Reflections on an MP3 release party

Last Sunday was a momentous occasion in Zorch History as are all the release events. It was well attended and MP3 sales were brisk. People were actually showing up 40 minuets before show time to get first crack at buying it. For the record, Chantal beat out Gargravar by a mouse click to earn the honor of first sale. While the show was two hours plus change in length, the crowd was consistent.

Over all, a win for the team.

Thanks to Harrie Skjellerup for hosting and Fox Reinsch for simulcasting the event on Indie Spectrum Radio. Much thanks to all the people that showed up and made the event memorable.

That being said, permit me to ramble on about the relevance of recording sales in Second Life.

Of course I can only speak from my experience and won't pretend to be an expert, but I feel the fact I actually sell a few MP3 gives me an informed opinion.

I personally have a very small core audience that buys MP3s collections. I'm relatively sure they all own more then one collection. This seems to indicate to me, their first MP3 collection purchase was an enjoyable experience, and something they felt was worth the purchase price.

Most collections are sold release day. I suspect many of the following sales are simply people that could not attend the release event, and wanted the collection anyway. I do have a rare occasion where somebody “Runs the board” and buys everything I have available, and while that is very cool, it's very rare.

Now if you factored the time invented in creating an MP3 collection and the money earned it would seem a rather unprofitable venture. But MP3 collection do more then make money. They create an interest in the music.

I did mention my small core audience a while back, but what I didn't mention is they are a very devoted core audience. When I see a familiar face in a crowd, I know they have a few collections sitting on their hard drive. Most are very interested in the new songs presented and wondering when the collection featuring them will be available.

Live music is great, but recorded music is part of people's lives.

I know of two supporters that drive to work listening to my music. Gargravar mentioned he's got my music on his I-pod and often invites people to have a listen. These are just stories shared, I'm sure there are more excursions into real life I don't know about. As a matter of fact, if you have an anecdote about where you listen to your Zorch MP3 collections please feel free to share on on the comments section.

I am an original artist and as such it's of great benefit to me to release my songs to the public. Familiarity with the material give that material more resonance. I suspect a goodly number of my supporters sing along in their homes at my shows. They know the songs, and they know who plays those songs.

A while back some goober suggested I call myself “The Selfish Bastard”, but I'm not selfish I'm arrogant. And while I am arrogant, I am a servant to my supporters. Every collection is an attempt to deliver a product they will want to take home with them, and make it part of their lives. The more often I provide a product they enjoy and ascribe value to, the more my cache as an artist grows. When I get it right, I'm rewarded. Not just with a monetary gain, but a more developed supporter base.

I feel more original artist would benefit with a more refined promotion of their recorded material. Why should I care what other artist do? Well I've often suggested a high tide raises all boats, and to a large extent, the vast majority of music supporters are not inclined to purchase MP3s. It isn't part of their Second life musical experience.

Most artist release recorded material as an ancillary effort to their live show. Yeah, it's available on CD baby, but how many make the jump from the show to CD baby? How many want to deal with all the bullshit of ordering from CD baby and then wait a week for the CD to show up at their house?

There are third party MP3 vendors in Second Life, but simply put, they require instructions and reading instructions should not be part of the product purchase experience. There is a product called “MP3 by Me” that is incredibly unreliable, complicated, and the object actually pays it's creator and then sends your cut back to you. I did use one when I started out, and it magically vanished from my inventory.

There is also the Second Life CD, while not nearly as grim as “MP3 by Me”, it still uses Second Life as a delivery platform and frankly speaking, that is a very weak link. Most that use it are just to intimidated by looking for another solution to do it themselves.

So far with hundreds of sales, I've managed a 100% delivery rate. My system is simple to use, reliable and best of all free to use.

Allow me to sum up why it's so cool to buy MP3s from independent artist.

Every time you buy music from an independent artist you make a big, fat, talentless music business leach cry.

Support Independent music.

Make a Fat Boy Cry.

The Joys of independence

I find it somewhat ironic in the real world there is nothing more corporate then indie music and nothing more mainstream then alternative rock.

I'm sitting here on “Me and My Monkey” release day eve, and hammering out the details of the release. While I defiantly do have help (thanks Harrie), I do an amazing amount of work besides playing shows.

