In short, you do. My
fans do, that is. They give in the form
of payment of this album price for a reason.
They give in support of music they really appreciate for a variety of
good reasons actually. They feel good
about contributing to the sustainability of an artist putting great music out
into the world consistently, in a time when such a thing is a challenge. Read on, and you'll hear about what those
good reasons are.
I can't tell you how good it feels to be in the process of
getting another album out into the world of music I made. Releasing songs you wrote and recorded gives
you the feeling of release, as if you didn't want to die with the music
unreleased. Although there's more
competition than ever in the music business, there's simultaneously different
levels of opportunity nowadays.
The ability of the average joe musician like me to do this
didn't exist a decade ago, and thanks to the evolution of technology, it
does. Inexpensive home recording
equipment, plus digital distribution to online web stores has made this
possible. You hear a lot these days
about songwriters and music artists not making as much money any more since
CDs, MP3s, Napster, and the iPod changed everything, which is absolutely true. The only advantages are that it is convenient
and cheaper for both consumers and home recording hobbyist / independent DIY
people like me. The word
"cheaper" being the most important word.
So, when you see I have albums for sale online for $12.49 and
single songs for .99 cents, it's arguably shocking and inexplicable at first
glance, I'm aware. Why does an average
joe musician like Scott Cooley charge so much, you might wonder, when you can
get the new Justin Beiber or Taylor Swift album for $7.00? That's the big question, and one I
fortunately have an answer for!
I see a three-level pricing stucture in place here - Free
(Amateurs, DIY'ers), Mid (Independent
labels) and Pro (celebrity musicians), admittedly with some crossover between
levels. When you scour the internet for
places where average joe musicians post their music online - at places like
YouTube, SoundCloud, or MySpace, etc., you obviously are prone to finding a
lower production quality, lower average talent levels, and a more amateur
overall experience.
When you get beyond the free places, you have music that is
being offered for sale, and all said factors are higher on average, as you
would expect. I am in the middle here,
and although this may be arguable to you, hear me out first. Then, at the top tier, you have the
aforementioned mega-popular major label artists and bands.
Now, I'll quickly explain why I'm firmly in the mid-tier,
with some crossover. I am an amateur
do-it-yourselfer, and my sound quality is not bad, particuarly when you
consider I don't use virtual instruments or auto-tune trickery. Although the all-acoustic instruments and
recording of them being played live can sound amateur in comparison to fake
drums, bass, horns, etc. made with software loops or midi keyboards, it
arguably shows more talent that I play all the instruments myself.
While I don't give much away for free, you're paying for real
music recorded live by a person. I'd
like to think fans of my kind of music are willing to pay a little in support
of the real thing. The mid-tier artists
signed to established independent labels actually have recording budgets
fronted by the record companies, and said money is often spent in real
recording studios with session musicians and professional producers and
engineers.
Again, I'd like to think the kind of people my music appeals
to would tend to have a higher appreciation for an artist who did not need to
hire pro session musicians and engineers to achieve a desired sound because
what I do is way more authentic. Willing
to pay a little extra to support that aspect of it as well, I would imagine. I can arguably come up with fairly
well-produced and arranged songs with a fairly good level of sound quality as
compared to what the pro facilities and session musicians can deliver. To toot my horn a bit further, the quality of
the songwriting I would argue is up there quite high, and at times, crosses
over into the pro realm. Fans are
willing to pay a little for that aspect as well.
Crowdfunding. You've
heard of it, mostly for software startups, or gadget-makers. The mid-tier musicians who have that top-tier
sound these days get it from crowdfunding.
There are a lot of them - PledgeMusic, IndieGoGo, etc. There's something that doesn't feel right
about it...has an Amway multi-level marketing uneasiness to it, and I have no
idea if investors get paid back when the goals aren't met or the projects are
delayed, or promises not delivered at all.
Let's face it, we know that if you heard a robot-tuned
version of my vocals, with pro Nashville musicians playing the instruments, my
albums wouldn't sound like me, and they wouldn't sound like what you like about
me as an artist. I'm not a puppet, not a
karaoke guy who will do a dance routine and lip-sync to fake, perfect-sounding backing
tracks with my vocals made perfect via technology. I'm old, and far from being that kind of
artist. Not a looks-first marketing whiz
with a lot of videos. You'll never see
that kind of thing from me.
So, if I emailed all my friends and relatives and asked them
to email all their friends and relatives, and social networked my butt off, and
basically begged people to donate money to me to pay for my next recording
project, you wouldn't want the end result, even if it was possible. You already like my style and what I produce,
so I charge after I've got a product ready to go. I ask a little more than average, yes, but I
don't ask you to ask your parents to fund me first to pay for fake studio
stuff. For 12.49, you get the best I
could do - real music from a real person with a real voice playing real
instruments.
It could very well be that as technology has contributed to a
declining music business, it has at the same time contributed to a decline in
music quality. I'm not talking about the
sonic perfection that is achievable with technology, but rather, the fact that
it may be a dying art to play the instruments yourself, and write the songs
yourself, and record it yourself. It
could also be that the styles and genres my music encompasses is fading from
public awareness and appreciation.
Maybe the type of sound I get and the types of songs I write
won't be as prevalent in the future, you never know. Maybe younger generations won't understand it
as compared with the popular music of their day. Preservation is a part of what you're
investing in with that 12.49, from a known quantity who's proven he can
continue to deliver.
If you're the type who is willing to pay a little more for something
made in Michigan, pay a little more at the local mom & pop business instead
of WalMart, buy art from local artists, support your local farmer's market, write
a check to NPR, help the homeless, pay a little more for organic, whatever your
thing is, you're the type who is prone to support your local songwriter /
recording artist.
If you like the product, why not contribute a little more than
what is typical. Sustainability. It need not happen via being hounded to fund
a recording project before songs are even written. Better to have that product that exceeds your
expectations, be able to try (stream) it for free first, then buy it at
12.49. It's not for everyone, but that's
my rationale behind the price. By the
way, if so desired, almost like a tip for a job well done, at Bandcamp you can
actually pay more than 12.49 for my latest album, Rest Assured, if you feel so compelled.
