stuff to know. I would hope that when the actual album comes out, Happy would be affiliated with CD Baby. (What's nominal? We could take up a collection in ecto to take care of that for her.) I don't speak for Happy, but I'm not sure she'd want to sell CD-Rs of the Sampler. CDRs are hard copies. All the "real" hard copies have already been sold. Right now it's just about getting the music to people who want to hear it but don't know about it. > Much easier than dealing with eBay's increasingly confusing > policies re: promoting outside links, eligibility of CDR and > digital delivery, etc. From what I gather, there are no problems whatsoever if it's the copyright holder doing the selling. Not allowing outside links to her web site might be a concern, but a quick e-mail to the winning bidders (and even losing bidders) giving the URL would take care of that. Vickie __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 15:37:23 -0500 From: meredith Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? Hi, dmw recommended: >Sell the demo through CD Baby -- CD Baby doesn't have an anti CDR >policy, and you only need to send them 4 copies and a nominal >setup fee. I agree that this might be overkill for getting the sampler out there, but once the album is out I can see no reason whatsoever for Happy *not* to be on CD Baby. In fact, she should have her back catalog on there now. CD Baby is really one of the best things ever to happen to independent music. It's incredibly easy (and inexpensive) for an artist to get their stuff there, and as many of us know, their customer service is unparalleled. Plus they make it really easy for people to discover new music (as we also already know :). Happy would gain a lot of fans if she sold her CDs through the site. I got to meet Derek and a few members of the CD Baby crew at Folk Alliance, and they're just as nice as you'd expect. They're the good guys. =============================================== Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth =============================================== hear at the HOMe House Concert Series http://hom.smoe.org =============================================== ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2005 08:27:24 +1100 From: andrew fries Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? On Fri, 2005-03-18 at 10:07 -0800, Xenu's Sister wrote: > I suggested to Happy that she sell mp3s of the Sampler (the whole > thing, not just individual songs) on ebay If the goal is to sell mp3s at a fixed price, wouldn't other channels be better suited than ebay? Using a site that specialises in selling music online solves all these problems ebay has with copyright and externeal site promotion and also provides means of delivery of the files to their buyers... I'm thinking of something like the reborn mp3.com, or mindawn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 21:27:24 +0000 From: jjhanson@att.net Subject: CD Baby Recommendations I wholeheartedly second Meredith's opinions and recommendations of CDBaby. I sat through one of Derek Sivers presentations at Folk Alliance in San Diego, and it was one of the best workshops I've seen at a Folk Alliance. The guys heart is really into the music and he's created a business model that is very fair--no artists can "buy" visibility at CD baby. They don't operate like BOrder's etc, where you have to pay your way to get into a play station or be listed on a recommended list. Each artist gets the same shots at publicity, etc. I think Happy, despite bad experiences at cdstreet, would be a fool not to look into selling stuff on CD Baby. From everyone I've known whos sold stuff on CD Baby, they are also very responsive about paying artists, letting artists know when their stock is low, as well as letting artists know who buys their CDs, etc. (I've often bought CDs by artists on CD Baby, only to have it followed by a thank you from the artist--at first it kind of freaked me out, but I think its a good thing!) As a customer of CD Baby, I've never had a problem--they're always prompt, curteous, and their e-mails thanking you for your purchase are hilarious. Jeff Hanson ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 12:33:32 -0800 From: Michael Hewett-Hicks Subject: Marketing On 18 Mar 2005, at 10:39, ecto-digest wrote: > Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? > > c) if Happy goes through with this, something really ought to be done > about updating auntiesocialmusic.com. as far as I know, the last time > it > was updated was when the shirts came out (what, 6-9 months ago? I > don't > even remember anymore!). And that's not even referenced on the News > page > - -- which, incidentally, starts off with "NEWS (November 2003)." > auntiesocialmusic.com is the first result when you search google for > happy > rhodes...and anyone what looks like nothing happening for the past two > years is going to give up right away. I agree with this. And want to add another point.... Happy's marketing is really really poor. There are now hundreds of independent (even powerful) sites on the net which allow musicians to create a home page with bio, music samples, contact info - and these sites have large committed members... I really see no energy from Happy's 