Free is for Me...and You!

Free.

Free.

What does that mean to you? It's usually a good thing. Now how about this,

Free music.

Still a good thing right? I thought so. How about this,

Your music is free music.

Now I'm sure this isn't as good right? Why is it that some artists are freaking out about their music being free?

I am an artist myself and a few weeks ago I got into a healthy arguement with the owner of one of the clubs we play at who is also a good friend after a gig. My band, Highway Jackson, is about to release our second album and my good friend, we'll call him Joe the Club Owner, was very "passionate" about us selling our CD for at the very least $10. He kept saying, "But this music is AWESOME, you HAVE to sell it or you're not doing yourself justice, etc". Of course I thanked him for the kind words about our music (friends always have great things to say) but I also let him know that $10 was WAY to expensive for us to be selling ANYTHING.

Music will be free soon, whether it's ad-supported or through Lala or maybe even a different channel. Most of the uneducated public (in the music business) think they know a lot of things that usually prove to be false.

1. An independant artist who is up and coming should not be selling a CD for anything more than $5. That is for a FULL LENGTH ALBUM. Highway Jackson has 10 tracks, and $5 is the absolute most we will sell it for.

2. The CD, as in Compact Disc, is almost obsolete. The MP3 rules all and technology like the iPhone will make sure it stays that way. Bands used to press 1000 CD's at a time and now they only need to press 3-500 and sell the rest through digital distribution streams.

3. Part of the reason CD's used to cost so much was all the hidden fees and clauses included in a bands record contract. For example, the breakage clause. The breakage clause in a contract basically was created under the assumption that a record (45") could break during the distribution process, so the label would take a larger cut of the sales because THEY assumed the risk of sending the product out, thus making CD's a tad bit more expensive so the artists could get a fair cut of the profits. Now that most music is distributed digitally, clauses like the Breakage clause no longer are in effect (although at first record companies still tried to carry this clause over to digital sales...scumbags).

4. Common sense. If a kid goes to an all ages concert, chances are he/she doesn't have too much money. They already paid between $5-15 to get into concert, chances are if they have any money left it's not much. Make your album as cheap as possible especially at a live show. There is NO better time to get someone to buy your album than at a show. How tragic is it that a individual loves a band and thinks they'd like to hear their album and learn all the lyrics so they can be the ultimate fan only to find out that the album, which has 8 tracks is $10-12. That fan probably won't buy it because 1) they don't have enough money (most bands don't take plastic) and 2) they don't want to spend the money on a gamble, meaning they don't know if they'll like it or not. Make it cheap, if not free. 100 fans with your album for $2 is way better than 25 for $10. Nobody cares about how much money you made on your CD, they care about your fan base.

5. It's a lot easier to create a band/fan relationship with free music. For example, how great is it when a band emails a brand new mp3 right out of the studio to members of their fan club? The fan feels like the band cares about them (which they should).

On that note, never ever ever EVER play for free. Thats for another post.

Over and out!

-KR