Re: [LAU] #stream2own

So, I downloaded a report from Bandcamp. If I am reading it correctly, in
2016 I had *261 purchases* (although each purchase can include several
items at the same time), and I made *583 USD*. Revenue was actually higher,
but a lot of it went to Bandcamp and PayPal and tax. Gross revenue seems to
be around 1352 USD, but I am not sure. The numbers don't add up, so maybe I
am reading it wrong.
*I am sure about the net amount I received, this part of the report is very
clear.*
Bandcamp rev is 15%, after you make 5000 USD with them the rev share drops
to 10%.

Do note, however, that I have a very large catalogue, so I am able to put
out a lot of records. If that was not the case, I would've been very
unlikely to make so much money while being a very unknown musician.

*Promotion stuff.*

Success is a very complicated thing. Even if you are very good, this means
nothing. There are dozens and dozens of people out there who are better
than you and hundreds who are at least as good as you are.

Your goal is to get a fanbase. It will probably be small, but committed.
Having this small listener community will guarantee that you will be
getting some money. At the same time, you can now work with your listener
base and grow it.

*-Bandcamp stuff-*

Unless you are someone famous, price your albums very modestly. $2-$3 will
work. Otherwise even if someone likes your work, they are unlikely to buy -
and thus unlikely to write a review.

Which leads to another important point about Bandcamp - it has a community
of listeners. If someone buys your album - it appears in their collection.
If they write a review - someone else will read it and go buy your album.
This might create a chain reaction and bring you a small fanbase.

*-Online radios-*

I have tried a lot to get into online radio rotations. I was successful
with Soma.fm. Some of you might know this radio, it is very popular and has
a huge listener base.

I am well represented at Dronezone, an ambient drone station. In fact, this
week I am in the charts at number 9, which is not too bad:
http://somafm.com/dronezone/songhistory.html

However, I never feel much impact from being played there. Sometimes I
suspect buyers come from hearing me at Soma, but this is rare. For example,
at Soma they have Long Form Sunday and my droning248
<https://louigi.bandcamp.com/album/droning248> is always played there. In
the beginning of the week two people have bought 248. Who knows? Maybe it
was thx to Soma.

I am also being played here every Friday, if you are reading this email
right now, on Friday - you can see this being promoted there:
http://electro-music.com/ Interestingly enough, this DJ decided to play my
music himself, I never asked him for this. Very humbling. Small, but
dedicated listener base. I don't think I ever got any customers from there,
but it is nice to know someone likes my stuff enough to play it every
Froday, now for more than a year.

In general, modern online radios have humongous playlists and unless you
are really well represented in those playlists, typically you will be lost
among the already known names. And even if you are represented enough, it
is unlikely to create a breakthrough. Remember - these online radios
typically would play the best music of the genre + new names. So you are
alway up against very serious competition.

*-Youtube channels-*

Today a lot of promotion is done through YouTube channels. Try writing to
the owners of big YouTube channels that fit your music genre and see if
they can upload your tune to their channel.

I know that this works and my friend had his tune uploaded and it was very
sucessful. In my case, unfortunately, I could find only a handful of
channels that play ambient and none of them have responded to me, but I
think it is worth trying. And chances are you are not stuck with a weird
genre like myself.

*-Soundcloud channels-*

Same stuff. They can upload you and get you listeners. I personally did not
have much luck, again, due to there being very few ambient channels.
Definitely can work for more common music genres.

*-Submit Hub-*

Also people try https://www.submithub.com

There you can connect with bloggers who can write about your music. It is a
paid service, meaning you pay bloggers to look at your music and they are
obliged to give you feedback. So even if you get rejected - they must tell
you why. Very illuminating.

A couple of my friends tried it with great success. As for me... well,
guess. Nobody wanted ambient :D

But in general, I recommend this.

*-In general-*

Writing music is only the beginning. Marketing it is a whole other area
that most "bedroom musicians" never care about it, but it really matters.

If you cannot do it, try to find someone who can take care of promoting
your shit. But by itself nothing will ever happen. Selling your art is a
very complicated business and it is never limited to making art itself
good. There is a reason why there is a whole music industry. Many of us
might dislike it, but it is there because there is a problem to solve.

There are many other things that can be done, including playing at events,
getting your music into movies and art installations, working together with
other musicians, etc. This short email is just to give ideas.

I myself am not too good at this, or more accurately - I am not too
interested in promotion. I would rather write new music. But at times I do
some promotion and talk to people and try to get my shit out there,
otherwise it will forever be known only by a small group of people and not
get a chance at making an impact.

Louigi.

On Fri, Mar 31, 2017 at 5:54 PM, jonetsu <jonetsu@email-addr-hidden> wrote:

> On Fri, 31 Mar 2017 11:23:36 +0200
> Louigi Verona <louigi.verona@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
>
> > Things are not necessarily that bad. I can say, for example, that my
> > experience with Bandcamp is extremely positive. Without being a known
> > musician I am generating some nice pocket money. My Paypal typically
> > has over 100-150 EUR, all thanks to purchases of my music by people on
> > Bandcamp. The stream of purchases is not too thick, but yet constant.
>
> Now this is a good feedback.
>
> The blurb from resonate is 20,000 sales = 356 EUR. By this, you would
> have approx. 10,000 sales.
>
> What was your (approx.) total sales so far ?
>
> > Here is an example of an established artist. Note the endlessness of
> > purchases.
> > https://carbonbasedlifeforms.bandcamp.com/album/world-of-sleepers
>
> Carbon Based Lifeforms are interesting. I've listen to them a few
> times on youtube. Goes to show, people are still buying even if the
> music is there for free on youtube. This is very good, as people show
> appreciation.
>
> > However, nobody will do your promotion for you. So just putting out
> > tracks and then doing nothing will not bring any audiences. This
> > latter point is key and I can talk a lot about that. Putting out your
> > music is just the beginning.
>
> It would be nice to talk about this right here.
>
> > So, people complain about not being able to sell anything, but it is
> > always more than just the music. It is about promotion, it is about
> > making your music bigger than just a bunch of tracks. Presentation
> > and promotion matter very-very much.
>
> Yes. Coming up with a 'brand' so to speak. Something that's
> identifiable. A direction. This is what it's about, that
> artist/music/album is about that, at least at the moment.
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>

-- 
Louigi Verona
http://www.louigiverona.com/

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Received on Sat Apr 1 00:15:02 2017