Welcome to my annual review of the year post when you can discover my artists and songs of the year as well as a whole load of other interesting things. Slightly later than planned because a lot has been happening, even as I've been trying to write this. So have I now received all the Sellaband albums I found myself still waiting for last year? Has
Matthew Ebel managed to do the one thing I said last year would convince me to go Entourage for life? And what other stories do I have to tell from this year? Read on and find out.
Sellaband album update
Those who remember my post from last year will remember I reported on a number of albums I was still waiting for, despite them being over the 1 year deadline. Incredibly, a year after that update I'm still waiting on some, meaning it's now at least 2 years since they reached their target and the albums still haven't been seen. So here's an updated status report on the ones I'm still missing.
Natalia Safran
Target Reached: November 12th 2008
Status: Supposed to have been sending albums out before Christmas more than three years after reaching her target, but I still haven't received anything. Sellaband were suggesting before Christmas that people ought to be leaving messages on her wall about the situation and were laughed off by other believers as it being a waste of time. Whilst it's something I agreed with even then, I'm also someone who often gives people more chances than the majority would say they really deserve, so I did leave a message in order to prove or disprove once and for all what was being said. And just as I'm re-reading this post prior to publishing, it seems she's finally logged into her Sellaband page, several WEEKS after the message was left and left something on my wall claiming to have never received my address and that I am obviously not very well informed because she has been making regular updates on Facebook. Yet with only one blog post in 2011 (the previous one was in 2009), and her website information way behind reality (as I've mentioned in past posts), ironically any reason for not being "well informed" can only fall on her shoulders because she has made absolutely no effort to keep people informed in the place where she received her funding i.e. on Sellaband. I'm not going to chase after her with my address AGAIN. Sellaband have it (as they have had since I signed up to the site and there's been no problem on this score with any artist to date - albums for 33 different artists both sent and received so far) and it's part of the T&C I agreed to to allow them to share it with artists anyway. So I've left a message on her Twitter account asking why Sellaband won't give her my address and we'll see just how long it takes to get the answer to that question (I'm not convinced she's even bothered asking Sellaband for believer addresses in the first place at this point). If she was really as interested as her wall post on Sellaband sounds, she ought to have been looking out for some kind of response from me, or have got one of her "wonderful team of people" doing so and responded to that within a few hours. No prizes for guessing silence prevails, so I've officially lost patience and am now pretty much expecting that this album will never turn up.
Impression: Seems someone needs to climb out of cloud-cuckoo land and realise that Facebook is not the only way you communicate and that people will not follow you to the ends of the earth until you've built up some trust in the first place. Definitely an artist who does not deserve funding until she's learnt some lessons on making and retaining fans once you've caught some initial interest, so you can be sure I'll be letting you know if I catch her trying to fan fund elsewhere in future.
Lori Greco
Target Reached: August 17th 2009
Status: Contacted believers towards the end of the year to let them know her album would now be delayed into 2012. But there is conflicting information coming out of Sellaband itself as I received a Sellaband mail asking me to check my address details were correct as they were nearly ready to ship the CDs. 24 hours later a second mail arrived from Sellaband saying to completely ignore the first message as it had been sent out by mistake by their system. A third mail has since arrived, supposedly from Lori herself via the Sellaband system, which seems to suggest a release could still be as much as 4-6 months away.
Impression: Whilst there has been some communication (in fact of the remaining artists I'm waiting for she has been the most communicative), I almost certainly wouldn't join in any future fan funding for this artist due to the incredibly long time since she reached her target before anything is likely to appear. Considering she signed up to Sellaband in 2007, the entire process will have taken nearly 5 years before the album is seen and that's way too long to be asking for money in advance. Unless she can demonstrate more timeliness in future projects, I'd have to consider her unsuitable for fan-funding, despite the potential shown on the communication front.
Cubworld
Target Reached: December 16th 2009
Status: Unknown. Last update on Sellaband was back in June to say he'd finally hit the studio and giving a full track listing for the album. There was a second studio update from him done as a Youtube video in September that wasn't mentioned on his Sellaband page which stated he was about halfway through the recording process, but you really had to be following him to be aware of it without searching it up.
