Posted on Tue, Oct 21, 2008
Hey everyone, sorry for the quietness around here lately. Things have been a little crazy. :) But I've got some new tunes in the works that should be trickling out shortly. In the meantime, I wanted to pass along a couple links to new interviews I've done recently.
I'm featured in this month's issue of Findlay Living magazine. It's pretty accurate, though I don't recall ever playing at the Springs of Life café for some odd reason. :D
I was also interviewed for the GarageBand.com newsletter this month. That was pretty cool, because it goes out to over 90,000 people. The full text of it is in the "Read More" below...
Web favorite Josh Woodward finds audience with free music
The digital world has changed music, and GB artist Josh Woodward is living proof. With the same tools at his disposal as most independent artists, he released seven albums in the past five years and saw over a million MP3s downloaded from his website. With multiple chart-topping hits at GarageBand.com and worldwide Web-based audience to boot, what separates this unsigned artist from the pack?
The obvious reason is that Woodward's music is great, which it is. Of course, it's also free. All 120+ tracks of it.
"For the first time in history, you can get your music out to anywhere in the world instantly, but there are also millions of others doing the same thing, competing for the same ears," Woodward told us.
Standing out by offering his entire creative catalog for free, Woodward's emotionally resonant dark acoustic pop/rock has found a niche of its own. "The biggest advantage to giving my music away has been in finding an audience," he said, adding that he still makes money from his music by selling CDs on a sliding scale at his well-attended live shows.
"I have a distinctive style that won't necessarily appeal to most people, but I'm having more luck finding an audience than someone who's trying to sound like every other popular band out there," he said. "If you find ways to stand out from the crowd, the web will be your best friend."
He also gave us some of the best props we've ever received in an artist interview:
"It wouldn't be overstating it to say that GarageBand.com is the most useful online resource for indie musicians," he said. "It started as a great way to get unbiased and targeted feedback about the demos I was working on. But when iLike came around, it became probably my biggest single source of new listeners. The Facebook integration was the icing on the cake. It's always the first thing out of my mouth when a musician asks me for advice."
And what would be Woodward's advice for other members looking to use GarageBand.com to its fullest?
"Don't just upload a song or two: add lots, and put them through the review cycle! Not only does it open up promotional avenues, it gives you humbling but extremely useful feedback. Take the time to do quality reviews yourself, because it's what makes the site work. Talk to your fellow musicians. And definitely consider offering at least a few songs under the 'Anyone can download and share' permissions."
Free advice from a guy who knows what 'free' really means -- if you're feeling the urge to get your music out there, get in your garage and go for it!