Last night, several minds from Windsor's local music community congregated at Phog Lounge to discuss the future of Windsor's music and how Windsor can take an active stance in the progression of how the artist can get their music to a broader audience without sacrificing the artistic integrity of the works. This all came about as a direct response to a call to arms by Tom Lucier on his blog.
What started as a simple "CD vs. On-line Medium" debate quickly morphed into a very constructive conversation about ideas we could collectively agree on and work on to further push Windsor's musicians to a fore front, not only in music and songwriting but in how the world saw/heard our music and how to get it.
The group featured many local Windsorites, including myself and others such as Adam Rideout-Arkell and Ryan Fields of Yellow Wood, Efan!, Bree Gaudette, Dwayne Iler of The Original Lady Eyes, Stephen Hargreaves of WAMM Magazine, Chris White (Music Director for CJAM 91.5 FM), Adam Fox of Field Assembly (and CJAM 91.5's Station Manager), Scotty Hughes, Chad Howson from Another Saturday Knight, Charles Benn, Harvesting The FAM's Murad Erzinclioglu as well as Tom Lucier himself (sorry, I know I'm forgetting other people!).
One of the ideas thrown out was the creation of a Windsor web site similar to that such as iTunes or Zunior, where Windsor artists could upload entire discographies available for digital download (complete with album artwork if desired). This would give people a chance to get great albums for much cheaper than buying a physical copy of the work at shows (as quite often people don't always budget to buy merchandise) plus it would offer another great way of getting older material that may now be out of print or impossible to track down, such as older releases by bands such as Jimmy Bronco, Luxury Christ or others.
To accompany this, it was suggested that all local artists unite and agree to include a free sticker or card with their physical releases they sell that would allow people who bought their CD to get three free mp3 downloads from the site. This would not only help draw awareness to the vast archive of great Windsor music (past and present) but offer people a chance to sample for free some tunes from other Windsor bands they've been wanting to check out or take a chance to sample some tracks from Windsor's rich musical history.
Is this something you think you would take advantage of? Is this something viable for all local musicans? This is something I think would help draw attention to many genres that are quite often overlooked (such as folk or hip-hop) as well as show not only to the national media but the local media as well, that Windsor has a very talented and diverse pantheon of musicians that can easily go toe-to-toe with any city in Canada's music scene.
Other questions to be answered in regards to this Windsor Music Archive (the WMA?) is how difficult it would be to start up such a download site and what it would cost to maintain and run.
But the real question is its value to you as a consumer of Windsor music. Would you be interested in having a Windsor-centric music source and access to a rich vault of music from Windsor's past as well as its future?
BONUS SECTION
As mentioned previously, I am looking for mp3 files from past and present Windsor artists to offer here as a free download for music fans in Windsor. These are songs donated willingly and for FREE by the individual Windsor artist for you to download and sample and throw into your iPod or other mp3 player to absorb. If you like them, check out a show, or better, pick up a copy of the full release!
Welcome to our first Bonus Section and thank you to all the musicians who have responded so far (to get involved, send me an mp3 file to greerkind@yahoo.ca with song information (CD title, year of production, etc)).
To save the mp3's to your computer, Right Click on the link and then "Save Link As".
Explode When They Bloom - "Got 'Em In Spades"
Taken from the 2008 CD, As The Animals Make Their Way Through The Crowds
Explode When They Bloom have been tearing things up the past year, releasing a brilliant full length, As The Animals Make Their Way Through The Crowds, after conquering the local rocks scene with their intense live shows. No stranger to the stages of Windsor, they've played just about every venue that supports original music, from The Chubby Pickle to The Loop, and even took to the road last year as part of the Harvesting The FAM Festival's promotional tour. They're playing this Friday March 13th at The Coach & Horses (156 Chatham St. West, below Pogo's) with special guests, Death or Comber.
Meters To Miles - "Animal Primate"
Studio Recording, 2009
Meters To Miles is a new project from Dan Marshall, formerly of 90's power-pop band B-Plan and who released a solo EP, Dandelion, several years back under Dhani Marshall. This new three piece harkens back to ealry 80's post-punk/new wave and they're getting ready for their first release (which "Animal Primate" will be a part of). They're next playing live at Phog Lounge (157 University Ave. West) on Saturday March 28, opening for The Original Lady Eyes and Justin Alexander.
Jeff Stiles - "Half Mast"
Studio Recording, 2009
Jeff Stiles was seen as the blacksheep of the Windsor singer/songwriter circle in the late 90's, early 2000's, with his often cynical outlook on Windsor (including the local music scene), but he wrote some great songs, including the cult fave "McDonald's Song". Although his live performances are sporadic and spread out (to say the least), he's still recording songs, and this one is one of his latest from earlier this year.
Posts
I wonder if a download site would be viable? The costs in terms of storage and bandwidth would be significant, not to mention the development costs. It would make more sense for artists to host and control their own content. A central "Windsor Musical Archive" site could market and aid in distribution, say for a minimal membership fee or subscription for listing, while the artists control, host and sell their own content. I think a distributed model like this would be much more viable. The tech for individual sites to setup their own e-commerce is easier to implement and leaves the artists free to set their own prices.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I was hoping for! I don't have the answers to a lot of tech questions and I think people may have thought I was asking these questions rhetorically but I was genuinely looking for feedback here on the pro's and con's of this idea.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of costs are we looking at? Once bands commit I was thinking we could get on-line advertising, from local venues who host these bands, to music shops, to the University music department, to radio stations like 89X, etc.
