selling music

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by JohnDWilliams

Is there some reason the music has to be sold in just one format?

No, but the original post was about selling cds, not about anything else.
Look at it again...
"Just recorded a CD. What is the best way to sell or get it noticed."

Originally Posted by JohnDWilliams

But you are probably right - don't bother listening to new ideas.

No one is disputing that there are other avenues available today that weren't available 40 years ago. Your claim about finances is where you've lost people. Income from sales of cds is down. There's no disputing that. Yes, there are online streaming services that can generate some income but it's paltry compared to what it was years ago. We've seen lawsuits come from that problem as artists have sought a more equitable arrangement with the streaming companies. That's not borne of greed on the artists' part, but rather is the reaction to the greed of the streaming services who are keeping the lion's share of the profits made off the intellectual property of others.

[JohnDWilliams]

Sorry the information I shared bothers you.

[donter]

Thanks for the info. I guess I'm just a old guy that enjoys writing songs to be creative, and I like the process. Don't need the money but people seem to like my songs because I don't copy or steal some else work. But it would be nice to be acknowledged for what I do and break even for my work.

[donter]

Good info John W. I will have to get right will the digital world

[Tele1111]

Originally Posted by JohnDWilliams

Is there some reason the music has to be sold in one format?

I’m with John. Say what you will about the way the OP’s question was written. There’s no reason he can’t convert it (or simply use it as is-though there are better formats available) and begin to generate income.

My own CD sales are all but forgotten. I may have the occasional person at a gig ask for one, but generally I don’t offer it as an option. If I have one I’ll sell it to you. It’s been three years or so that streaming has taken the lead in sales.

Session work is always lucrative, but as John points out, it’s much more lucrative to get a handle on how music is marketed and sold in the present day and learn to use it to your best advantage.

I also find gigs low on my list for generating income from original music. There are a multitude of streaming and social media sites that will reach a potentially larger and more “targeted” audience, who is more likely to spend money on original music. Don’t misunderstand me-you still need to gig. But it’s not going to be a major generator of income relative to the other avenues mentioned.

It’s my opinion that physical media is all but dead. It’s not coming back.

Mark

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by donter

Just recorded a CD. What is the best way to sell or get it noticed.

Doubtful the CD will itself get much notice. I stopped putting together CDs a few years back when streaming more or less took over.

You can still put together a collection of tunes for a site like CDBaby but just have your music available as digital downloads. Have catchy (perhaps provocative) art work for the "cover" and a good name for the "CD". Videos get more attention then just the sound recordings.

Same goes for youtube though there you probably won't be able to monetize it as at the minimum you have to have at least 1,000 subscribers and at least 4,000 hours of watch time within the past 12 months. On youtube instructional videos of some aspect of how to play guitar often get quite a few views - a way to get your youtube channel noticed more.

[JohnDWilliams]

“Just one Avenue”? CD sales is just one avenue. It has uses but is mostly dead.

if you re-read my initial post you’ll see I covered more distribution methods than song library and licensing. Streaming is not the same as song library and licensing.

I also described easy ways to have an online presence.

I honestly have no idea how to get a CD noticed without using the all these new-fangled internet tools.

[DukeX]

I have no experience/knowledge in this area.

But regardless of the original focus on CD sales, I welcome different points of view. It's always beneficial to have knowledgeable, experienced folks (Jim, Mike, John, Derek, all others) discuss/debate an interesting topic, in this case "marketing music."

[TJE"]

I know next to nothing about the music industry.

But from the perspective of a customer - I used to spend a fortune on CD albums which might contain two or three good songs(not necessarily the hit ones) and the rest might be dross.

Now I download MP3 tracks from Amazon at a a pound or a dollar a track - so I am still spending a lot of money. I don't trust the pirate websites because I don't want viruses on my equipment.

Personally the songs that get my attention are either the ones that are played on the radio or that are played in cafes/coffeeshops etc( thats prerecorded not live).

So if I was in your position i would recogonise that getting mainstream radio play is probably very difficult.when you are starting out. But I would perhaps try to convince shops/cafes other public venues to play my CD over their PA's as background music on the basis that that they could do this free of charge.

