Attaining a career in today’s music industry is within arm’s reach to almost anyone who wants to give it a shot these days. Take for instance, artists likes Imogen Heap, Crystal Castles and Lily Allen: they have one thing in common and that’s the fact that they took their careers into their own hands and pushed their way onto the scene via online communities and networking sites like Myspace.com. With the technology that everybody has at their fingertips we are getting closer and closer to making Andy Warhol’s idea of 15 minutes of fame come true. As more and more online communities start cropping up as the new internet fad an industrious artist might try to use them all to promote their music, but the key is to focus in on the demographic that is most relevant to you and your music and to do what it takes to get it into their ears. Many sites focus on promoting free music, and many others have a pay-to-play set up, but how does the user decide what works best for them?
In my opinion music is more than just free air streaming into your headphones, it’s long hours of hard work and dedication being made into a sonic stamp of a representation of something tangible. Music has no weight, no visual connection to our lives so we often neglect to think of it as what it is: Art. So who are we to put a price tag, or lack thereof, on something that is literally made with the blood, sweat and tears of another person’s efforts? If you slaved all day over an oven to make scrumptious cupcakes to serve to the world, you wouldn’t expect someone to hop into your bakery, swipe a cupcake off the counter and hop back out without paying, would you? So why then, is it okay for people to take music as if it were nothing? In reality it’s not, but when something is available for free why would someone want to pay for it somewhere else? This drives down the cost of market value on this item, thus making it as cheap as possible.
Sites like iTunes.com try to be innovative by offering cheap music that is attainable. But how much of a cut are artists really making when their song is being sold by a mega-corporation for less than a dollar? After the distributor’s cut, the management company’s cut, the record label’s cut and the divvying up of the publishing rights, whats left over may equate to somewhere around $0.04 on the dollar. So how many songs would an artist have to sell to actually EARN a dollar? Yeah. A lot.
That’s why websites and company’s like MyMusicSite.com are so refreshing, a significant of each sale cut goes directly to the artist. Because a majority of the artists on the site are independent, this cut isn’t being divvied among record and management companies, it’s going right into the pockets of the people who are actually creating the music. I sat down with Alexandria of MyMusicSite.com to discuss what they think their role is in today’s music industry and why an artist may consider signing up for their service.
Mrchgrl: How did you start mymusicsite.com and what made you want to provide a service like this for artists?
MyMusicSite.com: The founder Brad Turk used to have an independent record label. He noticed that there was so much talent in the world that would probably go undiscovered and never get a record deal. He felt these people should have the ability and a platform to be heard. With the advancements in technology; today almost any artist could have a career and fulfill their dreams without a record label. We are now in the digital age where everything is being done online and with computer. An artist can produce a song for practically nothing and can promote it in ways not available years ago. We have seen an unknown artist name Cassie promote and create a hit single right off of her Myspace page. We have seen a self promoted Tila Tiquila find millions of friends and be offered a national television show. With the ability to promote online as well as the inexpensive ways of creating music; everyone can now have a shot at being a successful recording artist. MyMusicSite.com provides that vehicle for these artists to attain their goals.
Mrchgrl: How many artists currently use your website?
MyMusicSite.com: We already have over 4,000 Artists, Bands, Comedians and Producers on the site.
Mrchgrl: What do you think is different about the service you provide vs. companies like CD Baby and Indie Pool?
MyMusicSite.com: I think the 2 key differentiators specific to the sites you mention are 1) MyMusicSite.com is set up in a social networking environment. Users can fully customize their profile pages and use all of MMS resources to help them promote and sell their music. 2) We are proactive in marketing and promoting the artists on the site.
MyMusicSite is not just a music store. MyMusicSite is a culture.
Mrchgrl: How does an artist get started on your website? What do they have to do?
MyMusicSite.com: Very Simple. All an artist has to do is sign up for a free account. Once they have registered, they create an artist profile page with their music and pictures. The MY ACCOUNT section basically walks them through the steps needed.
Mrchgrl: Where do you think the music industry will be in 5-10 years and how will the service you provide reflect that?
MyMusicSite.com: In my opinion, record labels as we know them will be extinct in the next 5-10 years. The music industry will be digital and sites like MyMusicSite.com will be the main platform for artists to sell their music on.
Mrchgrl: Artists spend months, sometimes years cultivating songs and yet people are rarely willing to pay money to download or buy them because they feel it is too expensive, if you could say something to artists or just regular people, to show them how important it is to buy music, whether electronically or physically, what would you say?
MyMusicSite.com: I would say... If you like music...and you don't buy music...don't be upset if the music goes away. You will have less people willing and able to create music if enough people are not buying it. If you really like music you need to support the people who are creating it. Music has become so cheap and can be obtained instantly. I don't think $0.99 or $9.99 is a lot to pay for something that gives you so much.
Mrchgrl: Many bands and artists these days are steering in a more independent direction and gaining a fan base through web-based communities like MySpace and Facebook, what kind of benefits does your website offer to artists who want to pursue independent careers?
MyMusicSite.com: We basically guide them through the process. We truly believe that steering in a more independent direction is the way to go. We have seen artists Like Madonna and Jay Z get out of their record deals (signing to LiveNation and not a record label). Major Labels take a majority of your money (around 90% after you recoup). That made sense when it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to put out an album. But it no longer costs that much money to put out and an album and promote it. It is now the artist time to take their fate in their own hands and MAKE MOST OF THE MONEY while doing so. We provide an artist with a vehicle to sell downloads of their original music, ringtones and a platform to promote and market that music.
Mrchgrl: Do you promote the music on your website or is that up to the artist to promote the sales of their own music?
MyMusicSite.com: We promote the music on our site as well as give the artists tools in which to promote. Most of what we do is free for the artist but if an artist needs that extra push we also have additional marketing and promotions services that we offer. We are also doing extensive marketing and promotions for the site itself which give the artists on our site exposure. We have full page ads within CMJ’s New Music Report, Indie-Bible Book (coming out on November 08), ASCAP’s Playback Magazine and have recently put up a 20 foot by 20 foot banner in NYC (On 196th Street off of Broadway).
Mrchgrl: Do you have any tips for artists who are interested in using your site?
MyMusicSite.com: Yes. Plenty of tips. But I will give you a couple. 1) Sign up!!!!!!!!! As an artist who is trying to promote yourself you should try everything and anything that might help further your career (especially if it is FREE!!). 2) If you already have an established site you use like Myspace or Facebook, put your MyMusicSite.com link on that page and let people support you and buy your music (this link is located on your profile page - all you need to do is cut and paste it - it doesn't get much easier than that). 3) The more you put into it the more you will get out (that holds true to anything in your life -not just your music).
We look forward to helping you promote and sell your music!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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