Impression: I'm starting to get to the point where I'm beginning to regret my decision of 2 years ago to buy more heavily into his project. Whilst other events this year (more about that later) have helped to extend my patience on this one, the big change on Sellaband from the $50K and managed releases to artists setting their own budgets and being left to their own devices appears to have come too soon for this fledgling artist.
Narrowly missing out on being included in the above as I received their album in the last week of December is Radio Orange. However as their album was supposedly only awaiting artwork over a year ago and only Natalia Safran has taken longer to produce an album so far, you can probably guess I'm far from impressed here as well.
I haven't kept track of which albums from before the bankruptcy (other than the ones I'm personally waiting for) are still missing, but suffice it to say the fact that it will soon be 2 years since the new management took over and there are still albums outstanding from before that in the first place is something which reflects extremely badly on them and their ability to deal with problems. It's hard to see how Sellaband can ever regain trust now, given the length of time that has passed. And now that it has chased most of the remaining interest in the place away by closing the forum it's also hard to see how it can play catchup on other sites now it has succeeded in knocking itself back to square one. Particularly as its own slogan tells me it hasn't learnt
this important lesson about fan funding in the first place.
There is also one other thing which worries me somewhat and that is the fact that two of these three overdue artists were seemingly being mentored by one particular group of believers who appeared to have some links in the music industry. And it makes me wonder as a result how much problem is at the artist end and how much is down to those who were stating they were providing advice and support to the group of artists they'd chosen to promote as part of this collaborative effort. How much "old-school thinking" has Sellaband really had lurking in the guise of "forward-thinking" believers? Maybe even more than I thought?
Favourite songs/albums of the year
This year's song list is based on songs or artists I've heard for the first time this year. Obviously if the artist was known to me already then only songs from the last 12 months count. However where I only encountered an artist for the first time in the last 12 months, the song I've chosen may be older. As usual, I'm placing a one song per artist limit on the chart and the condition that you must be able to listen to the tracks I've chosen online for free. Sadly Songza is still restricted to the USA only, so there's no playlist for you to listen to while you read my blog as there was last year. The album chart requires me to have bought or received a copy of the album in question within the last 12 months for it to be included.
Favourite Songs
1.
I Wish I Were - Matthew Ebel
2.
We Love The Underground - We Love The Underground
3.
Who - Tim Bennett (now known as Civilized Tears once again)
4.
The Stars - Fox Amoore
5.
Beat Into You - Bob Gentry
6.
Autumn stories Week 9 - Fabrizio Paterlini
7.
You don't remember my name - Lauri
8.
Ruby Jean - Aly Cook
9.
Kiiminkijoki -Embraze
10.
Małe rzeczy - Sylwia Grzeszczak
11.
It's Over - Nemesea
12.
Wishful thinking - The Ditty Bops
13.
Take It Like It Is - Misha Williams
14.
In My Heart - Mono Inc
15.
Like The First Time - The Giant Leap
16.
Stand and Fight - Acoustic Jim
17.
Remember - Gayle Skidmore
18.
Holly - The Lights
19.
Honestly - Kris Searle
20.
Call me up - Guru Groove Foundation
Favourite Albums
1. The Day The Devil Fooled The World - We Love The Underground
2. Miseducated - Tim Bennett
3. The Quiet Revolution - Nemesea
4. Brand New Day - Aly Cook
5. Come to Dust - Second Person
If it wasn't for my one song per artist limit, I could quite easily have managed to fit at least three different tracks from Matthew Ebel in the song chart as a whole, based on the previews of songs I've heard from his new album project. But only one of these three has been officially released for anyone (rather than just his subscribers) so the choice of which to include decided itself, despite the fact "All Over Again" currently looks like it could shape up to be my favourite on the album when it comes out.
Coming in a very close second is the final track on the album that also narrowly scoops my favourite album of the year award. The album in question is "The Day The Devil Fooled The World" by "We Love The Underground" with the track being the same name as the artist.
And in actual fact sorting out my top three favourite tracks into order has once again been very difficult this year. Additionally, my third favourite track "Who" comes from the album narrowly squeezed into second place for my favourite album of the year. Since releasing "Miseducated", Tim Bennett has reverted back to his former name of Civilized Tears and has started broadcasting on UStream. Dates for 2012 shows should be announced very shortly via his
twitter feed, so keep your eyes open for those.
