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Distributing Music In A Post- Cd World

Posted by Music Concerts | Posted in Music Concerts | Posted on 02-07-2009

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While you could hear many negative comments towards the music business over illegal Internet music distribution, they do have cause for concern. Since the arrival of Napster and other file sharing communities, the record industry has lost 100’s of millions of dollars in sales. Some of blame can be placed on their conservative approach to promoting musician s, opting for the “American Idol” instead of the avant-garde musicians who could excite the next generation prefer the Beatles or Van Halen in decades past. They also failed to use the Internet to give out music before the rampant distribution began. But one thing is obvious, the CD  is on the way out.
Over the last a few years the Compact Disc has experienced negative growth in the market. In fact the Vinyl LP has actually remained selling while the CD  is lowing steam. A couple reasons for this are Internet distribution, and the fact that many consumers now use the CD  as a medium to rip music from to their iPod or similar portable music device.
While I lament the fact that nobody sits down and listens to an album anymore, instead using music as a soundtrack to their own lives, there are still ways to give out your next album. You have to use a little creativity and think outside the box, but you could make it work
USB Flash Drive
Do not think you would be the 1st to do this. You would simply be in the company of established musicians such as Matchbox Twenty who last year released a full length album on a USB bracelet. The wonderful thing about the USB drive is you could include extra features efficiently such as videos, liner notes, or even alternative file types such as lossless FLAC or multi-channel audio. The price of USB drives has dropped to dollars each, so it is not too much more than CD  replication. Plus, the USB drive can be used for other things (such as storing individual files for work or school) following your fan has moved it to their iPod.
There are a few services offer ing USB drives in bulk loaded with your content and even printed with your name or logo. Call around for the best price.
Concept Albums
Internet distribution has increasingly made the single popular again. Now that you could chose which songs you want and which songs are junk, many people will download their prefer red songs and leave the rest alone. I’m going to assume you put all of your effort into every song already to not establish filler, but what some musicians are trying is the idea album.
Concept albums center around an idea or theme. Thrice recently released the 1st part of a two-part idea collection. Each box includes two EPs, so the  set will have four discs, one for each element: fire, water, earth, and air. Similarly, Sufjan Stephens has produced a few popular idea albums. Remember, even bands prefer Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd did idea albums.
These are fun albums to produce, but they’re also fun to collect. They’re not something you want for one song.
Creative Packaging
This can be the most costly tip, but it is also many fun. organizations such as Invisible Creature specialize in creating one-of-a-kind packaging for albums. many people prefer creative packaging, and love to collect it. Think about what Apple did with their iPod packaging, it is an adventure just occasion up the box. Project 86’s latest album, Rival Factions, used a blue jewel case to hides and revels different elements in the liner notes, much prefer what you used to find in cereal boxes.
With the right packaging, fans will need to own your album, not just download a few songs.
Digital Distribution
We all want to sell complete albums, but  we  can’t afford to ignore digital delivery. Services such as TuneCore could get your album sold through iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, eMusic and more while you get 100  percent of the sales. This is the future of music sales. Radiohead most famously offer d their album for sale on their web site independently. Some people aren’t collectors and don’t really care about a single experience, they just want a few songs. Indulge them.
High-quality Multi-channel Audio
Not everybody has access to high-quality recording equipment, but those that do ought to think about releasing their albums on master-quality for those who really love their music. Blu-ray Disc is the newest audio disc format which allows uncompressed audio in up to 7.1 multi-channel surround sound. More and more homes are including surround sound systems and Blu-ray is exploding on the market, thanks to the Playstation 3. Even two-channel audio sounds better in high-quality.
Additional features can be added to Blu-ray releases, such as live footage, documentaries and whatever else you could fit on the 50GB space offer d. musicians who have released on Blu-ray include Nine Inch Nails, Dave Matthews, John Legend, and Shakira, amongst many others.
But don’t think you’re stuck to Blu-ray. Record organizations such as Linn Records are providing master quality downloads on their web site. Internet music stores prefer MusicGiants are also providing lossless audio downloads and multi-channel audio downloads.
Get Started
This is only the beginning. Get creative and try new things. Music and art are going to have coalesce to keep it in the physical realm, so think prefer an musician and a businessman. This is your time to shine.

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