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Is it possible to sell one's music without 'the usual marketing'?


Mark L

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Long story short. I've signed a contract with a gentleman who posts on here occasionally

I don't like having my photo taken or talking to people in 'real life' or on the phone. I'm a bit of a loner, really

Anyway, this gentleman and I have decided to market my songs by pushing just the songs themselves. No biography, no interviews, no photos, no videos. Just the music

A fool's errand?

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"Pushing just the songs" how?

Anything's possible, of course. I'm sure it's happened before by people taking that route. But it does seem like all you would be doing is making things more difficult in what is already a very difficult endeavor.

If it's more important to you to maintain your privacy and anonimity than it is to increase the exposure your music will receive , then by all means, that's the promotional path you should embark on.

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Its probably best to at least have a video made and/or hire models/actors or have a robot or cartoon made. Or you could make a big deal about who the reclusive mystery musician is in the PR. People don't like to listen with just their ears anymore.

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"Gorillaz are an English musical and visual project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. The project consists of Gorillaz itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters. This band has four animated members: 2D (lead vocalist, keyboard, and melodica), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar and drum machine), Noodle (guitar, keyboard, and occasional vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion). Their fictional universe is explored through the band's website and music videos, as well as a number of other media, such as short cartoons. The music is a collaboration between various musicians, Albarn being the only permanent musical contributor. Their style is a composition of multiple musical genres, with a large number of influences including alternative, rock, hip hop, electronica, dub and pop.

The band's 2001 debut album Gorillaz sold over seven million copies and earned them an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band."

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"The Residents are an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1974, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs. They have undertaken seven major world tours and scored multiple films. Pioneers in exploring the potential of CD-ROM and similar technologies, The Residents have won several awards for their multimedia projects. Ralph Records, a record label focusing on avant-garde music, was started by The Residents.

Throughout the group's existence, the individual members have ostensibly attempted to operate under anonymity, preferring instead to have attention focused on their art output. Much outside speculation and rumour has focused on this aspect of the group. In public, the group appears silent and costumed, often wearing eyeball helmets, top hats and tuxedos

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Quote Originally Posted by MarkydeSad View Post
Long story short. I've signed a contract with a gentleman who posts on here occasionally

I don't like having my photo taken or talking to people in 'real life' or on the phone. I'm a bit of a loner, really

Anyway, this gentleman and I have decided to market my songs by pushing just the songs themselves. No biography, no interviews, no photos, no videos. Just the music

A fool's errand?
Anything things possible my friend, especially for talented chaps as yourself.
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It depends. If you want to be a songwriter or composer your customers aren't the general public, they're producers and performers. If your representative makes a deal with Madonna's producer to get one of your songs on her next album, you'll get a couple of pennies for every copy sold, which is probably more than you'd make from a year of touring college coffee houses and county fairs. It's how songwriters work.

Nobody ever went to a Beethoven concert to hear him play the piano, they went to hear an orchestra perform his music. Good luck.

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Quote Originally Posted by MikeRivers View Post
Nobody ever went to a Beethoven concert to hear him play the piano, they went to hear an orchestra perform his music. Good luck.
I believe specifically this is false... but I get what you're saying: you don't necessarily have to perform your own music to sell profit from it.

And that's correct.

I've never seen the band Squeeze, but I own recordings of their work.

However, there is a corollary to this, though, that kind of throws a wrench into the original idea: in this business it's not who you know, but who knows you.

It's not impossible, but the idea that you can make yourself known to folks who can actually sell your music without knowing a whole lot of musicians at a high level seems like a long shot (to return to Beethoven, he was from a musical family and worked with a long list of other massively important musicians and composers).

But who knows? Maybe the in the OP work is phenomenally compelling (I like it, at least) and the person handling your music is someone that a lot of useful people know. In that case (which also seems to be a low probability event) maybe there is possibility of success.
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Quote Originally Posted by scarecrowbob View Post
I've never seen the band Squeeze, but I own recordings of their work.

However, there is a corollary to this, though, that kind of throws a wrench into the original idea: in this business it's not who you know, but who knows you.
In any craft-based business, you can get by with private sales to individuals who stumble on your web site or maybe see you in an occasional performance (or see you carving wooden duck decoys at a craft fair), but it's really difficult to become a household word.

You can become a successful non-performing songwriter if you write good material and have a good agent. After a while, though, you might get the urge to be known as a performer and that's a whole different kind of job.

Take Willie Nelson for example. He wrote hundreds of songs that were recorded by major artists during the years when he was traveling around Texas with just a drummer, playing dances. I don't know when or why he decided to become a song stylist, probably when he needed money to pay off his tax bill. But as an artist, he's unique, and people are as happy to hear him singing his own songs (as well as covers) as they are hearing others sing them.