Further down the list, my foray into Last FM has proved my best form of discovery this year by providing a number of tracks from artists I hadn't heard before. These occupy spots 4,5,9,10,12,13,14 and 15.
In other highlights you'll find a track from the self-produced debut solo album from Lauri Ylönen (better known as the lead singer of Finnish group The Rasmus) at number 6. Unlike the band material, his solo album blends electronic with euro-pop and dance, even descending into a more Kraftwerk-like feel at times - a musical change of direction which appears to have polarised many existing fans.
The observant should remember Acoustic Jim and his song "Life Two Point Oh" as being something I liked very much during his failed trip on Sellaband. This year he's created his first full length album with his band "The Wires" and the track I've chosen is from that album. Incidentally, you can hear the complete album at the link I've sent you to, as well as download most of his older work for free.
There is also a certain irony to the selection that rounds out my top 20, as I first heard it when it was released back in June on Soundcloud. The debut album of Guru Groove Foundation (on which this track appears) was supposedly being funded on Sellaband, yet seems to have mysteriously released itself before the funding project required to produce the album was completed. Still, I guess reducing your Sellaband target 6 months after actually releasing the album does at least stop money from being tied up in the site, even though the whole situation feels more like witnessing a bad joke rather than a serious project on a well-managed site.
Special mention this year goes to "The Alphabet Song" by Second Person, which I obviously had heard before having spent so long on Sellaband and was therefore ineligible for this chart, despite the album only being released this year.
2012 albums
There are of course already some albums I'm looking forward to this coming year. Here's some information on the ones I already know about.
"Ghosts" - Skitzo Calypso - Released Jan 2nd
Technically this one is already out but the pre-ordered copies weren't being shipped until the week of release, so I haven't yet received my copy as I know it will take 2-4 weeks to arrive based on my experiences ordering music from the USA. Brad has released some samples on their bandcamp page and it's also currently possible to order the EP itself for less than $10 including postage from their website
here. You'll also find 3 tracks which aren't on the CD to download for free at the link I just gave you.
Album title and release date TBC - Into The Night
Into the Night spent most of the summer recording their second album but things have gone rather quiet since late autumn so I've not heard any details on the album itself since then. The suggestion from the tour section of their website is that there will be a preview show in March, so I'm hoping they'll release some more concrete information about the album in the next couple of weeks.
Album title and release date TBC - Poets Of The Fall
Given their very predictable and organised release and touring schedule, their 5th studio album should be out at some point in the next 12 months, as last year was primarily their writing/touring phase and their previous 4 albums have been released around 2 years apart. Many fans are facing their 7th year of disappointment though as it seems even the might of gaming industry money and gold/platinum album releases in their own country isn't enough to get any tour dates further afield than the likes of Russia yet. A sobering thought for other independent artists out there and just one of the reasons why I think we could see a very interesting and modern twist on the ancient idea of patronage develop if those artists who want to stay independent are to find a way to tour without traditional industry money.
Entourage or not?
I've just reached completion on my second year as a member of
Matthew Ebel's highest subscription level (The Entourage). Those who remember my post last year with my decision to renew will remember I made a promise that I would be prepared to declare myself as one of his Entourage members for life (financials continuing to allow me to do so) if he could successfully manage one thing during the year. So now it's time to reveal what has happened on this score since last year's post.
But before I reveal the outcome, I first need to explain a few things.
A large part of the top two tiers of Matthew's subscription service is the fact you get access to his entire back catalog. These tiers are therefore most obvious as a one-off for those new to his music who might want (and are able to afford) to pick up all his older stuff in one go. Once you've got that music, there's very little obvious reason why anyone would go for one of these subscriptions. In fact, Matthew himself was originally expecting that nobody would renew an Entourage subscription, but rather that fans would rotate through it. To be renewing at this level at all is therefore akin to making the following patronage statement.
I am more than a fan of your music. Probably a better description is that I am a fan of you. Others may be scratching their heads wondering why I'm paying over the odds and/or for what looks like nothing, but I don't care. Because I think you're worth it. Because I trust you. Because I believe you're doing your best to do a good job. And this is my way of making those statements to others who are hesitating on the idea of testing the waters because they have no experience of you and hence no idea of how trustworthy you are, in the hopes they'll give you the chance to prove yourself to them. After all, why would I renew if I wasn't happy?
