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Labels and Artists: Make your full catalogue available in the digital download shops!
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Basilisk
IsraTrance Full Member
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168
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Posted : Oct 22, 2007 22:28
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Greetings...
I am writing to encourage all artists and labels to make their FULL catalogues available online for download in compressed and lossless formats. Music piracy is rampant; sales are being lost all the time. What some people don't realize is that any barrier to purchase will not only result in lost sales, but also encourage user adoption of P2P file sharing. I humbly suggest that making all of your music readily available for listeners to purchase online is an effective means of reclaiming some of this lost sales potential as well as elevating your status amongst your widespread listenership.
Digital downloads also have a number of advantages over physical media. Not only is "out of print" a thing of the past, but so is "out of stock!" The cost of inventory is virtually non-existent, and shipping costs (and the associated hassle of getting to the post where necessary) no longer apply. Some labels have expressed concern that digital downloads will nip into their CD sales, but I would argue that you cannot impose buying habits on your customer base. The digital revolution isn't simply on the way--it's here. I would never suggest abandoning physical media entirely (I collect CDs and vinyl myself), but to neglect the immense potential of digital sales would be a foolish thing in this day and age.
I highly suggest that anyone doing business in the psytrance industry familiarize themselves with the concept of the "Long Tail," as advocated by Chris Anderson:
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| The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail. As the costs of production and distribution fall, especially online, there is now less need to lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all containers. In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly-targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare. |
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You can read more about this at Anderson's web site: http://www.thelongtail.com/
Interestingly enough, the post currently at the front of his blog remarks that while CD sales are trending downward, every other measure of music industry success is on the rise. This is an important thing to consider given that the psytrance music industry is so heavily focused on CD sales as the primary source of income! Any investment guru will hammer the word "diversify" into your lexicon; the same lesson applies here. Digital downloads are an excellent way to diversify and capture part of the increasing market share of online commerce.
How is the Long Tail relevant to psytrance labels and artists? I have observed some content providers dipping into digital sales by offering their latest CDs for sale while ignoring their extensive back catalogues. The point here is that while sales of the most recent content may be higher than the rest, the combined sales of old material may equal or surpass that of new music. When you step into the realm of digital sales take the time to put everything you've got up for sale, especially music that was previously available only on vinyl, unreleased remixes of material you own the rights to, et cetera. Maximize available content and you will maximize potential sales.
All right, are you convinced? Now is the time to look into your options. Currently the digital download marketplace is fragmented into numerous providers, with more on the way. I've heard traditional physical media mail order shops such as Saikosounds and Psyshop are about to get in on the action, but don't hold your breath! Currently Beatport and Trackitdown are among the more mainstream locales for electronic dance music, but from what I know they have a stringent selection criteria for label partners and likely offer nothing for independent artists. My personal recommendation would be Cytopia.org (and no I am not affiliated with them in any way). Cytopia is a digital download shop specializing in psytrance (whereas the other more mainstream outlets and naturally more generalist). They allow you to set your own prices, host full-length samples, and fully welcome quality productions from independent artists. I would highly encourage all content providers to check them out--I think psytrance needs its own specialized digital download solution, and Cytopia already provide the technical infrastructure necessary.
One more point: for the veteran artists among us, chances are much of the rights to your own back catalogue have reverted to you with the fall of innumerable labels over the years. Artists like Boris Blenn (Electric Universe) have made a special point of getting nearly everything online, and you can bet they're making a pretty penny from the huge amount of content they now have for sale. Isratrance is populated by numerous artists who have a sizable back catalogue of their own--don't let it go unheard! Dig through your archives and get it all up for sale online, especially the vinyl! Your fans will appreciate it 
Thanks for your attention!
Peace.
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faxinadu
Faxi Nadu / Elmooht
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282
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3394
Posted : Oct 22, 2007 23:29
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Misinterpret
Started Topics :
9
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120
Posted : Oct 23, 2007 00:14
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I love the idea of artists putting up their full back-catalog, including things that didn't make it out into the world!
There are tons of artists whose older stuff I am a big fan of, and apart from collecting the few releases from a certain era (if you can even hunt down out of print stuff -- good luck!) it would be fantastic to buy it !
After all "unreleased" just ends up dissapearing a few years later, especially when an artist changes musical direction. Its a shame that others don't get a chance to appreciate it now.