This morning was spend finding and implementing a solution to my web sites play list problem. While I thought I had a solution, it seems Playlist.com would not stream music from my web site to listeners outside the boarders of the USA. A goodly number of my supporters live outside of Mc America, so the situation needed to be addressed. Thanks to the good people at “Groove shark”, my music is once again a global phenomena.

Solutions RAWK!!!!!

I build the web sit, I write the press releases (typos included), do the recordings, prepare the downloads, do the art work, Build the vendor, write the blog, and when time allows I play a show.

I also write the songs.

While it is a lot of work, it's quite rewarding. Sometimes I make a little money, but if money were all that mattered I would do just about anything else. I would probably be a greeter at Wal-mart. Those guys are so wicked cool. But the anticipation of a release is an intoxicating thing. Sometimes I get it right and sometime not so right. I hope to learn from the less then stellar release events and do it better the next time.

Win, lose or draw, I'm the captain of my own destiny. Sometimes I probably work against my own best interest, but that is okay. I'm not taking money out of anybody's pocket but my own. At the end of the day I get it my way.

Yes it's a lot of work, but the work is just part and parcel of the Joys of independence.

"Me and My Monkey" press release

Sunday April 18th, 2010 11:00 AM SLT at Pixel Hill's Water Stage

Call the Neighbors , wake the children Zorch's latest MP3 collection is on the way.

Me and My Monkey

A voice and guitar re-interpretation of 21 Zorch Classics.

1:16 AM
Dance with me
Dream of Kellswater
Everything
Hold back the wind
If I had a song
Johnny boy
A short song about Hell and Heaven
Sweet taste of home
The conversation wasn't over
The hero, the fool, the king and the poet (aka the Poetry song)
The Passion of me
The popes of redemption
The play
the way you love
The yelling man
Twisted Love song
Walls of love
Wanting you is EZ
We all fall down
You talk a lot of shit for a one eyed fat man

The release party will start 11:00 am slt Sunday, April 18th, 2010. The Venue, Pixel hill's Waterstage.
Zorch will perform all the songs from the collection live, and time permitting maybe a few new songs. Note, the play time for the collection is 1:24:46, So expect two hours of EPIC Zorchtastic goodness.

Concurrent with the release date, ZorchBoom.com will be featuring the full play list from “Me and My Monkey”. Feel free to preview before you buy. The collection is also available for purchase at ZorchBoom.com, as well as in world.

Imaginary Frequently Asked Questions about “Me and My Monkey”.

Q. Since all these songs are already available, isn't this a scam?

A. Well you could look at it that way, and I'm sure some will. But the collections featuring the older songs is about to go... out of print (?). “Black and White” and “White and Black” will both be deleted from the Zorch Catalog.

There are several reasons for this deletion. They both have classic songs, and what has been proven over time as superfluous songs. When I say superfluous, I simply mean I don't feature them in the live show very often. The performances have changed over time, and over time my live sound has improved dramatically. “Me and My Monkey” is in essence a live recording with out an audience listening during the recording.

The value of “Me and My Monkey” is it give the listeners a chance to own better recordings of some of the songs that have managed to stay part of the live show for in some cases two years.

Many people are actually unaware of the vast number of collections available at the Zorch Center. I try to keep the number of available collections I carry with me from show to show manageable. Even still I have to wonder how many people feel overwhelmed by the the choices on my humble click pile.

To sum it up. Classic songs, the classic “Zorch sound”, inspired performances and price that factors in around L$100 per-song.

If that is a scam... I'll buy in. But I already have a copy of “Me and My Monkey”.

Q. Are there any new songs on “Me and My Monkey”?

A. Suffice it to say there are two songs that have never been available on any collection. They aren't chronologically speaking new, and have been part of the live show play list for a while.

Fuck you

Wait perhaps that title might seem a bit negative.

Goodness, what will people think? What will people say?

There is an old saying, “Keep your friends close, and you enemies closer”. Most people smile knowingly when this is said, but they are really missing the point. That point being your closer enemies provide you with a protective cushion from the relentless daggers of those whom insist they are friends, and you won't feel all that bad when one of you enemies takes a misdirected blade.

The other day a “So-called” friend informed me she had something to talk to me about. What she really meant was, “We need to talk”. Had she said “We need to talk” I would have been properly warned and avoided her until something shiny distracted her. I would have been living in that more perfect world I long for.

When we finally started communicating (one sided), she had informed me that EVERYBODY in the music community hates me. My friends think I'm an asshole, and I'm too negative.