The next main thing of interest came about as a result of Matthew's announcement back in August 2010. If you remember back to last year's review of the year post, I was excited by the prospect that he might be able to complete his current project
"The Lives of Dexter Peterson" in a year. Having been one of the first believers on Sellaband, I've seen a lot of artists go through the site through signing up, raising funds and actually recording and releasing their albums, so the amount of work and the timescales involved for Matthew's much larger project where no funding collection time was involved were going to make for some very interesting comparisons. So the "one thing" I had in mind when I wrote my review last year was to see if Matthew could manage to complete his project before I was due to renew (to be complete within the year he originally planned would have meant it was finished a few months before this post even) whilst maintaining or improving on the level of service I'd seen from him in the first year. In some respects an extremely difficult thing to be looking for, but equally something I felt could only fully deserve that public "Entourage for life" declaration in response if achieved, because of the very fact it would blow a lot of what I thought I'd learned during my time as a Sellaband believer right out of the water in terms of what it was and wasn't possible to expect from an independent artist. But obviously I didn't want to introduce any pressure or outside influence at the time, hence why I'm only revealing this (for the first time to anyone) now the deadline I set is up.
And so the answer to the big question. Am I prepared to declare myself as one of Matthew Ebel's Entourage members for life?
No. Or at least... Not yet...
To understand my reasoning, it's also necessary to look at something else that has happened in the last 12 months. And that's what happened with the Sellaband project of Jonathan Davis of Korn fame. That project was originally started in December 2010 to fund the production of a DVD and Bluray of a concert that had taken place in 2008. The inference in the project description was that the finished product would be available very shortly after funding completion. The funding section of the project took about 4 months and the fans who had been spending money were obviously keen to get their hands on the finished product. First they were given a date in May and nothing arrived. Then they were given a date in June and again nothing arrived. People started to get angry and call Sellaband a scam despite the fact the project had only finished funding a couple of months previously (remember the T&C actually state a delivery time of up to 12 months for a Sellaband project) - something which can be at least partly explained by the fact Sellaband had actually taken the money for the project as it was spent, rather than on the day the funding target was reached. However the point at which the angry mob really started was in August when a DVD of the concert was discovered for sale on Amazon and yet no fan had received what they had paid for. And to add insult to injury the price on Amazon was much cheaper than what they had paid on Sellaband. Even the main Korn fansite started calling for legal action. Less than 6 months after funding on the project closed and it was completely impossible to miss the large number of people who had completely lost all patience with the situation. It appears that some people did receive the DVD in the end, but that this was exactly the same as the DVD that had been available for sale much cheaper on Amazon. As for those who had paid for the Bluray... well reading through the comments on the Sellaband page, it seems that didn't appear at all and people only got the DVD package instead. The comments on Jonathan Davis' Sellaband wall about the issue appear to have pretty much stopped some time in November which suggests people have already given in and moved on. It's therefore possible to rate the patience level in this case as about 6 months at worst and maybe a year at best (if you count the fundraising time as well). And the majority of those that donated were hardcore fans.
And so to Matthew Ebel, where you'll hopefully spot the parallels to the previous story in what I'm about to share. It's fair to say that there have been a number of positives this past year. The subscriber updates have been coming through fine, Matthew has been as responsive as ever to email etc. and if you had caught one of his gaming streams, there's a good chance you'd have caught a preview of a couple of the new album songs even before anything was released to his subscribers. Also, if it isn't already obvious from what I said in my "songs of the year" section, then I can also tell you that I already know I am going to like this new album. A lot. In fact, scrap the word "like" and insert the word "love" instead. This actually stands a real chance of becoming my favourite album of the year for 2012, even though it'll be up against some incredibly stiff competition for that one in the form of the new Poets of the Fall album for starters. Despite the fact the album has taken more than the year he originally planned, it looks like it's almost ready to go for mastering and (if you recall) I already suspected a year ago that the project would take more than a year to complete. If that had been the full story of the year, then I would have been severely tempted to make the "Entourage for life" declaration despite the delay in the album. Unfortunately there have also been some things which make me positively recoil in horror and seriously question whether I should be on a "patronage level" of support as a result, when I think of what I've seen with Jonathan Davis.
