Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Music Making and Sharing

Well I've been spending a lot of time in my home studio recently. If you follow me on twitter (which you SHOULD... click here), then you can probably know this already. I think the more time I spend in the studio, the more obscure and boring my tweets become. My average follower seems to enjoy hearing me talk about sauces and cereal more than microphones and guitars. Haha....

Regardless.... I continue to spend quite a few hours of each day in the studio of late. I've been working on a few new songs of my own, and I'll be producing a record for my brother over the next few weeks. It's gonna be a great project, and I'll be sure to send you guys a link to check it out once it's done.

With my own music, I'm considering releasing music in a different way in the future......

In 2006 I released a record under the name Fox Run. It was made up of songs I had recorded at various times in previous years. I pressed a bunch of CDs, and sold them through CDbaby (click here for Fox Run on CDbaby), and on iTunes (click here for Fox Run on iTunes).

Last year, I recorded "Under The Canopy", a record I produced myself at my place in Tennessee.... and released it solely in a digital format, primarily iTunes (click here to check out Under The Canopy on iTunes). I know some people prefer CD's still, but the the incredible cost savings I experienced by not pressing CDs made the whole experience a lot less stressful. It felt FUN to make and release my own music again, because I could produce it myself, and release it digitally, for pretty darn cheap. (Sure, buying studio gear is expensive, but I'm using it more all the time, and I'm hoping to produce a lot more in the future.)

In writing and recording my own music in the future, I'd love to take some chances and release music in ways that weren't possible before computers, mp3s, and the internet were so commonplace....

I'm considering releasing 1 song a month through my website exclusively.... no albums, no EPs.... just 1 single a month (ok, maybe a bonus song here and there... haha). People like yourself could check back every month and download the new single. Twitter updates could be used to send messages out when a new song is available (so, like I said... you'd better be following me!). The best part is that I'm considering letting you set your own price for the download. You could pay $1, $2, $100, nothing at all, or whatever! It's up to you. I realize that a lot of people will just download songs for free.... but I'm more interested in building a community of music-lovers than a bank account.

I'm not sure that this kind of a business model could really sustain a music career on its own.... it really wouldn't be very effective at bringing in an income, but I'm very blessed to have a great job playing guitar in a fun band... and this musical endeavour would be more of a fun experiment for me.... designed to create community more than cash.

What do you guys think? Would you enjoy experiencing new music this way?

11 comments:

Janet Vartan said...

Yes! That sounds really cool. You're Brilliant:)

graciegirl said...

thats so cool!! im totally up for that idea!
i wouldnt mind naming my own price for music ;)

Shannon said...

Very cool! :D so exited!

Taylor Napier said...

This sounds Great!
I am always excited to hear your music!
And am extra excited to hear new music from you!

Perry Wilhite said...

Perhaps you've seen this blog by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. But I found it very informative and also found it interesting that Hawk Nelson seems to follow a lot of the same strategies that he recommends. Anyway I'm not sure about letting the fans establish the value of your product (or art.) Love you Jon! Here's the link if you want to check it out. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/neilmccormick/100001311/how-to-make-it-in-the-new-music-business/

Ida Lou said...

Jon that is amazing! I love the idea of free music, especially in the times where not everybody can afford the music they love! You're fantastic Jon!

AlotlikeKARA said...

Jon,
this idea is brilliant.
I would love to do that. and I would definitely give a price because I want to support you in that way as well. but it would be nice to be able to do that.. since like Ida said. not a lot of people can afford buying the music they love.
I'm really looking forward to it.

christena said...

that sounds great! it's sooo nice of you to let us name our own price! i can't wait for the new stuff :D

Anonymous said...

Sounds awesome!! Can't wait! I'm not on Twitter...what about Facebook?

Alyssa said...

I love it! Your music is amazing, so a new song a month would be great!

mich9fan3 said...

I love it. I'm sure people will be very fair about the donations. Can't wait.