I just know what I would be listening to if there had never been a music industry. I'd be listening to people talking... perhaps a few little jigs on the fiddle here and there, but my life has been so improved by the presence of bands like Zeppelin, Dream Theater, Jethro Tull, Rush... The list is endless... and none of us would be doing what we are now doing, musically were it not for the 5 decades of music that has preceeded us. We hate the industry, bit we would be much worse off without it. It gave us Clapton, but it also gave us Leo Sayer.

p[icked up 3 dvd's today - Rush - beyond the lighted stage(ordered, not received) , Dream Theater - score and Eric Johnson live from Austin.

Its been a good day.

So many empty rooms or lonley car rides - were it not for all that music.

Jaug, The Score DVD is great, especially since I am in it(if you can pick me out of the crowd) was a great show to be at. You can even squeeze in a nap during the keyboard solo, the kid next to me at the show did.

Well, with a foot in both the music and fiction worlds I see a lot of parallels.

I publish fiction on Amazon/Kindle, and make a few bucks here and there.
And I publish music online for free and for sale various places.

I think the future of both is the same:

Direct marketing to the listener. A song or a story at a time, with the option of a collection as well.
And they need to be able to buy them right from their mobile device (whether that is a kindle
or an iPod or a phone).

So far, I see readers as way more likely to pay for fiction than music listeners are to pay for
a tune. Stealing tunes has just been around longer than stealing books online.

The critical question is why?
Are readers more honest?
Or is it just harder to steal books because they are less likely to be unprotected digitally?
Or is it because my short stories are just $1?

I think it's the culture. Kids today were raised thinking music is free. And they don't read.
So the people buying my stories aren't kids.
Different audience.

How do we fix it?
I don't know.

Some people say it's because independent music isn't good enough.
I call BULLSHIT on that.
It's because no one wants to pay.

And if kids aren't going to pay for Lady Ga Ga and B.E.P. they sure as hell
ain't gonna pay US.

That doesn't speak to the quality of the music. That speaks to the mindset of the listener.

And it is very frustrating to KNOW that no matter how good your music is, people will
just steal it anyway.

So I do it for me. And my friends. And my enemies. And I make a few bucks along the way.


I think the formula **for me anyway, as a one-man non-touring band** is:

1. keep writing really great music that is all ORIGINAL. That's what I'm selling.
2. give some of it away as a form of promotion and to show goodwill toward the fans
3. sell the rest of it online, and in person
4. PROMOTE myself in various ways
5. Build a CULT following of loyal fans that always want the NEXT cd.
6. Keep the fans happy.

Z