How to sell CDs of indipendent musicians

Giorgio Robino · Post by **Giorgio Robino** » 24 Apr 2005 10:51 am

Hi all
I'm loking for suggestions about how sell music via CDR (possibly not via MP3) with a "fair" / reasonable money gain.

I'm try to better explain:
I'm an "indipendent" musician in the sense that I'm an unknow amateur. I'm play electronic - ambient music (using electric guitar and lap steel guitar treated with delays) and my debud CDR (Solyaris - "Western detunes" ) gone out succesfully with a very very small italian label "Umbra Records" (see http://solyaris.altervista.org ).

Now "Western Detunes" is in the news of [url=http://www.hypnos.com,]http://www.hypnos.com,[/url] so I'm happy to be in the number one sites of this kind of music,
BUT ... I gain nothing of that ... (0 euro)!

Here the philosofical issue, because on one hand I'm happy to avoid any commercial laison between my music and moneys ... but on the other hand I believe that is really unjust that internet reseller are selling my CD at more than 16 USD (without any agreeement with me).

At last the point:
May someone suggest a fair / reasonable solution for a compromise between these factors:

1. final buyer must pay a reasonable low price; they musn't pay more than suppose 10 euro (let say $12)

2. the reseller/ and label that print CD have costs for printout / shipping / etc. let say $5 and is correct to give them this moneys.

3. some few dollars for every sold copy would be go to the musician that produced the music (spending a lot of money for instrumentation CD production)!

Waht do you think about ?
Do someoneu experienced some succesful "impartial" solution ?
Maybe using somthing like CDbaby or iTunes ?

thank you for your feedbacks
best regards
giorgio http://solyaris.altervista.org

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 24 Apr 2005 11:07 am

This is an interesting post.

(Bandstand sales and email mailing list solicitaions are probably the most dependable.)

It starts to define the final battlefield of the musician/consumer link. I know that's a simple thing to say...

It has gone to even the top artists ditching record labels, cutting their own "records", and distributing same on the internet, to ditching CDs or material medium altogether.

You just take our laptop and credit card info down to the WiFi outlet at the corner convenience store.

To be sure, the money man will still be here, and the musician will have to decide whether he wants to get paid or not.

There will always be a way for him or her to get paid, through sheer cunning, and greed, and always be as many ways or excuses for them not to, through artistic distain of the aforementioned, or laziness, with willing partners and advisors on either side.

The same forces are at work since sellable recorded meduim was born in the 1800s.

We'll see it shake out in the next couple years, that's for sure.

EJL

Charles Dempsey · Post by **Charles Dempsey** » 24 Apr 2005 11:47 am

I work with a young lady who seems to have done what you're trying to do. She's explained it to me many times, and I still don't quite understand it. Somehow she's promoting and selling her CDs off a site called "Artist Launch". I think you'll find some clues on her website. I can also ask her any questions you like, or you can e-mail her from the link on her website. It's;

RhondaRosalee.com.

She plays sort'a dreamy new age stuff. Not bad, but not my thang either.
Charlie

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 24 Apr 2005 12:59 pm

CD baby and itunes are good. They are not going to promote you though so you still might not sell anything. With the way things are these days it seems like the best way to get your music out there is to play live shows. When you hand sell a CD you get to keep the money.

------------------
Bob
intonation help

[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 24 April 2005 at 02:01 PM.]

Rich Weiss · Post by **Rich Weiss** » 24 Apr 2005 2:41 pm

Good luck trying to negotiate that world. Seems pretty complicated.
[This message was edited by Rich Weiss on 24 April 2005 at 03:58 PM.]

Giorgio Robino · Post by **Giorgio Robino** » 25 Apr 2005 1:04 am

>They are not going to promote you though so >you still might not sell anything.

this is a point:
the trade-off is unfortuantely between let the music been sold by piracy and with possibly a wide spread of people that become aware of you (with a "free" promotion and no revenue

)

or

put your music let say to CDbaby I Itunes and probably dead because your are in a too big mix-up soup of music ?!

>With the way things are these days it seems >like the best way to get your music out >there is to play live shows. When you hand >sell a CD you get to keep the money.

yes, I'm supposing your are doing that and I wish all the best for you.
Unfortunately it's not my case, cause I'm using a "poor equipment tecniques" for realizing "compelex layrings" with delays and looping ... so I need a PC for overdub at home ...

but I'm happy for this ... when I was a jazz music player I didn't feel good with the "live performances" ... I feel good now when yes I'm alone but I'm completly *FREE* and I think freedom is essential factor for made good music (that really reflct your soul).

all the best for you
giorgio