The idea is create a community network and I'm just afraid if the artists have to host their own content that many of the bands will never get around to it. I'm not saying Windsor bands are lazy or don't want to do it, but I've been promised a LOT of things by Windsor bands over the years and most times these things never show up. Granted, something like this may be different, but I'm just curious how much work (especially in the cases of now defunct bands) they're going to want to do to link up when they may as well just do their own thing then.
All good points and I hope more people will comment and debate this topic!
Okay, I should say that a LOT of bands have indeed sent me things as promised, don't want to sound like a negative Nellie on that...
ReplyDeleteHow about something like Last.fm (I believe Adam Fox mentioned this at the meeting) as a possible alternative?
a facebook message from Jeff Stiles, who couldn't post on here...
ReplyDelete"a marketing approach is important. otherwise, whatever avenue is pursued, artist or host generated, the site(s) may flounder in anonymity. selling merch at shows cannot be undermined as many touring bands pay the bills this way. although its true, the net is the only real viable means of getting music 'out there' but it can also become like an undiscovered tribe existing unto itself, unknown to the outside world if the site is not tagged and marketed properly. that we have a cache of great and talented people here is obvious but we are not unlike any other artist collective. there are amazing people everywhere thinking and writing the same way as us. marketing and advertising are the only way to get it out there. once an scheme is agreed on, a panel should decide what artist(s) is/are most likely to attract outside attention in ad form. use the itunes model as an example. they brought buyers into the fray with catchy tunes and glossy graphics in their campaigns. nothing else really. who was/is yael naim? she wrote a catchy tune that brought millions into the itunes store. there are plenty of examples here that could get buyers humming. several area artists have released tunes that have that draw. unfortunately, when one is of indie mindset, the word pop(ular) leaves a bad taste in their artsy mouths but for this type of venture to be successful,it is primarily popularity, not a showcase of our great artistry, that will push us to the vanguard. marketing gets you in the door. if the product is there success will follow."
I fully agree with what Jeff said, but that still doesn't fix the funding issue. Where is the money coming from? The marketing dollars, the initial cost and maintenance for the site could/would be substantial. I'm not so sure that artists would want to shell out (we all know we don't have extra $ lying around). But having said that, if the idea was proposed as a viable business plan with structured marketing and all the details ironed-out, then maybe we'd get some bites. The question remains: Who wants to organize it? I think that should be the first thing wen need to figure out.
ReplyDeletea site like this is a great idea. i have some suggestions to make it easier to manage and a little more realistic.
ReplyDeleteyou can distribute free music via itunes. you just have to call it a podcast. this makes distribution easy. also, once they subscribe, you can keep filling up their ipod or computer with windsor music!
ex. "windsor music podcast"
1) artists donate promo tracks
2) super basic site telling people about the podcast with a massive subscribe button
3) release one new track from a windsor artist every week
4) postcards or stickers are given to every artist featured on the podcast. artists can give these to fans who buy their cds or merch, possibly turning them on to new bands. this gets everyone involved new fans.
All great comments, suggestions and concerns, thanks!
ReplyDeleteOne avenue of funding for start-up would be that the site would solicit local advertising, such as radio stations (89X, The Rock, CJAM), music stores (Riverside, Long & McQuade), possibly the U of W music department, Dr. Disc, or possibly bands who want to promote upcoming releases, etc. Other specialty stores, such as Jones & Co, or Unique Rabbit, that have musician or music fan clienteles may also be interested.
it would be a lot of work, but i think a lot of it would be in the initial months of stocking the catalogues. i love doing this sort of thing (i've been chronicling and archiving local music for a decade now) so this is something i'm quite willing to do.
the band's themselves wouldn't have to shell out money at all. each band would have to set up a paypal account and then all music sold on the site would go directly to their paypal account. the only thing would be a small stocking fee (similar to what itunes or things like that may do) perhaps something like $1.00 is added to albums cost on the site and that also goes back into site maintenance. the artist wouldn't have to put any money into the site at all out of their own pocket.
i think my biggest question is about finding a server with the capacity and bandwidth (as mentioned by BBS) and getting someone with the computer know-how to help set the site up (i know a few who i could probably talk to do for relatively cheap and probably would do it for payment in parts down the line).
i think getting something like this (if done properly) would set a good example to many other cities scenes and it could be something that other scene's may look to adopt themselves. once the site starts making some money, it could even go into some sort of a local music fund to assist windsor acts with touring money (wouldn't be a lot i know, but even if it was $100 here and there for gas it would help!).
just a few ideas...
thanks to everyone for commenting!
One might not have to pay a lot for web hosting, or might not have to pay at all. After the purchase of a digital album is processed, the person(s) maintaining the site could upload it using one of the many free file transfer services that the Internet has to offer (Rapidshare, zSHARE, SendSpace, etc.), and send the download link to the purchaser.
ReplyDeleteAs to the question of where some of the initial funding for a project like this might come from, how about a good old fashioned fundraiser where some bands play for free?