Gee thanks friend, but you forgot, “I hope you die of aids”.

Of course it might seem like everybody in the music community hates me, because I say a the majority of performers in Second Life suck, and most are so well aware of their short comings they KNOW I'm talking about them.

I also insist most of the self proclaimed experts are full of shit. The movers and shakers in Second Life music are nothing more then fart bubbles in a very small pond.

As for my friends thinking I'm an asshole... well sometimes I am. When it comes to friendship, I'm open to the concept. But I've given up on trying to provide people what they expect from our friendship because I'm never sure what they expect, and some expectations are unreasonable. They are quite welcome to what I have to offer, but expecting more will leave them disappointed.

Am I too negative? Hell no. Sometimes I'm quite positive, but I do negative songs as well. It's called being well rounded. Being honest. Being an artist.

I feel I should state emphatically, I've never intended to become more Popular then the quality of my music could make me. Unnamed people speaking evil of me either have never heard my music, or don't care about the quality of music.

I show up on time, play the best show I can every time, and even when it's not my BEST show it's still vastly better then 98% of the crap posing as music on Second Life. I treat venue owners with courtesy and suggest people stay to watch the act following me no matter how bad they are. I encourage people to tip and vote for the venues and have a pretty solid working relationship everywhere I play.

My more controversial opinions are only expressed on this blog, and perhaps on the Zorch-cast. I'm not a forum troll and I don't start fights in group chats.

I don't even hang out in Second Life, I come to get ready for shows and then play them, then it's back to the warm comforting embrace of real life.

Why do I elicit such strong emotions from people I don't even know? And why do “So-called Friends” insist on telling me that EVERYBODY in the Second Life Music Community hates me? And most important of all..... why do I just not care?

I don't care because it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because it doesn't effect the music. My music is great and I'm sure when I die everybody will talking about just how great it was. Of course I won't hear them saying that, but I don't need to. I already know how great it is.

As for now, people that do love my music are welcome to attend as many shows as they like. Those that find me an abomination to all they love and hold dear are welcome to avoid me in droves. Hey if you really hate me, you can join my group and avoid me with pin point accuracy.

I sit around writing songs, I sit around playing musical instruments, but I've never sat around wondering how to make people like me. Music is all I have to offer. Great music. And if that is not enough.... Fuck you.

Musing

Today there is no overall arch to the blog, just thinking out loud.

Is less more?

My last few MP3 collections have been pretty big. Nine songs on “Ashes and Dream” and 10 songs on “Shadow and Light”. But the first MP3 collection, Get Zorched had only four songs on it, and it was great. As a matter of fact, “Get Zorched” is one of my all time favorites.

Shorter collection take less time to produce, they cost less to the consumer, and most importantly, they really FOCUS the song selection. I'll admit, there are songs on “Songs in the Key of Green”, “The Sound of Red” and “Shades of Blue” some might consider “Filler”. Yes, they are song I've written, but they are not songs I've played live. I felt at the time as if I was providing people with a more rounded vision of my music. But I don't think they are what the listener was expecting.

The most positive response I've ever gotten from a collection was elicited by “Shadow and Light”. All the songs were performed live, and people had a familiarity with them. “Shadow and Light” also came out in a timely manner so people were not burned out of hearing the songs over and over.

What am I saying here? Well to sum it up, I might be releasing shorter collections but more frequently. Yesterday I overheard somebody commenting they were looking forward to the MP3 collection that had “Sweet Taste of Home” and “Mo Anam Cara” on it. “Sweet taste of home” will be on the upcoming “Me and My Monkey” collection and “Mo Anam Cara” will be on the collection following, tentatively entitled “Emotion and Reason” The Monkey should drop before the end of this month.

Me and my big mouth

I hope I'm not letting the cat out of the bag, but speaking in the broadest of terms, a certain SL Artist web based radio show is considering letting me host a call in radio show. In case you are wondering how that would work, no, my phone number will not be part of the program, you would have to call via Skype.

The owner of this web based radio station seems to think I'm funny. Frankly, I've never seen myself at particularly funny, but maybe I'm not paying attention.

Would anybody listen? Would anybody call? And more importantly, would I say something that will get a lot of people pissed off? About the only thing I'm sure of is it would be entertaining... in a train-wreck kind of way.