John Hartford is another and somewhat similar example. Nobody but people who went to midwest fiddler conventions knew who he was until Glen Campbell recorded Gentle On My Mind. And then, for a coupel of years, he was just the banjo player on the Glen Campbell TV show. As a performing musician, his fame and respect was limited to folk and bluegrass circles. People who knew Michael Jackson didn't know John Hartford.

But you know, The Brill Building in New York and a few song mills in Nashville are filled with talented writers who work individually and in collaboration. The probably enjoy the heck out of their day job of cranking out songs that their company places with recording artists, some in good standing, some emerging and looking for material. And then there's the story every month in Recording Magazine about the writer (not perfomrer) who's making "six figures" because Taxi is placing his songs with TV shows.

There are lots of opportunities, but you have to be good, you have to work hard and consistently, and you need to get a foot in the door. That means you need to sell yourself to someone who recognizes your talent and strengths and has the contacts to successfully represent you. You really can't do it on your own.
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Quote Originally Posted by MarkydeSad View Post
My stuff should be 'out there' by Christmas

Hopefully the gentleman (and his Chinese business partner) to whom I'm signed will do all he can to promote my tunes
I'm curious about this, if you don't mind enlarging on a couple of things...

where will this music be "out there" at?

And what kind of stuff are these guys going to do to promote your music? What are they trying to do?
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Quote Originally Posted by scarecrowbob View Post
I'm curious about this, if you don't mind enlarging on a couple of things...

where will this music be "out there" at?

And what kind of stuff are these guys going to do to promote your music? What are they trying to do?
As far as I know (and I don't know much), these guys (one of whom is a woman) will be promoting my tunes in various forms - ring-tones and such. They're going for the emerging Chinese market mainly, but also the rest of the world

I've sort of left them to it. Maybe I should know more about what is hapenning, but I'm a kind of an ignorance is bliss guy redface.gif

If nothing comes of this, I'll accept it. It's just nice that someone seems to have some faith in my songs smile.gif
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Hey Mark, just go for it your way as much as you can, although you might have to come to some comprimises along the way, it might not hurt to run the legal stuff through an independant lawyer of your choice, just to make sure.
Anyway, at least you have been given a good start, you deserve it,
congrats and good luck. smile.gif

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Quote Originally Posted by electrochrisso View Post
Hey Mark, just go for it your way as much as you can, although you might have to come to some comprimises along the way, it might not hurt to run the legal stuff through an independant lawyer of your choice, just to make sure.
Anyway, at least you have been given a good start, you deserve it,
congrats and good luck. smile.gif
A lawyer? Think I'm made of money??biggrin.gif

Anyway, thanks for the good wishes smile.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by MarkydeSad View Post
A lawyer? Think I'm made of money??biggrin.gif

Anyway, thanks for the good wishes smile.gif
I agree with Electrochrisso...

I think I shared this several times on this forum so excuse me if I`m repeating myself but I think its worth hearing again. I was offered a contract around 7 years ago from a very large TV network that is known for Music... you can sort of think of it as Music TV if you wish... wink.gif

The contract was only 3 pages long but I needed a translator so I payed a music business attorney $250 to do so. (He was referred to me by a friend who is also an attorney) Anyway, he read the contract and spoke to me via phone, advised me not to sign it because I was basically giving my music away forever. I would receive something like $.02 every time my stuff was played on this network and the kicker, I was no longer allowed to play this music live. What was the point?

Now, I have to be honest, the ego part of me really, really wanted to sign the contract because I wanted this network to use my music. I mean seriously, how cool would it have been to turn to that network every now and then and say, "That`s my music!" I was so disappointed after that phone call. What I`m getting at is, it may be worth your $$$, to put out a couple of $$$ and have an independent attorney look at the contracts before you sign. It may be too late for the contract you already signed but for the future.

What would really suck is that the contract states something like you give up all publishing and the royalty split is skewed the other way.... when you`re losing massive amounts of $$$, it may be worth that initial $$$ up front with an attorney looking out for your best interests.
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Quote Originally Posted by MarkydeSad View Post
My stuff should be 'out there' by Christmas

Hopefully the gentleman (and his Chinese business partner) to whom I'm signed will do all he can to promote my tunes
Sounds familiar.....i think my band and you will have to do a Chines tour then!thumb.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by MarkydeSad View Post
A lawyer? Think I'm made of money??biggrin.gif

Anyway, thanks for the good wishes smile.gif
It wont cost as much as you might think, Like Ernest explained, and think of all the washed out rockers that are kicking themselves years later, because their ego and boozed out minds prevented them from thinking properly, and sharks stole thier rights from under their noses, and are living the life of Riley. facepalm.gif
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