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Mike A
Subra
Started Topics :
185
Posts :
3954
Posted : Oct 23, 2007 00:28
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I would love getting some old school music on wav 
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Mice on Meth
Started Topics :
6
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33
Posted : Oct 24, 2007 11:19
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Quote:
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On 2007-10-22 23:29, faxinadu wrote:
i just did a cdbaby for my latest release.
they take care of digital promotion in dozens of the best digital shops all in efficient and fast manner.
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What was CD baby like? We have heard mixed messages about them |
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faxinadu
Faxi Nadu / Elmooht
Started Topics :
282
Posts :
3394
Posted : Oct 24, 2007 12:57
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Quote:
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On 2007-10-24 11:19, Mice on Meth wrote:
Quote:
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On 2007-10-22 23:29, faxinadu wrote:
i just did a cdbaby for my latest release.
they take care of digital promotion in dozens of the best digital shops all in efficient and fast manner.
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What was CD baby like? We have heard mixed messages about them
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yo,
i will be able to tell you in 2-3 months time, this is my first time working with them so i will know more soon when i start to see sales (or no sales hehe) figures over some time.
The Way Back
https://faxinadu.bandcamp.com/album/the-way-back |
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Mice on Meth
Started Topics :
6
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33
Posted : Oct 25, 2007 11:42
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faxinadu
Faxi Nadu / Elmooht
Started Topics :
282
Posts :
3394
Posted : Oct 25, 2007 14:06
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psyaddict
Started Topics :
8
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64
Posted : Oct 27, 2007 10:26
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Basilisk is correct.....the digital age is upon us and and digital sales is the future of music distribution....As we can see the 'trance scene' in many countries is at its peak while cd sales are at their lowest......and ofcourse piracy is the primary responsible for the sinuous curve of sales figures....
A lot of digital distributors are out there.electronic music is sold to quite an extent as far as legal downloads are concerned. Cytopia seems to be the best choice for psytrance as its a dedicated portal, although beatport plays quite a large part as well! ...
Users around the world should be encouraged to download legal music... if only a niche amount of people continue to follow the protocol, our small industry will come to a complete halt sooner or later! |
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syncronizerecords
Syncronize Records
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2
Posts :
25
Posted : Oct 27, 2007 12:09
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digital downloads will probably be the future of music.even makes sense from an ecological point of view.
only the format is wrong.charging per track in mp3 will not convince one free downloader from changing his ways.unless a digital distributor offers a flatrate and better service than the p2p networks,like instant access and flac or wav quality it will not work out.
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faxinadu
Faxi Nadu / Elmooht
Started Topics :
282
Posts :
3394
Posted : Oct 27, 2007 12:40
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syncronizerecords
Syncronize Records
Started Topics :
2
Posts :
25
Posted : Oct 27, 2007 14:40
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yes,a lot do,but charge extra for wav.
even though it`s not perfect we will also try to sign a contract with a digital distribution company.hope they take us on.
there is a lot of djs all around the globe downloading a few trax before playing at a party,so it`s a good way to get the music out.
but i don`t believe it will help against the flatrate mentality of illegal downloading.not so sure if anything will get them to download legally,just thought a flatrate of wav and 0 day releases from a legal distributor would be a nice incentive.
the key of joy is disobedience |
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Basilisk
IsraTrance Full Member
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168
Posts :
2984
Posted : Oct 29, 2007 04:54
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This is one reason Cytopia strikes me as being particularly useful for psytrance producers--you don't need to sign a deal with a big distributor, you can sell direct with them.
Flat-rate downloading sounds like a good idea, but you may have forgotten about the legal stumbling blocks. Whereas pop music is by and large amalgamated under the auspices of five major labels, any underground music scene is bound to be highly fragmented, just as psytrance is. A lot of things will need to change for this idea to work. For now I am putting my emphasis on increasing involvement... which is challenging enough to accomplish
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reger
Started Topics :
1
Posts :
45
Posted : Nov 5, 2007 17:27
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+1 to basilisks initial posts, id get much more music than i have if there would be bigger choice from lossless downloads! cytopia is great example, rather fair prices for whats sold there, bought some music from them and had no problems what so ever, so labels and artists should follow! bring back oldies and give us unrlsd killarghs  |
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Basilisk
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
168
Posts :
2984
Posted : Aug 18, 2008 23:59
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Perhaps it is time to give this topic a bump...
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