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Adios, Preview Club!
Posted on Tue, Dec 12 2006 It was an interesting idea, but I decided to pull the plug on the preview club. I'm kinda done with trying to "sell" music, at least in the active-voice sense of the word "sell". I'd rather spend my time making music rather than figuring out how to get a few heroes to open their wallets and trade me a bad portrait of Alexander Hamilton for it. He wasn't even a real president. There's a lot of speculation of what the Internet has done to hurt the music industry. Easy access to free (legal or not) songs on demand (and the ability to copy them easily) have definitely lessened the perceived monetary value of music. Over time, I'm becoming convinced that this isn't a bad thing. I'm not sure that music and commerce are meant to share a toothbrush. It's always been an uneasy partnership. Too many bands feel that the only measure of success is to sign with a major label, even when they'll statistically probably never make any real money. It seduces bands to write what sells, rather than what's good or interesting. And unlike almost every other area of commerce, supply and demand are irrelevant to pricing, as is quality. Radiohead's "OK Computer", a brilliant CD recorded in an English manor, is the same price as that basement-studio CD from that crappy local cover band. Is this a bad thing? I don't know. In the old days, making a recording was so expensive that you had to worry about making money from it. These days, while the perceived value of music is lower, the cost of making it is also much lower. Anyone with a few hundred dollars and some music skills can record and put out a good CD. Rather than a handful of popular musicians, there is now easy access to unthinkable numbers of niche musicians like myself. The money might not be there for us, but (a) now the audience is, and (b) the money was never there in the past anyway, since we wouldn't have had enough broad appeal. As easy as it is to complain that nobody pays for music anymore, it's easier to forget that indie musicians are, on the whole, better off for it. So, the upshot of this rant is that the demos of the new tunes are now downloadable by all, along with the 100 or so songs on that page as always. Check out the bottom of the music page to get 'em. That's not to say that you won't still be my hero and personal savior if you buy a CD. But even if you don't want to buy one, if you like what you hear, please do pass it on to a friend. Enjoy! I think the best joy out of all of it is when people come to shows. Regardless of how much music they sell, the live performance is where its at. At least, that is how I feel.
I am so intrigued by the art of the live performance (which is where it all started), that I'd rather release one or two cd's in my life, and play 2,000,000 shows. At least people may show up. ;) I applaud and agree with you, although, if someone offers me a large sum of money to play music, I'll gladly take it. Maybe that is because I'm poor though. Haha... NOW I SHALL DOWNLOAD "RIVER WENT DRY" AND "BUT IT DID"!!! Josh -- I agree with most of what you say. The uneasy alliance between musicians and money makes the internet the ideal place to foster new, creative voices and talent. I guess intention is at the heart of the music we make. Btw, I've enjoyed your songs over on garageband.com. You've a distinctive vocal.
"He wasn't even a real president."
And it's Woodward for the win. :) Josh - as far as writers go, you're a thousand times my better. If *I* can barely scratch out a living as a writer/producer, you should be able to do just fine. I really like your music - i also think it's very commercial - and it kills me the "traditional" music distribution systems are so clammed up as to be nearly impenetrable for artists like you/me. You could always play the Lottery - Lord knows the odds are better. ;)
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