Matthew Ebel is the luckiest artist I have ever encountered. I have never come across an artist with such tolerant and patient fans before. Ever. Speaking as one of the earliest believers on Sellaband, yet one of few who seemingly still takes any interest in the site, I'd be inclined to think I am a very patient person. Yet I feel like I'm learning a new definition of the word patient here. Things that turn the average person into an unhappy customer seem to have exactly the opposite effects when Matthew gets it wrong. It's...interesting... There are times when I doubt both my customer service experience and even my own sanity as a result.
One of the perks of being a top level subscriber is that you get a framed and signed copy of any album released in the year you are subscribed, along with a playable copy. Matthew's "Songs From The Vault: Vol 3" was released at the end of 2010, so it should be pretty obvious that I was due a copy of that. However at the time, there was a problem sourcing the frames which Matthew explained and apologised for. Not a big problem - these things happen. However when several months had passed and there was no update, I tacked a "btw what's happening" type comment on the end of a response to another question he'd asked. It's quite obvious from what came back that he had completely forgotten that the framed copies hadn't been sent because he had been way too absorbed in the new album. But with the annual goody bags still to be sent and the album due to be finished in a few months as well, it seems he took the same logical step I would have done and decided to send it all together. Even though he didn't actually state that's what he was planning, the logic of the situation was such that again, it wasn't a problem. For me, the patience test really begins at the point it became obvious that the new album wasn't going to be ready in September but was more likely in early 2012. That's the point at which getting the goody bags organised and sent along with the already somewhat overdue framed copies for the previous album (and then worry about the new album later) would have made more sense. But as things stand at the moment, it seems we're still in a position where nothing has been sent. The last goody bag arrived in August 2010, meaning we're currently heading more towards 18 months, rather than something that's supposed to be an annual event. And the framed+playable copies of SFTV3 haven't arrived either a year down the line from the album's release. Add to that, the fact I asked if the annual meeting was going to be recorded (as previous years have been) and was told it would be, yet I've seen no copy online and no subscriber message arrived to say that one had been posted for those who had missed it, and in some aspects the customer service level has taken one heck of a tumble this second year compared to my first. I think you might agree I'd have some justification in breaking out the torches and pitchforks and (in fact) maybe even NOT resubscribing based on this story, particularly when you compare with the Jonathan Davis story and the reactions of (even long time) fans seen there.
Yet the torches remain unlit and the pitchforks left to rust, at least for now. I've not only bought a subscription, I've actually renewed my Entourage level. You see, not only is there no sign of anyone jumping up and down about any of the delays, I'm aware of more than one person who still wants to BECOME an Entourage member, yet there is no free slot for them to do so. In any case, if we compare with what I've already encountered on Sellaband, Matthew is far from overdue on the album, even though he's missed his own deadline - at the moment I'd have to say he's looking like spot on time (or maybe even early) for one of the conclusions I've reached on the length of time I believe artists need to produce an album. And remember his full project is to complete somewhat more than an album in the first place, so the other result of all this analysis is what has led me to that extended patience with Cubworld that I mentioned earlier.
I've also just watched more than $2500 for mastering of the album appear from donations to Matthew's site in only a week, something I know for a fact he genuinely didn't want to ask for in the first place (and in fact a fundraising attempt he didn't really publicise, but left to word of mouth to spread). And unlike some other artists I could name who have teams of people working for/with them, yet have done no better (or in some cases worse) on the service front this year, I know that Matthew is still doing pretty much everything himself. Credit where credit is due - that's far from easy.
So the complete opposite to what would be expected if people were unhappy is happening and it's kind of amazing to watch. And that applies for me as well - my inbuilt warning system hasn't got off yet despite the fact logic would say it ought to have done - I've only found myself feeling a little uncomfortable purely because it hasn't gone off in this case, yet still happily goes nuts and is proved reliable elsewhere. I'm still getting to grips with this situation.
