Could fifty bucks buy your band some serious exposure? Siren Systems tells the LA crowd at Music 2.0 it thinks the answer is yes, via new technologies that predict whether a listener will dig your new tune.
Digital music distribution is clearly the wave of the future, but now
the question is, will our music fare any better in this brave new world
than in the label-dominated blandness of the past? Online music
advocates are putting their faith in new technology to do just that:
the idea is that unbiased data collected on listening habits will
connect listeners to music they haven't heard but might like. Someone
who loves avant-garde noise electronica, for instance, could stumble
upon your music as a link from a song they know.
The good news is, you can market your music through new distribution
channels immediately. Today at Los Angeles' Music 2.0 conference, Siren Systems
has unveiled a package with CD Baby that combines physical and online
sales of your music with the Soundflavor recommendation engine.
US$49.95 buys you the whole package: physical CDs for sale on CD Baby
plus online distribution on multiple music stores, 5 songs in the
recommendation engine, and a marketing page and two-minute clips of
your music. (The price is cut in half if you're already a CD Baby
artist.)
Will it work? That's something of a gamble for musicians, especially as
the popularity of these services increases competition. But it's a
cheap gamble (I've spent twice that much on postcards for a gig), and
this is
still a huge shift. Marketing dollars alone won't buy you success —
you'll actually have to make music people like. Check it out, let us
know what you think (especially if you're using these services), and
we'll keep some ongoing coverage on this issue.