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RE: Mindseye - Tides [Beat Battle League | S2:R6: Tropical Paradise]
Oh yeah! I had that conversation with someone else who 'pulled a fast one on me' with his sample library ;-) We agreed that besides cost, one can get the whole project wrapped up in the time it takes to just 'talk to the agent' for the session player.
For me it's a personal journey. So many times finding myself in these situations, like drum circles, folk gatherings, all kinds of six stringing going on , but no place to plug in. ...
Very true...and for me personally that is very handy. I'm not a full-time musician, so I have limited time to create tracks. If I was working on my music full-time, I would love to connect more with other musicians, record live sessions, etc. So in a way I'm jealous of that personal journey you're describing!
Funny thing is, "working on music full time" involves a lot of 'agent' work. I wish I could just chill on a few instruments several hours each, everyday, still getting my practice time in, when I can. Another thing, I'm almost grandpa age, it took that long to get here, and it probably won't last all that long, I have some serious decisions I need to make when my youngest turns 18 next year. Then there was that period of about a decade and a half when I was being a full time Dad and holding down those day jobs that eat 60-80 hours a week. Kind of feel like I paid my dues and will still have some 'paying the piper' ahead of me, to be honest ...
Yeah I suppose it does, especially when you're not part of a label or something like that. I suppose you might have more time when the kids leave the house...?? I'm only just starting the whole having kids journey, so I suppose my available time will only dry up more in the coming years...
Yeah, I never was able to get a distribution deal for the stuff I put on vinyl/CD's ... the joke is: "Million seller? well I have a million in my cellar" ;-) There's a whole class of entrepreneurial musicians like myself or perhaps unlike myself having a 'million cellar' but cannot laugh at themselves.
I'll tell you, from the first moment you hold a child of your own, at that point nothing else matters. The greatest joy is to hear them laugh and sing. The happiest moment of your life (as far as I can tell) is when they get out of diapers and develop a personality on their own before they go off to school. Deeply rewarding if you have a spouse that pulls her share of the burden. You learn a lot about how your spouse was raised when you have kids of your own. (my congratulations or warning or both to you in there somewhere).
Ultimately you'll still savor many moments, just not as self-centered as before. Somewhat strange re-adjusting back to having more time for self-guided interests afterwards ...
That does sound frustrating, to have so much work lying around but not enough people to pay attention to it. I guess with streaming services now dominating the market, there are some new ways to get your music to the people. Even though probably not so much in the physical form anymore.
Yeah having a child is a totally new adventure. Nothing can quite prepare you for what's to come, that's for sure! That's an interesting point you make, learning about your spouse in that sense, I never quite thought about that. The not being as self-centered can probably be a bit of a struggle in the sense of not having the time to do all that you might want to do for yourself (produce music..?), but then I'm sure it is all worth it in the end...
Yeah, basically, the old independent label business model was, press a minimum lot of 1000 discs, and you basically give away a few hundred to mostly college and public radio stations unless you have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to spill in 'marketing' to get your disc in the rotation at a commercial station ... Besides radio stations, there were editor/reviewers at fanzines, booking agents, distributors, other industry 'influencers' ... In other words, a lot of cash (for an independent) and time just dumped down a blind alley.
Come to think of it I did get an independent distributor who specialized in no wave/edgy stuff, but that whole thing wasn't sustainable, obviously. Electronica was still kind of special, Jazz and progressive rock were already dying (audiences being dumbed-down for new wave commercial stuff) and rock was starting to get formulaic, the creative impetus was draining fast in the 1980's, like some dead language, it was 'buried' in the well-defined and narrow 'Classic Rock' bin.
So indeed, the streaming mp3 / music video way to publication is a lot better (especially with crypto/blockchain tech!!) for the musician than trying to sell 'units'. Little to nothing invested in the front end, and more direct control into, and results from promotional work (building an audience social media, these days...) So while industry executives are bemoaning the death of the industry, we independents should well focus on the unprecedented opportunities this new landscape offers... Coincidentally someone on waxidermy.com bbs reviewed my vinyl just recently so I sold 30 discs for the first time in thirty years! Can hardly give away my much higher quality mp3's, but just the latest vinyl fetish sells units! :-D
Oh yeah, becoming a Dad is an incredible experience... Taking in the pure love a child has for his/her parents is incomprehensible until it happens. Producing music is so demanding of one's time, and it gets so low priority, the day job and the whole existence, unless fully understanding that basically no progress could be made on one's music career, could become so stressing, making one neurotic!
Wow yeah, that does sound like an expensive way of doing things. But I suppose back then that was the only way to maybe get a foot in the door and get your music out there. So did you ever have any tracks/albums that were kind of catching on? And what kind of genre(s) were you mainly aiming for then?
Yeah I spend quite a bit of time promoting my tracks online and also doing the whole playlisting thing on Spotify etc, which I must say does seem to be going quite well at the moment. Still, money-wise my streaming income is very low compared to what I can potentially make by just releasing one track through DSound and/or DTube, so Steemit is a welcome addition for me for sure! It's awesome you managed to sell those vinyls though, congrats! Haha yeah it's totally hip again to own vinyls nowadays, I might have to consider putting some of my tracks on vinyl as well! Even though that of course is also a bit of an investment again...
Yeah, at the moment I'd say I would be lucky if I even get to release only a handful of tracks this year. That's fine though, being a parent is way too fulfilling to not spend most of my time on. And I might consider officially releasing some of my older tracks in the meantime because well...why not?? I suppose on the whole, I'm still adjusting life as a parent...and I'm sure I will be for some time (maybe the adjustment just never stops!). So I don't have high expectations when it comes to a music career. Still, it's great to have as a hobby...and hopefully I can convey my enthusiasm for making music to the little one!
Yeah, back then it seemed pretty limited, unless one was lucky to be 'on the scene', or shop their tape to the right label at the right time, and even then, it seemed those two routes would still have required you to have a strong local following ('business due diligence' was a part of the Artists & Repertoire division's job description since the birth of record labels) ... That's what's so cool about the present situation. Nowadays it doesn't matter where one lives, the scene is a virtual community online, like here, steemit!
As far as building a following, some things never change. To make a sizable income online one still needs a big audience. I recently saw someone claiming to be 'a pro' who really was just good at working his patreon donation youtube links on his two thousand marks, eh, fans I mean...
The only reason I have a soundcloud account was to download someone's work with whom I was collaborating. No point in it otherwise, as you describe. Dsound and Dtube (I just so happen to be on musicoin, same but different, a step towards 'portfolio diversification'), the blockchain is where the future lies, as far as I can tell. Those vinyls I sold literally were thirty years old, I still don't have any confidence that selling 'units' could yield any return on investment, other than digital streams and downloads .
Well if you can keep everyone happy including yourself with time for your music, that's a great spot to be in! You really can't ask for much more.