A calm, measured look at online music sales.

Fuck this shit.

Actually, no, don't fuck this shit. I've been reading some blog posts and forum threads recently about online music sales and one thing most people seem to be agreeing on is that no one (by "no one" I mean "no one that participates in those discussions", including me) seems to be selling any music online. Now, I have actually sold a couple of records and some single songs on these online services but if I looked at it as an investment with monetary return, I would have to find a pimp and turn some tricks pretty quick just to break even. Thank FSM that it's just a hobby for me.

A lot of people say that piracy is to blame. People won't buy music if they can find it for free on torrents, rapidshare etc. Having lived most of my adult life in Cyprus and Greece, I can certainly sympathize. Musicians download illegal mp3s but expect to make money from their own music. Programmers use cracked versions of software but people that use cracked versions of their software are assholes. Vampires drink their own blood. Hell, I'm sure that Bear Grylls would drink his own pee in Cyprus. Oh wait, he does that everywhere anyway.

While I'm pretty certain that piracy can be partially blamed for this situation, I have a suspicion I'd like to share with my fellow readers/musicians: another thing that hurts online sales is the lack of songs. Not tracks but songs. Generally, people like to listen to pleasant songs with verse/chorus arrangements and vocals. Pop stuff, with hooks, beats and, optionally, bimbos shaking their asses on videos. Now, I have nothing against bimbos shaking their asses on video (in fact I encourage it) but since most of us are not members of that exclusive bottom-shaking club we have to at least write some songs if we're expecting people to buy something.

Glitch-hop, noise country and ambient waltz are all fine by me (I love experimenting with new sounds and forms too) but I don't expect anyone to buy my experimental noodlings. If I want the people that actually buy music online (whatever the percentage) to spend their money on my tracks I'll make sure that I'll publish the ones that a majority of the music-buying public would like to listen to. Is it selling out? Not if I enjoy the tracks myself. In fact, if you want to make money from music professionally, you're just unnecessarily holding yourself back if you make only "difficult" music on principle.

Think about it. Rebuttals (I'm sure that there are many and that I'm probably full of shit) welcome. Chocolate cakes and champagne even more so.

Electric Sound Continuum, the debut album update.

As some of you probably know (and billions of unwashed masses probably don't) I have been working on the Electric Sound Continuum debut album for a while. Here's some news:

1. The album won't be called "Satan Sodomizes The Pope With A Stick That's Been Dipped In Vaseline". Yesterday I visited the local church and I came to the horrible conclusion that it's very long (the name, not the stick). Consequently, the album with be called "Electric Sound Continuum".

2. I am probably going to release a single in some months. As Uncut will probably say soon "any song on Electric Sound Continuum's self-titled debut could be a single" so I still don't know which one it's going to be. Whan I say "some months" I mean "yeah right" so don't hold your breath.

That's it for now. Since I'm not convinced that anyone is actually reading this blog, the first three people that send me an e-mail saying "I actually read your blog" will get a free (download) copy of the single and the album when they are released. If no-one responds, I'm going to have no choice but to energise my Tachyonic Destructo-Beam and destroy this shithole (ie. the world).