Might as well give it away

[Hemisaurus]

http://gizmodo.com/5840580/what-a-band-really-makes-from-streaming-sales

[clockwork green]

http://gizmodo.com/5840580/what-a-band-really-makes-from-streaming-sales

Same reason my gigolo days are behind me.

[Pissy]

I think we already do.

[SpaceTrucker]

With the amount of volume i'm sure ya ; do^

[Ranbat]

Here's the way I'm looking at it now. Forget albums. Your music is now your 'jingle'. That's right, your songs are commercial jingles to get people to buy your merch and come to shows. So, writing an albums worth of 'jingles' is retarded. Put a couple songs up on your MySpace/ReverbNation/WebSite they can stream or download for free. Build your mailing list and keep them interested in your band (or brand as it is nowadays). Always have something happening. If you just have to release that concept album, record it then release it in 'episodes' to keep them coming back. KISS could benefit from this big time. I mean, when was KISS really about the music? Yeah they have some great songs, but overall they are definitely a 'brand' anymore, not a band.

[liquidsmoke]

Forget albums? But some people like albums and will even buy them, even on CDR if the price is right.

[rayinreverse]

Forget albums?
Maybe for Madonna. Not for underground bands.

[MikeyT]

   I love albums. I've got 'bout all I can handle, though.


    Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean I won't buy more. 

[The Shocker]

http://gizmodo.com/5840580/what-a-band-really-makes-from-streaming-sales

Dinger should have hung in there a little longer.

[Lumpy]

Looks like theoretically,  Amazon MP3 and iTunes are the way to go. They pay the most, and you don't have to sink a lot of money into pressing a big box of discs that will take up space in your closet, if they don't sell.

I don't know if people buy underground music on iTunes store or Amazon MP3 though?

It does eliminate some of the huge downsides of making a CD though... the upfront costs of manufacturing, and the unsold discs collecting dust if your music doesn't sell, band breaks up, etc etc.

[clockwork green]

I buy all of my music now a-days (aside from vinyl) through itunes or I'll download off of bandcamp and I'm at 300G and counting but I wouldn't expect to be the norm. 

[Ranbat]

The problem with albums is the cycle is too long. Plus you're wasting all those songs by dumping them in your audience's lap all at once. People's attention span isn't that long anymore.  If you don't care about making money (and there is nothing wrong with that) being an underground band making albums is the way to go.

[Hemisaurus]

I'd say anything 20-45 minutes is ideal. Don't bother trying to fill an 80 minute CD, unless you've got your own version of Dopesmoker on the go, as far as attention spans go.

[core9]

^^^Agreed, for the mass populace now, the attention span has been whittled down to that of a 3 year old!  I'm still gonna put out albums though.  You can always push one song at a time if you choose, but at least you will have a solid full album for backup in case a real music lover wants the real deal!

[liquidsmoke]

Dopesmoker feels too long because it doesn't have enough riffs. It should have been an ep. My attention span is fine. I just need more riffs. Full length albums are fine as long as the songs are good.

[clockwork green]

Dopesmoker is its own special category but either way it's done about as well commercially as you could possible expect an hour long song to do. I agree two ep's a year is better than one epic double album every three years. What sucks for this genre is that 30-minutes is often just 2 or 3 songs. Our album is three songs and 45-minutes and two of those songs were the shortest songs we had at the time...some people don't want to spend more than 99¢ a song online even if it's 20-minutes long. For now, my new goal is 30-40 minutes for $5...one song as a 99¢ download, the rest as "album only" on iTunes.

There is a good article in decibel about Mastodon and their time on the road. That is still a viable way to make a living at this but it seems like the only way to out earn the 16 year old working at Taco Bell is to market your songs to commercial guys. Some 30-second clip in a car commercial can pay a few hundred grand, even to unknown bands. Whether or not you're okay with that is up to you...but it can be a good way to get exposure. I know a ton of people that didn't start listening to Nick Drake till Volkswagen used Pink Moon in an ad 10 or so years ago.

[Metal and Beer]

I remember this discussion before, and it's a worthy topic. Personally, my attention span can't handle a conventional full-length album anymore. That's probably a mix of my own deficiency and modern-era bands just not having enough juice to justify 45 mins/ one hour. EP's, like a 20-30 min. stage set, are optimal IMO. Get in, kill, get out ! "Reign In Blood" would have suffered with 15 minutes' more material added...

"Dopesmoker" is an exception for me. I wouldn't mind if it had been shorter either, but its length is fine

[Ranbat]

Love the 20-30 min set. I've always just wanted to play the best songs I have and get off the stage. It seems there's always some filler in a 45min-1hr set. Playing a whole night (10-1:30) sucks balls. I get pretty bored. So, +1 on the 20-30 min set.