Premier Rock Forum

We have a new release almost ready to go, and I am going to release online only. Unless, of course, we get signed to Geffen. We will not be pursuing a physical release of any kind until we get something that resembles momentum going again.

The pandemic took the wind out of our sails. We had just put together a solid lineup right before Covid hit, and were gearing up to play live. Now we're slowly getting back to practicing again and hopefully be ready to play live soon.

We have a new release almost ready to go, and I am going to release online only. Unless, of course, we get signed to Geffen. We will not be pursuing a physical release of any kind until we get something that resembles momentum going again.

The pandemic took the wind out of our sails. We had just put together a solid lineup right before Covid hit, and were gearing up to play live. Now we're slowly getting back to practicing again and hopefully be ready to play live soon.

Tom Wanderer wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:46 pm As a DJ at a freeform college station, I can tell you that it is very much still a thing and not just with people over 40. It's honestly inspiring how much people love their independent radio stations. Each station is it's own little community, so scope out their website, figure out where your music might fit in, email their music director, ask what their submission guidelines are, stuff like that. Anything is better than just sending crappy unsolicited cdr promos.

This is a great idea! I can say from experience that sincere research followed by a nice, normal email to a specific person at an institution (blog, radio station, etc) has netted better results than spamming a general inbox. That's probably not going to work for Pitchfork but will more than likely get you on WZRD or CHIRP here in Chicago. I used to be too enigmatic or generic in my press emails and I think that resulted in a lot of confused shrugs. People want to connect with a story more than they want to hear music just because it's good. I suppose the game is determining what story you think might connect with the people you envision liking your record. I'm pretty sure that's what PR people sit around and think about.

The people I know who have had the most success getting attention for their music seem to love sharing things with others and do it pretty much all the time. Their efforts tend to come off like an extension of who they are and there's nothing creepy or weird about it. It can actually be quite inspiring to watch someone doing something they like. I think what I'm going to do differently in the future is think more about what I like doing, who I want to talk to, how I like to promote and then do that. That way if nothing happens, at least I had a fun time extending the creative project of the record into the promotional activities.

the best way, i have always found (and still find), is to make good music and play good shows with other bands that people like, who make music in a similar vein as yours. word of mouth works better than anything you can put on someone's phone or computer screen

jason from volo wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 7:23 pmThis just makes me think that I should just put up my band's music for free.

I price an EP at 4 euros, and a full-length at 7. I'm not motivated by their sales, but feel it's only right to reflect the work that's been put in with a fair purchase price.

I can understand people who roll the dice on a freebie to snare an audience that might pay down the line, and am all for the comfortable giving work away, but beyond those positions it's fair to put a price on work.

chris wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:40 pm the best way, i have always found (and still find), is to make good music and play good shows with other bands that people like...

word of mouth works better than anything you can put on someone's phone or computer screen

Yeah this is ultimately it, except substitute 'good music' with 'what people want to hear at that time'. Within a fairly narrow span in Chicago I was in 3 perfectly 'good' bands and one of them caught on more than the others for reasons I don't entirely understand. And it definitely wasn't the hardest working of the bunch. It may sound harsh but it either happens or it doesn't.

penningtron wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:59 pm That the guy with a record label with nearly 100 releases under his belt is asking this makes me think we're all a little screwed!

D'oh!! Now I feel like an idiot!

Tom Wanderer wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 7:27 am

penningtron wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:59 pm That the guy with a record label with nearly 100 releases under his belt is asking this makes me think we're all a little screwed!

D'oh!! Now I feel like an idiot!

hah, nah it was just me lightly teasing, plus Sick Room has been dormant for a few years. But I can't blame anyone for finding any of this confusing. When I first got into this, bands you couldn't even find on the internet now could sell 1,000 or so cds if they played out a bit. Now where are we at.. where's this massive vinyl revival? Or do people like cassettes now? Or should we all be doing jingles on Tik tok.. fuck if I know!

I feel that we are in an era where it's fashionable to release vinyl EPs and LPs, but listeners are conditioned to consume music in smaller chunks and it's weird to reconcile the two. I've played in a lot of band-bands in my life, but my main musical thing now is an ensemble of players with a typewriter theme (link in my profile), kind of an odd percussion ensemble with improv comedy and satire. Anyway, over the quarantine we enlisted a bunch of people to do remixes, and we're releasing it a track a week, the hopes being that we have some reason to do a social media bump every week, not flood people with too much stuff at once, and in October, when the 10th track comes out. we can compile it into a real collection, and depending on how self-indulgent we feel, press LPs, cassettes, Edison wax cylinders or whatnot.

Cumulatively, it's a little more effort, but I think it delivers music in chunks that are easy to digest and the weekly frequency doesn't turn people off.

Justin Foley wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:45 pm
Is vinyl still the goal or are we cool with online only?
I like vinyl and I think there's a shared sense of value about it in the community where we release music. So it's worth it for us to create records when we think it will meet our big goal/constraint. But vinyl means additional expense, wait, and – I suspect this will become more of a deal over time – environmental impact.

Is the environmental impact of records really any worse than that of server farms and rare earth metals or whatever kinda mining they are doing to make computers? Could it be any worse?

Not being snarky, really asking. I dunno but streaming YouTube takes a lot of energy and that's a lot of how the kids are "listening" these days.