[linux-audio-user] Marketing Free Music

[Dana Olson]

On 3/9/06, Carlo Capocasa <capocasa at gmx.net> wrote:
> Yep, you heard me right. We need to MARKET our free music. Just because
> it's free doesn't mean we don't have to work to make it acceptable to
> the general public. And, we've got to convince people to press those
> donation buttons once (preferably twice) a day.
>
> Right now, as Cesare pointed out in a previous post, CDs are looked at
> to have enough added value to pay 20 bucks to get a booklet and liner
> notes. Clearly, it's not the booklet and the liner notes. It's a ritual.
> a 'CD' is kind of like a diploma... We live in a culture where people
> just don't believe in themselves anymore. They need proof that an
> external authority has approved this whatchmahallit and hence it is
> 'good' (ie they may judge it 'good' and trust a lot of people will agree)
>
> College degrees. Course diplomas. Organic food. Plastic toy safety.
> Certificates, certificates, certificates, everywhere you look. It
> appears people somehow have this mysterious 'them' in their heads and
> believe they must appease them. As soon as you act like an authority you
> become a part of the mysterious 'them' and hence have credibility.
>
> Sad, but true.
>
> Of course there's a bunch of people out there with a mission to change
> that... There's Serge Kahili King (http://www.huna.org) and Neale Donald
> Walsch (http://www.cwg.com) to name two. They're all about 'What do YOU
> think? It's about you! Start thinking!' (actually speaking of thinking
> there's also Bob Proctor (http://www.bobproctor.com) but watch out the
> guys a REALLY GOOD salesperson.
>
> So these guys are all working to create a free society and that's what
> we should do to... A free society is one where people actually work to
> find out what suits them, what they want in life, their personal taste,
> etc. In other words, freedom of mental SERFDOM.
>
> But I do find it helpful to work with what people believe NOW in order
> to lead their minds somewhere. So we should create just that... logos,
> logos, logos. Brands. Marketing.
>
> We find our short, catchy message and then repeat it til the sun goes
> down. And up. And down. And up. And down.
>
> "Downloadable music is superior to store-bought CDs"
> "The OGG Vorbis file format is a sign of quality."
> "Music that costs something is worthless."
> "You are under a moral obligation to donate when you download music
> for free and listen to it regularly."
>
> OGG Vorbis needs a logo. "VORBIS Seal of quality." Kind of like 'Intel
> Inside'. People don't exactly know what this 'Intel' is that is inside
> but simply assume they need it. People don't know exactly what this
> 'VORBIS' is but assume it stands for freedom, love, good feelings...
>
> I believe the best 'brand' and 'credible authority figure' we can create
> is simply 'Free Music'. You get some free music and you know what to
> expect, and you know what is expected from you. Like in a well-known
> kingdom in the middle ages (some things never change).
>
> So we have just created a music label that is truly free, that anyone
> can participate in... That's pretty Sweet :) Now we're REALLY replacing
> the middleman, not only in terms of distribution but in terms of authority!
>
> Anyone wanna gimme a hand? What do YOU think of this long-ass post? :)
>
>
> ;)
>
> Carlo


I read your whole post, but I think I forgot part of it already.. ;)

Anyhow, I've been thinking a lot lately about removing the MP3s from
my own website and leaving only the Oggs, but I think I'd rather have
some great logos and information to promote it before - the timing
would be right then.

My suggestion would be to make any kinds of logos and things like that
in SVG form, with a transparent background, as bands have different
color schemes or button/banner schemes, etc. and it should really be
fairly flexible. For example, if I have a black background, perhaps a
white background for an "Ogg Rocks" logo would feel out of place, or
whatnot. I say SVG because I like to have my images at certain sizes,
and SVG is ideal for that. But these are just suggestions and I might
not really know what I'm talking about.

Either way, I'm really interested in supporting an initiative like
this, even if my music isn't great and I have all of 3 fans. :)

Dana