So despite the fact this is the second year running he's managed to rattle me enough for me to question my Entourage decision, at the moment the original reasons I went Entourage are still intact. Even though he's doing a very good job of bending my patience in some areas, I could also quote you some very good reasons why Matthew Ebel still has my trust. On balance, good enough to renew and see how things develop over the next year, but the trust level still isn't quite there for me to say with confidence today that I'll want to continue to go the extra mile of patronage and renew as Entourage next year. I really wasn't expecting this to be the case - the past 12 months ought to have been merely a case of sealing a deal that looked pretty much done after my first year. So the next 12 months are likely to be crucial in proving or disproving the impressions I've formed so far, and hence what I do when my renewal comes round again. I may have been following a gut instinct when I dived straight in at the deep end on this two years ago rather than having trust built up by prior experience, but I still find myself questioning whether that instinct was correct far too often, despite the fact experience has proved to me time and again that my instinctive first reaction is nearly always the one I ought to have followed (whether I actually did land up doing so or not)
I still have every confidence he will get himself organised eventually. And that key word "eventually" is really the big stumbling block. If Matthew Ebel is to increase and retain new members to his fanbase, sooner or later he's going to have to properly get to grips with the shark-infested consumer waters out there, where the Korn story gives a very good demonstration of just how fast people lose patience once you step away from your supportive friends and out into the "real world". And in an industry as saturated as the music business, once you lose the interest of a potential fan, the chances of you seeing them again are slim to none. Consumers are never as forgiving as fans and you don't convert from the former to the latter overnight - trust has to be earned first.
So I may have renewed at Entourage level, but there is currently no way I can bring myself to add the magic words of the promise it will be "for life" and still maintain a clear conscience at this point in time. Even though it's something I would love to be able to do, the fact remains that making such a statement essentially means that not only am I convinced he will not let me down, I'm also convinced he can cope with the consumer market. i.e. that he's not going to be in the habit of making the kind of mistakes that will make YOU feel let down, if you were to follow in my footsteps of direct support rather than involving a middleman or the traditional music industry. And the most important point - to be able to make that statement publicly with the confidence to believe I'm speaking the truth. I don't currently have that confidence and the jury is still out on whether I ever will.
Other stories
1. The direct approach
As usual, there are a few stories I haven't told you this year. For instance, I was approached earlier in the year by one of the artists I'd successfully funded on Sellaband who was looking to raise money for their next project. I don't know if they approached any of their other Sellaband believers, but they were actually looking for a loan to be paid back in 12 months with 10% interest. If I were still the wage slave I was when I first joined Sellaband, I'd almost certainly have looked at this in more detail, particularly as they are one of the ones where I have no regrets. But I've had to curb my spending on music in 2011 and it's looking likely 2012 is going to be a lot worse on that front unless things change significantly, so I had to turn the idea down straight off. Perhaps the interesting thing I discovered in the exchange though was that it appears that despite the fact this artist is considered one of the more successful ones on Sellaband, they still landed up suffering from the same curse of things being promised that never happened despite their association with the site being earlier than the point at which that issue got first brought into the limelight. And that revelation in turn has made me revisit my thoughts on what happened over a promise made to me in front of another believer back at Sellabration 2007. It's made me wonder whether my first thought on that one was right after all. Maybe a story for another day here.
2. An unusual project
You know how you sometimes get a very simple idea and before you know it it leads onto a bigger one - well I had one of those this autumn when Matthew Ebel announced he was starting a gaming group up for his VIPs, but never quite got around to writing up about it in this blog. Probably one of the things that frustrates me the most is that feeling of never being able to help an artist out because you don't have the connections they need, or because you're too far away to be of any practical use. There are reasons why I don't like the "tell all your friends" argument, but feel there ought to be something more useful out there that fans and artists alike are both missing (I'm still clueless on what that is btw). Even though I believe in discovery rather than marketing as a result, there are times when I do give the latter a try. So when the idea to convert the banner advertising the fact Matthew Ebel will give you 5 free songs into a spray reared its head, I decided to give it a go.
For those unfamiliar with sprays, in very basic terms there are a number of online multiplayer games released by a company called Valve Software which allow you to take a graphics file from your computer and spray it on a wall in the game (like a poster) so that other players in the game can see it. In many ways a form of digital graffiti/advertising. In reality it's not quite that simple as these games use Valve's own file format rather than a well known one, so images don't always work out (even if the game is new enough to allow you to import more well-known formats). But I used to create sprays for older versions of these games when I was playing at LAN parties something like 10-15 years ago, so I was confident I could make this particular one work. Then it would be just a case of playing on servers and leaving the image somewhere well-travelled in the hopes it might generate some interest. Nothing ventured, nothing gained despite the fact it was rather a direct approach and direct advertising is often pretty poor at generating interest.