'camp' being put into getting her name and music out in the new market that the internet provides. She could gain huge numbers of fans instantly by employing these new methods. I also think that she should get 'HappyRhodes.com' and either create a new home page or link this to AuntieSocial. And yes, AuntieSocial is cute, but does not really look like the vehicle of an artist who is serious about breaking new territory. I do realize that marketing work takes a lot of effort or money - but so many other (unsigned) artists manage to create powerful home pages and use the new internet promotion opportunities... Happy has the back catalogue of professional material - in my opinion the challenge is getting her music heard by as many new 'ears' as possible and then linking back to her web store. (BTW - she really should offer MP3's/MP3 albums now too - sending the CD in the mail is a bit 2002) Is there anyone responsible for Happy's promotion or marketing? If there is not, she is not 'living' in 2005. As we all know, you can push sh** on people these days by simply employing super-gun marketing, or so it seems. To ignore this is to simply perish - no matter how good your original material is.......... cheers Michael. http://www.myspace.com/queensofthestoneage http://www.hippocamp.net/ http://www.fredoviola.com/ (a cool new artist's site - check out his video of 'the sad song' which he created himself with a cheap digital camera) http://www.kcrw.org/ (they love Imogen et all - why are they not playing Happy?) http://www.acafe.com/about.html http://www.magnatune.com/ (if they like u they add u to their 'internet label' - no strings attached) http://www.nonesuch.com/main.html http://www.taxi.com/ http://www.em411.com/ She could also employ Googles new ad feature to cull new fans. Many of the small businesses I work with are getting GREAT results from this and it does not cost a lot.... And you can set your spend limit each month. Happy could put her site link to show up every time someone searched for 'female singer' 'kate bush' - any other artist who's fans would like Happy.... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 16:40:46 -0500 (EST) From: dmw Subject: Re: Selling *mp3s* of Find Me Samplers on ebay. Thoughts? On Fri, 18 Mar 2005, Xenu's Sister wrote: > That's all good stuff to know. I would hope that when the actual > album comes out, Happy would be affiliated with CD Baby. (What's > nominal? We could take up a collection in ecto to take care of > that for her.) Last time I listed an album there I think it was $35. > I don't speak for Happy, but I'm not sure she'd want to sell CD-Rs of the > Sampler. CDRs are hard copies. All the "real" hard copies have already been > sold. Right now it's just about getting the music to people who want to > hear it but don't know about it. I don't speak for the CD Baby folks -- not sure if they are willing to relax the requirement for 4 copies up front or not. But once the for copies sell, you don't need to restock them, and you could promote the MP3Tunes link w/o promoting the CD Baby link. > >From what I gather, there are no problems whatsoever if it's the copyright > holder doing the selling. Not allowing outside links to her web site might > be a concern, but a quick e-mail to the winning bidders (and even losing bidders) > giving the URL would take care of that. For legal purposes this is hearsay, but I've heard of auctions selling CDRs being terminated even when the seller was the copyright holder. I think if someone registers a complaint, eBay's response may be to shut it down first, and figure it out later. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 16:49:28 -0500 (EST) From: dmw Subject: Re: CD Baby Recommendations On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 jjhanson@att.net wrote: > I wholeheartedly second Meredith's opinions and recommendations of CDBaby. those of you who know me will know that I don't often give testimonials to commercial organizations, but CD Baby is one I will happily endorse -- both from a vendor and a customer perspective. But the really amazing thing about Derek and CD Baby is not that Meth or Jeff or I like it -- it's that virtually EVERYbody has good things to say about the organization. Off the top of my head, I can think of exactly one detractor, a gentlemen who alleges that CD Baby should be more diligent about requiring that CD Baby artists prove that any cover versions have been properly licensed. (You do have to sign an affadavit that effect) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 14:31:19 -0800 From: "troy j shadbolt" Subject: Another CD Baby Recommendation I also have to throw out that Happy should really be on CD Baby. I've convinced a number of artists to sell through CD Baby over the years and they've all be very pleased with the results. CD Baby's fees are as follows: for each album there is a $35.00 webpage setup fee (this covers ripping samples of the songs into high-bandwidth and low-bandwith versions) a webpage including the cover art, and a large area for artist promotion. CD Baby now requires 5 inital CDs to launch your page. Their "cut" of each sale is $4.00, and CD-Rs are allowed. My friend Megan Slankard has made quite a killing off of CD Baby