Burn your music on demand

Music on demand, for small quantities of cds. Could it work for you ? Think about it…
Major Labels Release Long Tail Music on Amazon
Sony/BMG and EMI plan to release out-of-print albums on CD through CreateSpace, Amazon’s service for creating products as customers order them — sort of like CafePress for CDs, books and DVDs.
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CreateSpace [...]

Your audience, your patrons

An open letter written by the composer of the music for the series Battlestar Galactica to its listener. An excellent point of view of the relationship between the music artist and the new role the public is playing, as a patron of the art rather than as a consumer.
Bear’s Battlestar Blog » Blog Archive [...]

A good summary

Check out this article. it’s a good summary of the new music business
Kiruba Shankar: Business of free music
While the music industry is playing ostrich, a few music bands are smartly embracing the Internet by giving their music away for free … and in the process, making money!

MySpace Online music store

So far, the deal is only with the majors and nothing will happen for several months, as the plans are still being put in palce. But what happens with the indie’s share of the profits ??? Either it happens, or the indies will rightly leave Myspace in droves…
But the all in one approach is obiously [...]

Let them hear your music

So now there is proof : if people can listen to your streaming music in full, they are more likely to purchase it than if they only hear a 30 seconds fragment. Just make sure there’s a BUY button next to your streaming music !!!
Last.fm Says Full Track Previews Increase Song Sales
Since Last.fm’s label [...]

Selling downloads at various prices

Another tool to experiment with : selling a compilation with different pricing levels. Will fans bite ? Time will tell. Again, an idea that’s definitely worth keeping in mind, or trying out.
Indie Label Experiments with Tiered Music Pricing | Listening Post from Wired.com
London-based indie electronica label Highpoint Lowlife is experimenting with a similar model for [...]

Getting fans involved in production

An interesting financing experiment for producers. Instead of appealing to fans’ wallets, appeal to their love of music… and leave some cash for the artist to continue his work.  Definitely worth keeping an eye on!
Because, in indie music, fans are not producers, they don’t expect to make a portion of cash from independent artists.  They [...]

Generating new revenue from fans

Radiohead is also good at generating revenues in innovative ways. They’re continuing to think outside the box. Sure, it’s easier if you already have the fans… But it could also be a way to spread the word about your work…
Get Naked and Remix Radiohead
Ever happy to indulge the musings of its fans, Radiohead is offering [...]

U2 follows Madonna to LiveNation

Touring and merchandising could be the future of music for bands…
U2 is refocusing on that while keeping its ties with its record label as well. U2’s manager spoke angrily against pirates and downloads at the last MIDEM conference and sided squarely with the record companies…
U2’s concert deal illustrates new face of music industry
U2 have [...]

Selling your music on your website

Jonathan Coulton sells his music over the internet and he does it well.
The news section keeps things current, the forum allows interaction, there are helpful comments in a friendly tone, there’s RSS, and various payment options, including what to do if you’ve already pirated the music. Well done!