Although I was already fairly sure he'd be OK with the idea, I did do the polite thing and ask permission to go ahead with the idea I had planned. So when the response was yes, but that he'd like some screenshots or video, that's probably the point at which the idea expanded and took on a life of its own.
See, if you remember, the first (and only) time I've ever created a video was the thankyou video for when Vegas Dragons hit 50K and I found myself having agreed to help Brian out by creating something based round the hours of footage he'd shot in London when he had a 3 day deadline to get it to Sellaband. Faced with the request from Matthew for video, I found myself in a "what the heck" mode and decided to make a bit more of an effort than merely a capture of 30 seconds or so of game footage. Again, whilst unlikely to generate much interest on its own, leaving another breadcrumb to be found on Youtube would also add to the potential for discovery, and as already stated I prefer discovery to marketing.
The soundtrack decided itself - after all what had I started with but an "Attention Getting Device"? As for the rest... well
the second video I've ever created (and the first where I've collected the material to edit) pretty much speaks for itself, along with Matthew's comment on it. The only thing to add would perhaps be the fact there were some technical challenges to the recording side - in TF2 the inbuilt recording software does not capture sprays and Counterstrike was even more of a challenge due to my TF2 solution not working for that in the first place. In comparison converting the images in the first place was easy.
As to any responses? Things went pretty much as I expected. I saw a number of people who quite obviously stopped for a few seconds to take a look when I was using the "5 free songs" spray, but nobody has actually asked me anything about it to date. There were of course a few people who covered up the sprays I left with their own (another reaction I was expecting) and I actually killed a couple of people who were too busy doing that to notice someone was behind them. It hasn't stopped me on the sprays idea though as (unlike previous images which I merely converted) I already have a couple of prototypes I've created for his new album. Which he won't have seen unless someone else has sent him a screenshot of anything I've left in game as he hasn't played any games with his subscribers yet. It's still too early to tell whether the slightly different tactic I have with these is having the same or a different effect as the "5 free songs" one, but I'll be having fun investigating that in more detail over the next couple of months.
3. Regrets
The final story I have for you is the obvious one of the regrets I've had this year. The first and most obvious one is the fact I didn't manage to get down to London for Julia Johnson's release party. Even doing my usual "down and back the same day" approach rather than staying overnight means quite an expensive trip, and given the choice of one trip or spreading the money over a number of artists, well it's obvious which won in that case, despite the fact it would have been great to get down there and catch up with some people I haven't seen for a couple of years now.
The other regret I have is related to Brad Cox. The past 12 months in particular have brought a lot of actions (or lack of actions) from others which have contributed heavily towards the development of this feeling.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Bulletproof Messenger had just completed their $50K funding on Sellaband when an artist called Skitzo Calypso turned up. The production quality on the demos uploaded was well above the average on the site at the time and a combination of the genre of their music plus the timing of their arrival was absolutely perfect. Despite having a much smaller fanbase than BPM, they got rather a lot of interest and fast because of that combination - as far as the Sellaband users were concerned it looked like "the next BPM" had just turned up and there was a rush to buy parts as a result. But someone in the band or their management went into a panic and they announced they were withdrawing from the site when they'd already raised more than 20K of the 50K budget in just a few months.
But I've seen artists go into what can be best described as the "wow" factor - when people they've never met and who haven't heard of them before start sending money in their direction it's something they find unbelievable. And it looks like that happened with their singer (and main songwriter) Brad Cox. He'd obviously been doing a lot of the communication on the page and having got almost close enough to taste the $50K, he didn't want to give up on the idea that perhaps a tiny, unknown artist COULD raise that kind of money - tbh I don't think anyone in that situation would.