When a crazy person tells you to duck... you might want to duck

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the way things work, and while Moody is out of her mind, she has figured out at the most superficial level how the Second Life music scene works. Of course the part she understand has more to do with “scene” then with “music”.

Each passing day I care less and less about the trappings of Second Life music. I don't need to puff up my group numbers, and I don't need to write spiffy notices. I'm not suggesting these things are unimportant, but I am suggesting I don't care about doing them.

In my little fantasy world, I come to a venue, turn on the stream and try my best to do the kind of show that makes people hard core believers. And while I'm sure I'm converting a few, faith is a fleeting thing.

Tips matter

It's been reported to me that one long time supporter was belly aching, “Zorch isn't about fun any more, it seems all he cares about is the amount of his tips”. Of course this grumbler said this after attending a show where the artist playing insisted on how he was all about the fun and he was not worried about the tips. That artist was getting a fee... so he could concentrate on the fun.

I have 12 shows booked this week. Only one pays a fee, and that fee is less then half of what most artist charge in Second Life.

If I were a hobbyist as so many Second Life artist are, things would be different. But just different in how it effects my real life. In other words, if I had a Mc Job, and didn't need tips to pay the rent, Tips would still matter.

Why?

Am I some kind of money grubbing freak?

No, simply put, tips are the most genuine display of appreciation an artist can get. Your wicked cool emotes are nothing more then chatter.

When I get to the half way point of a show and look at my tip jar and see L$ 384 there, I'm not feeling very appreciated.

When tips are good, I don't worry about the tips. I feel the love and attempt to give more of myself. Simply put, the better the tips the better I play. I always play the best show I can, but working against the distraction of people under valuing my efforts makes this quite difficult indeed.

When I play live in real life, I make a lot more money then playing in Second Life. In most cases, I'm haired as incidental music. People enjoy it, but they are eating, or drinking, or trying to make a good impression on their date. In Second Life I'm a musician with an international following. I have an impressive discography, and I get a good deal of play on the web based radio stations.

I'm not looking for some magic solution to my situation here, and I'm not trying to guilt anyone in to giving me better tips. But I am saying, Tips matter. They are the most profound way you can show your appreciation of someones efforts.

To those whom tip me very well, thank you and bless you.

Attendance matters

While tiny tips are distracting, audience or one are even more so.

To those of you that don't have a lot of money to spend in Second Life, let me tell you, when you show up it still makes my day. Once again, when I am playing for “Just the host”, I still try to play the best show I can. But it's hard, real hard. Last week, Thursday I played for a audience of one, and Saturday I played for an audience of 78. It's very hit or miss for me. I never seem to turn the corner.

But to those of you that do show up time after time. Thank you and bless you.

It LIVES!!!!!

Okay things have been somewhat quiet at the old Blog, but when you are up to your ass in alligators it's hard to remember the original job was to drain the swamp.

For the longest time I've intended to update the ZorchBoom.com web site. The last update was concurrent with the release of “Shadow and Light”. Gotta keep things fresh right? Well freshness aside, a while back Imeem, the providers of my playlist sold out to the EVIL that is MySpace, and deleted anything that was not part and parcel of the MUSIC BIDDNESS... meaning my songs. A music page with no music is kind of a waste of time.

I've been diligently been laboring to create my own Flash driven player, but while each version worked, it took a few minuets to load. Nobody wants to wait about. Web sites are all about “Provide me what I want NOW”. So my humble attempts were of no use to me. I was banging my head against the wall and I desperately needed a third party application that would work as Imeem did.

I found such a device via the helpful folks at Google by typing in, “Works like Imeem”. They provided me with several links that were all but useless. But after an few hours of fruitless effort I came across,”Playlist.com”, which seems to have solved my problem.

I spent the better part of this morning creating playlist, uploading songs to my website, and linking them to the players. Bottom line.... the songs are back. Hey, even the Zorch-cast is back.

The website is updated with a fresh new look, and the songs are back, and for the most part I am a happy camper.

Now on to the next project.

I've been working sporadically on my next MP3 collection, a voice and guitar epic entitled, “Me and My Monkey”. This is basically going to be a re-recording of the better songs from “Black and White” and “White and Black”. There will also be two songs I've played for a while live, but never got around to recording included in the collection.

I'm also writing new material for my recording project after “Me and My Monkey”.

Things are moving forward at glacier speeds, but they are moving forward. Expect great things.