Harvey Danger Vs Selling CD's
How do you find your music? How do you hear about new bands and new styles? Two hundred years ago it was traveling bards, eighty years ago it was radio, and 20 years ago MTV began bombarding us with music with images. The latest phase in this evolution, Internet downloads, is possibly even past its prime as music-via-cellphone technology is now emerging.
Before, radio music promotion was done primarily by word of mouth, and Harvey Danger is hoping that tried and true method — combined with the luxury of digital downloads — still has the power to get their music out to all willing ears.
Harvey Danger? That's sounds familiar…
Remember summer '98? John Glenn was preparing to be the first geriatric in space, President Clinton admits to a little creative substitution with a cigar and Harvey Danger was all over video and commercial radio stations with their breakout single, “Flagpole Sitta.” The song even made it onto the American Pie soundtrack. Two years later their next album was released and the sophomore curse struck hard. The band disappeared off the popular radar, one hit Oneders
The really interesting thing about the whole situation was that the original album featuring “Flagpole Sitta” was independently recorded and released at a total cost of roughly $3000. The second album was released by a major label and flopped. So, five years to the day after the release of their second album, Harvey Danger released a third album and they did it without the majors this time, hoping to repeat the success of the first disc.
And it's free.
On the assumption that the largest hurdle any band faces is exposure, Harvey Danger is providing the entire album, titled Little by Little, for free download via MP3 and Bittorrent formats. Of course, there is the option to buy a physical copy of the album. The band has concluded, however, that since very little of most band's income is a result of record sales they should offer it as a promotional tool. There is a greater chance that more people will hear the album if it is distributed for free. More people will discover the band and go to the shows and buy the t-shirts and posters and the end result is profit for the band.
The idea of recouping recording costs through increased touring revenue is foreign to the major record companies. It is, though, a powerful option for independent acts and we will probably be seeing more of it. It's beneficial for both the band and the fans. But you have to check it out first. The philosophy and the music are both worth listening to. www.harveydanger.com.
Before, radio music promotion was done primarily by word of mouth, and Harvey Danger is hoping that tried and true method — combined with the luxury of digital downloads — still has the power to get their music out to all willing ears.
Harvey Danger? That's sounds familiar…
Remember summer '98? John Glenn was preparing to be the first geriatric in space, President Clinton admits to a little creative substitution with a cigar and Harvey Danger was all over video and commercial radio stations with their breakout single, “Flagpole Sitta.” The song even made it onto the American Pie soundtrack. Two years later their next album was released and the sophomore curse struck hard. The band disappeared off the popular radar, one hit Oneders
The really interesting thing about the whole situation was that the original album featuring “Flagpole Sitta” was independently recorded and released at a total cost of roughly $3000. The second album was released by a major label and flopped. So, five years to the day after the release of their second album, Harvey Danger released a third album and they did it without the majors this time, hoping to repeat the success of the first disc.
And it's free.
On the assumption that the largest hurdle any band faces is exposure, Harvey Danger is providing the entire album, titled Little by Little, for free download via MP3 and Bittorrent formats. Of course, there is the option to buy a physical copy of the album. The band has concluded, however, that since very little of most band's income is a result of record sales they should offer it as a promotional tool. There is a greater chance that more people will hear the album if it is distributed for free. More people will discover the band and go to the shows and buy the t-shirts and posters and the end result is profit for the band.
The idea of recouping recording costs through increased touring revenue is foreign to the major record companies. It is, though, a powerful option for independent acts and we will probably be seeing more of it. It's beneficial for both the band and the fans. But you have to check it out first. The philosophy and the music are both worth listening to. www.harveydanger.com.