As one of the more interested believers, I got a message from him in my inbox - if he were to come back as a solo project, would I be interested? Did I think others would still be interested? Seemed clear enough to me - if people on Sellaband were genuinely there to look at the music industry a new way, and the music didn't come as a complete shock to what they'd experienced from that artist already, why wouldn't they be interested? Wasn't the whole point that people on Sellaband were prepared to buy based on the music? I was certainly prepared to give him the chance, even though the obvious question was whether he was going to stick around where his band had bailed. Based on what he said in his mails I went with my gut, despite the fact I only had his word and no prior knowledge of him. I believed him and bought back in when he started up the profile. (and quite heavily too over a period of a few months)
But the moment had passed. To this day, I still have no idea how much came down to timing (and hence how many of those still hanging around due to BPM had originally bought into Skitzo Calypso) and how much came down to trust issues as to whether he would stick around to raise the $50K or get cold feet and bail, but the fundraising didn't go so fast the second time around. Even though the profile later got converted back into his band one (after whatever had caused the original panic had obviously been sorted out), Sellaband themselves had by that time started to screw up in a way that was obviously chasing people off. Neither Brad nor his band completed any fundraising on Sellaband and eventually left again at a time it was clear a lot of believers didn't trust the site any more themselves.
What has happened since then? Well for starters the album that would probably have been made with the Sellaband 50K if Skitzo Calypso hadn't jumped ship the first time ("Burning Down An Empire") got made. Brad has released the solo project album ("The Day the Devil Fooled The World") that is listed as my favourite album of the year earlier in this post. And the new Skitzo Calypso album ("Ghosts") should be on its way very shortly (if it isn't already) as also mentioned earlier. Want to bet whether it gets here before the one from Natalia Safran?
Secondly, as usual, others have also helped to shape and solidify my opinions via what they have been doing (or not doing). When I stop to consider, I know there's at least one artist I bought parts in on Sellaband even before I'd ever heard of Skitzo Calypso in the first place who STILL hasn't released an album, yet I've got much more than that already in my posession which has been created over the same period from Brad at a quality as good as or better than the tracks he put up on Sellaband. And in a year when even Matthew Ebel has (at times) left me almost tearing my hair out, a realisation has dawned - to date, Brad Cox hasn't let me down at all.
Not even once. Over something like a 4 year period since I first came into contact with him. Albums and tracks have been released exactly when stated and I couldn't ask for a better service in terms of what I've received through the mail (and when).
Had Skitzo Calypso stayed on Sellaband when they originally signed up it's likely they'd have got caught up in the original Sellaband bankruptcy after raising their 50K. Whilst that's a fate I wouldn't have wished on anyone, I'm still sad it didn't happen because it's clear from experience that unlike some of the far superior communicators (who did get funded, but have been poor/failed in the promises they were talking up), I'm convinced I'm looking at an artist who actually deserved to get supported instead. With the arrival of "Ghosts" in my mailbox, that feeling will be cemented. Whilst his communication ability is often pretty much on a par with the latest "Viagra spammer", Brad Cox will have gained my trust and proved he can do what really counts i.e. deliver - I would not hesitate to fund any project of his in future if I could afford to do so. And my regret is therefore twofold - firstly that I've left him to prove that to me the hard way rather than taking a more active approach from the time things on Sellaband were going sour, and secondly that I know I'm not in a position at the moment to be able to make up for that decision. No prizes for guessing who just moved themselves to the front of the queue for if and when I can afford to take on another artist with direct support funding.
And a lesson perhaps to be learned from this story. Getting funded should have two sides. Good communication is only half of the story - the other half is that you need to be able to deliver too. And yet that very fact leads us back to a "chicken and egg" situation, because if nobody is willing to take a chance on you by taking your word in the first place, how are new artists to prove they do in fact have what it takes to deliver? The reasons why the traditional music industry is looking to artists to prove they already have what it takes before they'll consider offering a contract these days become a lot more clear, when I consider my own experiences to date.
And Finally...
The realities of the financial crisis just keep hitting harder and harder with no sign of an ending. As a result I didn't put out as many posts as I was hoping to last year, mostly because I haven't been as active in looking for new artists due to the much lower amount of money I've had available to spend on music. And it looks like the problem is only going to get worse this year. Although I will be making posts this year, they'll probably be pretty much on an as-and-when basis as it's looking likely I won't be actively looking for new music this year due to lack of funds but will concentrate instead on following up on some of the artists I already know about - anyone new will likely only be those I happen to fall over on the way.
