There was a question of how to 'get a taste' of what's on the CD and the easiest way is via the Ride the Dragon podcast as at least three and maybe four of the songs are on there now and it's all still free.
It's a possibility to load low-resolution MP3 files to the podcast and that would give you a taste of all the songs ... but it's a bad taste. Even worse, it's a cheap and tacky taste on the lines of going out for a great dinner and ending up at McDonald's. It's been my practice to load the highest-quality MP3 files out there rather than the lowest and I'm not willing to compromise that.
SoundCloud and ReverbNation are additional options but these are just secondary outlets for those too cheap to buy a UPC sticker and release the CD for real. It seems like that saves the release fees but that gets made up in endless useless email from them and a lot of hassle with minimal benefit. People already know you're an amateur, keep acting like one and they'll keep treating you like one.
It seems like alternatives to iTunes are less-expensive but the Apple deal is straight-up: we will give you real world-wide distribution if you let us take 10% of sales. In my view, that's fair enough. Outfits like SoundCloud, etc have world-wide availability but they don't have world-wide interest and can't hope to compete with iTunes in that context.
There really isn't a good answer as many of my songs don't start out quickly and a thirty-second taste test won't always tell you that much anyway.
Some things the regulars may notice:
"Too Much or Not Enough" - Not the original and the guitar playing will make the girls cry, it makes me cry. If you know Doctor Zhivago ... well, yeah ... like that. It's always too much or not enough. (Unlike the movie, the song doesn't drag out "Lara's Theme" for three hours and twenty minutes.)
"Ice Cream Blues at the Circus" - Not the original studio version from the Fort Worth Rockhouse as this was recorded live.
"On the Road with a Mouse and a Chicken" - This is the only version for which I recorded two lead guitar lines and used both of them.
About half of the songs on the CD were recorded playing live at Cat's Art MusikCircus. Yes, of course that's included in the release notes.
So ...
I'll leave things as they are because CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, etc will all give you a thirty-second taste of the songs and those will be available in a few days. If those do not give a good enough taste, let me know after that and I'll review other possibilities. It is not an answer to try one-minute samples if thirty-second samples don't provide what you want. At that stage, it's all or nothing so what's the best way to do that.
The reason for reluctance on putting the MP3 files online is they're stolen the moment they get to the server and end up on Billy Bob's Bargain Basement Music Streaming where they will be added to the other ten thousand indie songs Billy Bob ripped off. Billy Bob really won't cost you anything as really he gives you advertising but the problem is the advertising is with extremely low-rent images of your music, probably not such a good thing.
CD Baby has not been authorized to release the songs to music streaming sites where people pay by the click (i.e. a few cents to play a song but you don't get to keep it). If you're going to make any money on click charges then you better plan on thousands of them - probably not realistic - or you won't make enough for bus fare. It's my option to make the music available to streaming sites and I will listen if anyone wants that but I don't think it's a very good idea.
The Raven estimates I've released a dozen CDs but I've subsequently withdrawn them and none of them are online. I don't believe I will end up hating this one as it looked like it happened quickly but this has been under study for quite a while. Time came to make the move so do it.
It's a possibility to load low-resolution MP3 files to the podcast and that would give you a taste of all the songs ... but it's a bad taste. Even worse, it's a cheap and tacky taste on the lines of going out for a great dinner and ending up at McDonald's. It's been my practice to load the highest-quality MP3 files out there rather than the lowest and I'm not willing to compromise that.
SoundCloud and ReverbNation are additional options but these are just secondary outlets for those too cheap to buy a UPC sticker and release the CD for real. It seems like that saves the release fees but that gets made up in endless useless email from them and a lot of hassle with minimal benefit. People already know you're an amateur, keep acting like one and they'll keep treating you like one.
It seems like alternatives to iTunes are less-expensive but the Apple deal is straight-up: we will give you real world-wide distribution if you let us take 10% of sales. In my view, that's fair enough. Outfits like SoundCloud, etc have world-wide availability but they don't have world-wide interest and can't hope to compete with iTunes in that context.
There really isn't a good answer as many of my songs don't start out quickly and a thirty-second taste test won't always tell you that much anyway.
Some things the regulars may notice:
"Too Much or Not Enough" - Not the original and the guitar playing will make the girls cry, it makes me cry. If you know Doctor Zhivago ... well, yeah ... like that. It's always too much or not enough. (Unlike the movie, the song doesn't drag out "Lara's Theme" for three hours and twenty minutes.)
"Ice Cream Blues at the Circus" - Not the original studio version from the Fort Worth Rockhouse as this was recorded live.
"On the Road with a Mouse and a Chicken" - This is the only version for which I recorded two lead guitar lines and used both of them.
About half of the songs on the CD were recorded playing live at Cat's Art MusikCircus. Yes, of course that's included in the release notes.
So ...
I'll leave things as they are because CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, etc will all give you a thirty-second taste of the songs and those will be available in a few days. If those do not give a good enough taste, let me know after that and I'll review other possibilities. It is not an answer to try one-minute samples if thirty-second samples don't provide what you want. At that stage, it's all or nothing so what's the best way to do that.
The reason for reluctance on putting the MP3 files online is they're stolen the moment they get to the server and end up on Billy Bob's Bargain Basement Music Streaming where they will be added to the other ten thousand indie songs Billy Bob ripped off. Billy Bob really won't cost you anything as really he gives you advertising but the problem is the advertising is with extremely low-rent images of your music, probably not such a good thing.
CD Baby has not been authorized to release the songs to music streaming sites where people pay by the click (i.e. a few cents to play a song but you don't get to keep it). If you're going to make any money on click charges then you better plan on thousands of them - probably not realistic - or you won't make enough for bus fare. It's my option to make the music available to streaming sites and I will listen if anyone wants that but I don't think it's a very good idea.
The Raven estimates I've released a dozen CDs but I've subsequently withdrawn them and none of them are online. I don't believe I will end up hating this one as it looked like it happened quickly but this has been under study for quite a while. Time came to make the move so do it.
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