That way you might be able to tap into a significant captive audience. I don't know what the average daily footfall of a coffeeshop is, but I suspect it is larger than most live gigs.

[Brent Hahn]

If "selling" is what you're truly after, not recognition or radio play or any of those other fantasy/bucket list things, most of the real selling these days is in licensing. Getting your music placed in TV shows and movies and such. Your target is music supervisors -- they're the "A&R Men" of now. And they get bombarded with submissions from seasoned pros. So the trick isn't making great music, it's getting it in front of them. That, and at least for TV shows, they tend to want songs that are very very very "universal." Or, as I've heard it put more than once, "seemingly about nothing." Like "Whiter Shade of Pale" or "99 Luftballons."

I hope this doesn't come off as totally cynical.

[JohnDWilliams]

There seems to be a probably small market for licensing niche music too. I’ve only been pursuing the sync side of things for a year but have had a little success with very short clips of the country blues stuff. Bumper music in podcasts, short commercial breaks, etc.

I think Toby Walker made a post here a while back where he was having success with that sort of thing too.

Since this forum is largely acoustic guitars the OP’s new CD might contain a bit of acoustic music. I think there is some demand for that in the sync world.

The country blues stuff way out-streams the other music I have out too so it might be that my other stuff is just crap.

[PorkPieGuy]

Originally Posted by donter

Just recorded a CD. What is the best way to sell or get it noticed.

To me this is two different questions.

Selling a CD? Forget it, unless your market is older Gen X'ers and Baby Boomers. Even still, Baby Boomers have gotten much more tech savvy (because they have the time to), so they'll just stream your music if you have electronic distribution. I'd sell CD's for $5 these days or do them as giveaways if I was selling t-shirts. Buy a shirt, get a free CD. Vinyl is the only physical platform doing anything special in terms of sales right now, but pressing vinyl is so expensive.

Get it noticed? Play gigs, and play a lot. Remember you are selling yourself, not just your product.

[Ncbandit]

Originally Posted by JohnDWilliams

Get set up on Kunaki. They will do small runs and each CD is about a dollar. Use the CD as a calling card and give them away freely. Give them away to “fans“ at gigs. You will probably be repaid with plenty of private gigs from those giveaways.

Get set up on CD Baby. That gets your music on all the streaming sites including Spotify and Apple. That’s where the money is and is also where you’ll get “noticed”. CD Baby also handles some PRO functions for you.

CD Baby will also host a HearNow website for your album. That’s a one page site that you can direct people to and they can listen to your music and see all of the links to buy your music. https://johnwilliams.hearnow.com/aco...in-just-playin

CD Baby also has HostBaby which integrates with your CD Baby account and is a very good, full featured website builder.

Depending on the type of music you are playing you can also pursue licensing via sites such as SongTradr. You can also create a site on SourceAudio but you have to promote that on your own. https://johnwilliams.sourceaudio.com/#!genres

Gigs are way down on my list of things to do to sell my music. Publishing and promoting and cultivating your body of work is much more lucrative.

Great advice. I've been recording a bunch of tunes and finally getting enough of them finished where I need to do all this. It's amazing how long it took when your doing it all and part time.

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by TJE"

I Personally the songs that get my attention are either the ones that are played on the radio or that are played in cafes/coffeeshops etc( thats prerecorded not live).

So if I was in your position i would recogonise that getting mainstream radio play is probably very difficult.when you are starting out. But I would perhaps try to convince shops/cafes other public venues to play my CD over their PA's as background music on the basis that that they could do this free of charge.

That way you might be able to tap into a significant captive audience. I don't know what the average daily footfall of a coffeeshop is, but I suspect it is larger than most live gigs.

Public places that play music this way have to pay PRO licensing fees (yes, even if you give them a CD, or they buy CDs to play). Other than some Starbucks (and what they play are commercial releases, as far as I have seen, I expect its part of the franchise deal) I doubt any of them are playing actual CDs any longer. They subscribe to a digital feed, which covers their PRO license. The smaller places are relying on an old radio/CD player, I'm sure, but you won't get any real 'exposure' that way.

[Dane Johnson]

Did I miss anyone address Streaming services? Apple, etc?
I’ve looked at the process. Has anyone had success with it?