The decision of whether to offer music for free is one
that has been troubling upcoming artist for years.This decision could make or
break new artists because this decision affects the amount of people who will download and listen to their music. If there decision were in my hands I
would offer my songs for free on my webpage like New York based talent A$AP
Rocky has done.This member of
the upcoming group A$AP Mob has been extremely successful thus far.
It's hard to believe that if you aren't selling your
music that you will still be pretty successful and make money. However, in college I have learned that there are different ways to market your talent or product
indirectly in order to generate revenue. For instance, A$AP Rocky has been on tour in many different places including
Vancouver, California, and even right here in Maryland. A ticket, on Ticket Master, for one of his shows cost on average about
$35. Initially that may not seem like a lot of money, but when
you consider that about two thousand people will be in attendance, the amount of revenue starts to grab one's attention. This is not the end though, artist usually go on multiple tours
at a time, so the revenue starts increasing, and the artist makes up for not
charging for their music. The sole reason an artist was able to sell out their show is because people listened to their music, available to download for free, and fans enjoyed what they heard.
An alternative to free music is to make some songs free but not the whole album. Chicago based rapper Kanye West demonstrates this tactic on his website. With his new album Cruel Summer recently released, Kanye hopes for lots of revenue from this collection of songs. Most people do not want to download an album they know nothing about, so Kayne has put a few tracks from the album on his website so the viewers can get a better feel of what the album will be about. This tactic works particularly well because listeners then get excited from the song they just heard and will immediately download the album in order to hear the rest.
The upcoming trend, due to the progression of the digital age is, to become a parter with Youtube. When you become a partner Youtube gives you your own channel where you are free to do whatever you please as long as you do not break their terms of agreement. Through this method you are promoting your music on Youtube, a site that exceeds 2 billion views a day, and getting paid through the advertisements shown on your channel. Mike Tompkins has a very popular channel on Youtube. He does covers of popular songs, but what sets him apart is that he makes all the sounds in the song with his voice and mouth. His popular Youtube videos lead him to be a guest on the Today Show on NBC, where of course he gained more fans and became more popular.
An alternative to free music is to make some songs free but not the whole album. Chicago based rapper Kanye West demonstrates this tactic on his website. With his new album Cruel Summer recently released, Kanye hopes for lots of revenue from this collection of songs. Most people do not want to download an album they know nothing about, so Kayne has put a few tracks from the album on his website so the viewers can get a better feel of what the album will be about. This tactic works particularly well because listeners then get excited from the song they just heard and will immediately download the album in order to hear the rest.
The upcoming trend, due to the progression of the digital age is, to become a parter with Youtube. When you become a partner Youtube gives you your own channel where you are free to do whatever you please as long as you do not break their terms of agreement. Through this method you are promoting your music on Youtube, a site that exceeds 2 billion views a day, and getting paid through the advertisements shown on your channel. Mike Tompkins has a very popular channel on Youtube. He does covers of popular songs, but what sets him apart is that he makes all the sounds in the song with his voice and mouth. His popular Youtube videos lead him to be a guest on the Today Show on NBC, where of course he gained more fans and became more popular.
