albums – Page 2

Music 2015. The buzzword will be ‘windows’

Not the Microsoft kind although that is due as well. Windows is the term for the difference in time between physical media releases and them appearing on streaming services. (just in case you didn’t know)

It presents a wee dilemma to our band; we have a small but perfectly formed (and extremely loyal) following and we must make sure they are looked after. Which presents a challenge as we need to pay for the album (albeit we keep the costs low)

Weird Decibels 1 was paid for mostly by ticket sales (for gigs we organised), private function gigs (covers..) and then finally CD sales. Streaming did not contribute much at all (in fact by the time we paid set up fees we lost money this way)

So this has got me (over) thinking. How do we develop a ‘release strategy’; sorry I sound like a bit of dick but hey got to get with the times.

Weird Decibels 1 was the first album we released on both the internet and CD. Previously we simply handed out CD’s like everyone else from that era (90′, 00’s).

WdB1 landed on Bandcamp first; a lot of people listened on that platform but we got no download sales. Due to a delay the CD was released a month later; it sold better than our previous albums probably because our listener base is orientated to a physical release (a kind way of saying we’re getting older!). Spotify and the rest followed and the payback was minimal.

The next HMR release (my solo album) Paul Henry Smith – Morningday aired on Spotify, iTunes and other digital services first. Listening rates were good and there was even a few downloads but again not enough to cover set-up costs. The CD sold a few copies but well down on WdB1 (I won’t take that personally!!). Did people settle to listening to the album on the stream?

Then along came Taylor Swift; not to our gigs or anything like that, no she pulled all her music from Spotify because it paid her (and her record company) a pittance per stream. This got the whole industry talking about release ‘windows’; basically your favourite artist (Swift is a long way from that) releases a CD or vinyl and then weeks later it will appear on streaming services. Great…

I love Spotify; I get my Uncut magazine and I listen to the radio; I will hunt for the album on Spotify. If I love it I will order the CD. Now if ‘windows’ are to take effect I’m screwed.

The conflict? Spotify unfairly cuts the band and I from the financial stream. I wish they would pay more.

I love being on the service; many of our friends have ventured to other lands and yet they can still enjoy our albums and even share them with new audiences. I believe, and I speak for myself, that it’s a price worth paying.

However we need to think of our next album and as you can tell by this blog entry my thoughts are going round in circles. I hate the idea of ‘windows’ I love music embracing new technology (hi def streaming etc); I love that fact I can listen to any album when ever I want and I pay for this service every month, not only that, I love CD’s dropping through the letter box!! (sorry record stores, although saying that I bought a few CD’s out of FOPP the other week)

Gigs we organise help pay for future recordings. So thanks for coming!!

I pay through my teeth for music, CD’s, Spotify premium and gigs and yet my record collection is all over the place because the industry has no clear vision. My CD collection slowed over the last couple of years. My iTunes collection; the hours spent ripping CD’s etc’ has stopped (waste of time and money downloading to be honest) and now Spotify could end up become a music library like Netflix is to movies (ie no new releases)

Well my head is bursting now; basically the music industry is going to have to find its feet. Those who love music will always pay; it just seems we have to change our plans for everyone else.

Anyway back to the band’s next release. We’re thinking about a ‘window’!!! ( 4 weeks tops! Buy our CD please!!)

Or maybe we won’t… Maybe we should just be happy that in this day of music overload you still have the time to listen to our music.

Love to you all

Pabs

Happy listening whatever and wherever that may be

Here is a fantastic music industry blog that tries to find the answers that I have clearly failed to find.

http://musicindustryblog.wordpress.com/

Writing Weird Decibels 2. October 2014

Its been many months since I scribbled in the Weird Decibels 2 diary; I looked back and it was last year so apologies for that. We’ve been really busy since you and I last talked. So grab a bottle of red and I’ll bring you up to speed.

Back in July 2013 we had a list of around six songs;

1. Standing On a Viewpoint
2. Rain Parade
3. Feet First
4. Miss Asphyxia
5. Small Hands
6. Kill it! Kill it!

The writing session were running like my old Ford Focus (now scraped) there were various reasons why we stopped and started writing. Gigs were a huge drain on our limited time together, Derek hurt his ankle (as you have read in elsewhere in this blog) and we had several work commitments.

Time passed and the songs were slowing so we headed of to Oakley. We hired a small lodge nestled away in a large country estate. We had a wonderful time catching up and drinking beer; our trusted friend Kevin Byrne also turned up. Cracking time. We wrote 6 songs in two days it was a rampage of ideas. I guess the change of scenery really helped the juices flow.

1. I Hear The City
2. Digital Takeover
3. Little Thoughts Lost
4. Curtain Hits The Cast
5. Quoted not Voted
6. Hit Me.

We returned to our old practice room, played a few more gigs and looked up to the 2009 calender as the months flew past we agreed that it would be nice to have a new album for our 20th anniversary. We hoped that a return to Oakley could be booked but this is looking unlikely (although I want do to it. Badly)

We’ve been writing back in the room over the last months; we have another few tracks and ideas to add to the new album.

1. Smash The Glass
2. Almost Beautiful
3. Station Man
4. Untitled jam

Put the three sessions and we still don’t have a full album. Of all the songs the following are likely to make it (singers opinion)

1. Miss Asphyxia
2. Kill it! Kill it!
3. Curtain Hits The Cast
4. Little Thoughts Lost
5. Almost Beautiful
6. I Hear The City
7. Smash the Glass

8. Quoted not Voted
Many of the early songs have been dropped; they scurried from under the shadow of WdB1 and drifted away towards the bootleg vaults.

So we have many songs still to write and we are trying hard. We hope to have them well rehearsed before potentially recording them in the early spring of our 20th year.