Goings-on in the Sockiverse
Hello! I think it’s been a while since I’ve talked about what’s going on with the band and what sorts of things are happening. So here’s a casual collection of updates along those lines.
CD updates
I now have 9 of my albums available on CD, and I’m working on adding all the others which folks have voted for in the poll.
I definitely want to put Novembeat 2020 on CD but unfortunately that will require some extra process, as it has 29 tracks and Kunaki’s online tool only supports up to 25. There’s a workaround for that but unfortunately it will take some time to figure out how to actually do it suitably.
Finally setting up CDs
I’m finally getting around to putting more of my albums on CD, thanks to the on-demand manufacturing capability afforded by Kunaki. You can see which albums of mine are available via this collection, and on each of them you can buy the album via Bandcamp, Mirlo, or direct from Kunaki.
If you buy from Bandcamp or Mirlo the album will also come with the digital download in your choice of formats.
Anyway, inside you can vote on which additional albums I should focus on making available!
Please do not ask me about streaming distribution
Quite some time ago I posted my recommendations for streaming distributors but things have all changed in a very bad way since then.
Some recommendations for digital distribution
As I talked about previously, there are many different services for getting your music online with the major streaming providers. Here’s my thoughts on a few that I’ve worked with, and a couple that are on my radar and I plan on trying out in the future.
Of course, the best place to sell your music is on places like Mirlo and Bandcamp, where you actually get paid well for things and your buyers are able to retain access to your music in exchange, but the unfortunate reality of music in the current era is that most listeners are going to the streamers to listen to stuff, so if you want your stuff to be listened to, this is where you have to put it.
Independent music on the independent web
As an independent musician who is also a (former-ish) software engineer who is keenly all-too-aware of technology and the development of the web, I would personally love to see a much better ecosystem of independent music distribution and discovery that isn’t reliant on any one company or platform, or even a handful of them.
When discussing some of the alternate paths that people can take, it’s important to know what’s out there and what their strengths and weaknesses are.