RTP-area local music and culture

[Baby Messy <bilboa AT baggins.con>]

Larry Karnowski wrote:
> If you send me a CD, you've got 75% chance I'll listen to it.  If you
> send me a link to an mp3, about 10%.  I bet if you actually sent me an
> mp3 file, though, I'd listen to it about 50% of the time.  No one ever
> does that, though.
> 
> Larry
> 
> P.S. Calvin, we need to compare notes offline, dude.
> 
> On 2/26/07, Calvin Powers <calvin AT cspowers.com> wrote:
>> I have to agree with Larry on this one. I get lots of CDs submitted to
>> Taproot Radio each week. And I do my best to listen to every single one of
>> them. Basically any time I'm in my car I'm listening to new music that I've
>> received.
>>
>> Even so, there's lots of music that I can never manage to get to. BUT, many
>> of the CDs I get have been sent by people who have obviously not read the
>> info on my site that talks about the type of music I'm looking for, which 
>> is
>> strange because it's right there on the same page that has my mailing
>> address.
>>
>> So I agree with Larry, it's not so much a waste _if_ you research who you
>> send the CD to and target your mailings. Also, definitely put together a
>> press kit of some sort. Either include it in the mailing or at least give a
>> web address for it.
>>
>> On the other hand, I don't tend to put as much effort into lisatening to
>> MP3s that get sent to me and even less effort into following URLs to 
>> artists
>> myspace page. I feel a little bit guilty about this and I keep thinking I
>> need to put a process together to make it easier to incorporate submitted
>> MP3s into my rotation. The thing is, I'm completely set up to promote CDs. 
>> I
>> have CD reviews, I do aa top 10 CD list every month, etc etc. So it will
>> take  some significant changes to get more tuned into prmoting MP3 singles.
>>
>> I'd be curious what other radio show hosts do to handle MP3 submissions to
>> their show.
>>
>> Calvin Powers
>> The Taproot Radio Show <http://www.taprootradio.com/>
>>
>> On 2/25/07, Larry Karnowski <larry AT hickorywind.org> wrote:
>>> As one of the folks who gets a lot, A LOT, of unrequested CDs to
>>> review... I can tell you that the vast majority do end up in the "junk
>>> pile."  However, I try really hard to listen to at least a couple of
>>> songs from each CD (the first and last, usually).  Most, however, are
>>> simply awful or inappropriate for my readership and are discarded.
>>>
>>> The best thing to do?  Spend a little time to research your target
>>> reviewers.  If you think an individual would spend time to listen to
>>> your CD, then go ahead and send it to them.  However, if you really
>>> don't know anything about the target and are trying to get a foot in
>>> the door, send the EPK that Skillet recommended.    It's much cheaper,
>>> and the folks who are going to listen to you are still going to listen
>>> to an EPK.
>>>
>>> I'll be honest, though.  I try really hard to listen to every CD
>>> that's sent to me, but I don't try as hard to listen to every online
>>> MP3 link.  So if it's a really important reviewer to you, definitely
>>> send a CD.  Just be sure to gauge which ones are the "really
>>> important" reviewers for you -- again, a little research goes a long
>>> way.
>>>
>>> (I can't tell you how many die-hard-puke-metal CDs I've received
>>> because of one stray remark in a blog entry years ago that still shows
>>> up on Google!  Yet these folks don't ever check my site and see that I
>>> *clearly* cover almost entirely twangy music!  Their money and my time
>>> wasted.)
>>>
>>> Good luck with your next CD!
>>> Larry
>>>
>>>
>>> On 25 Feb 2007 15:42:03 -0800, skillet.gilmore AT gmail.com
>>> <skillet.gilmore AT gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> making and mailing cd's to folks that haven't requested them is a
>>>> waste of money, resources and time. 99.9% of all those cd's will wind
>>>> up in the trash. put together an EPK (electronic press kit) with a
>>>> bio, any reviews you have and links to your songs online. hell, just
>>>> use myspace. then hit up people in the indie bible (although i
>>>> personally don't believe in any books of that sort) and if they
>>>> request a press pack you can send it to them. print enough cd's to
>>>> actually sell and x amount that you can use for promotional purposes.
>>>> think of cd's as product for sale and let the introweb do the rest.
>>>>
>>>> sg
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Feb 25, 1:49 pm, Baby Messy <bil... AT baggins.con> wrote:
>>>>> It's been about 3/4 of a year since I had my first CD done. I've
>>> learned
>>>>> a lot of lessons that will come in handy next time.
>>>>>
>>>>> I was thrilled. THRILLED when that UPS man showed up with my 1000
>>> discs.
>>>>> All pretty. I think I still have maybe 400 left and I've pollinated
>>>>> pretty well.
>>>>>
>>>>> The next release, I was thinking of what I've learned since the first
>>> one:
>>>>> 1. The songs that I thought were killer, the songs I put first on the
>>>>> CD, were actually not the strongest songs. Ouch! The first song,
>>> Jesus,
>>>>> has confounded some, angered others, and frankly left most people
>>>>> nonplussed.
>>>>>
>>>>> 2. The reproduction and mailing of the CD has been the most expensive
>>>>> part of the process. $1400 (Oasis, love 'em) + mailing about 12 a week
>>>>> for three months to people in the Indie Bible. (I stopped after
>>> getting
>>>>> too few results and almost no reviews---google my name). This is not
>>> to
>>>>> admit failure but to perhaps try not fit the profile of an insane
>>> person
>>>>> so closely.
>>>>>
>>>>> 3. I have a slab of music that I worked on for a while and have in
>>>>> perpetuity to share with my children and theirs. Is that enough? It
>>> was
>>>>> once, but if it isn't, what else do I want?
>>>>>
>>>>> I plan on getting the next one mastered at the Kitchen just like I did
>>>>> DTBWM, but how should I minimize my costs? Can I have, say, 300
>>> printed
>>>>> up and do the rest digitally?  What strategies can I use?
>>>>>
>>>>> Do I need a physical CD at all?
>>>>
>>>> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
>>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene


All very prescient food for thought. Thank you all.

Sad thing is that this process seems to make one categorize and 
therefore limit the potential audience of the music, which I categorize 
as soul/pop, but I was painfully wrong about some of the steps I made 
along the way, so maybe this one is wrong too.