sales of her two CDs and I know that given a choice of purchasing someone's records off of say Amazon or CD Baby, I'll always go with CD Baby because the artist's cut is higher. If Happy is strapped for cash, and that's the only reason she hasn't considered it, I know some of us would donate to the cause. Maybe instead of getting the sampler up on CD Baby, she should put a couple of the full albums up, like Warpaint and Equipoise if she has an adequate stock on hand. A lot of CD Baby's artists are getting picked up on iTunes which gives the artist another market. Also, artists can set themselves up as affiliates and put pass-through links to CD Baby for sales and get a couple extra cents based on the customer's purchases. - -troy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 22:19:46 -0800 (PST) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Marketing - --- Michael Hewett-Hicks wrote: > Happy's marketing > is really really poor. There are now hundreds of independent (even > powerful) sites on the net which allow musicians to create a home page > with bio, music samples, contact info - and these sites have large > committed members... I know! It drives me insane thinking about it. > I really see no energy from Happy's 'camp' being > put into getting her name and music out in the new market that the > internet provides. There is no Happy "camp." There's Happy, and there's...Happy. She has no "people" to take care of her business, as far as I know. >She could gain huge numbers of fans instantly by > employing these new methods. I agree. >I also think that she should get > 'HappyRhodes.com' and either create a new home page or link this to > AuntieSocial. happyrhodes.com had been owned for years by a male country singer in Canada. His name really was Happy Rhodes as far as I could tell. Happy did try to get it but couldn't. She went with auntisocialmusic.com. Now it's owned by Network Solutions, and they require a "Certified Offer" between $100.00 and $10,000. Happy would have to bid with money she doesn't have for her own freaking name. The domain expires in May but I assume the vultures will just renew it. *I* own happyrhodes.org and I've been holding it for happy for years. Right now I have a link to auntiesocialmusic.com and that will continue. She knows it's there for her if she wants it. She's settled in at auntiesocialmusic and doesn't seem to want to move. I can't blame her. Goodness, that's one of the coolest domain names ever! The lyrics (the real, official, direct-from-Happy lyrics) are probably going to go on happyrhodes.org while she updates her site. >And yes, AuntieSocial is cute, but does not really look > like the vehicle of an artist who is serious about breaking new > territory. > > I do realize that marketing work takes a lot of effort or money - but > so many other (unsigned) artists manage to create powerful home pages > and use the new internet promotion opportunities... I don't think Happy is very tech-savvy (studio, yes, Internet, no). > Happy has the back > catalogue of professional material - in my opinion the challenge is > getting her music heard by as many new 'ears' as possible and then > linking back to her web store. (BTW - she really should offer MP3's/MP3 > albums now too - sending the CD in the mail is a bit 2002) I agree with everything you say. > Is there anyone responsible for Happy's promotion or marketing? No, not that I know of. > If there is not, she is not 'living' in 2005. I don't think she can afford to live in 2005. > As we all know, you can push > sh** on people these days by simply employing super-gun marketing, or > so it seems. To ignore this is to simply perish - no matter how good > your original material is.......... I know. Sigh. I know she recently signed with Lolo Records, but I know nothing about their deal or plans for the album. They didn't pay for the album (just like Samson, the album was finished before the dotted lines were signed) so they have no obligation to promote beyond putting their name on it and putting a link to buy it on their web site. I have no idea what's happening behind the scenes. For all I know they could have all these plans (CD Baby, others) in the works. I'll try to find out what I can. > http://www.myspace.com/queensofthestoneage > http://www.hippocamp.net/ > http://www.fredoviola.com/ (a cool new artist's site - check out his > video of 'the sad song' which he created himself with a cheap digital > camera) > http://www.kcrw.org/ (they love Imogen et all - why are they not > playing Happy?) > http://www.acafe.com/about.html > http://www.magnatune.com/ (if they like u they add u to their > 'internet label' - no strings attached) > http://www.nonesuch.com/main.html > http://www.taxi.com/ > http://www.em411.com/ > > She could also employ Googles new ad feature to cull new fans. Many of > the small businesses I work with are getting GREAT results from this > and it does not cost a lot.... And you can set your spend limit each > month. Happy could put her site link to show up every time someone > searched for 'female singer' 'kate bush' - any other artist who's fans > would like Happy.... Good ideas. V __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V11 #75 **************************