I’ve never been a break up/make up person, but I guess I just needed some time off from ORG, to get my head together, to figure out what I really wanted from that online relationship. Ultimately, I enjoy the custom interface that Pete and I built for Sidedown, it is my blog backend of choice, plain and simple.

So, no more WordPress, no more Sidedown Audio Blog… just back to regular ol’ Sidedown, with all of the music, design, and publishing news that entails.

To the few people who checked in on the musics work while I was here, thanks! I hope you head over to Sidedown.org and reconnect with me there.

See you at ORG!~Jw

In a recent discussion with some musicians I heard someone talk about promotion in a way that confused me. Nowadays every conversation about music and business veers toward the issues of what to give away, how much to give away, and whether people will ever pay for music the way they used to.

The comment in question went something like this: The Internet, with sites like Last FM, has allowed me to get listens from all over the world. Maybe that hasn’t equalled sales, but at least it’s good promotion.

Is it, though? I have to question how, in this instance, something is being promoted. The artist gives away all their music. As far as I know, they are not touring. They have no product, so I wonder what it is exactly that is being promoted by garnering a wide spectrum of “listens”.

Most of us have seen something gain a massive amount of attention in mainstream or niche press, then fizzle. Why do you think that is? Most of time, it is because the party gaining attention has provided insufficient outlet for the sudden press and praise. What good is press if, when five thousand people are directed to your website by a single article, you’ve got nothing for them to buy?

Here in Chicago, a lot of small businesses talk about “The Oprah Factor”. If you run a business, you have likely heard someone say “Oh, if you could just get your product on Oprah, you’d be set!” The idea is that because Oprah commands a massive audience of sycophants, a single nod from her will send the flock over to buy your wares. This is sort of true.

I worked at a company who had a product that was chosen as one of “Oprah’s Favorite Things”. This is a big deal, but it involves a ton of work on the part of the company getting the “free advertising”. You have to guarantee to Oprah that you have a certain number of the product in stock, you have to give her one of each for her audience, for free, and there are a host of other issues involved. All of this goes into the hope that when she mentions your companies product, your sales will skyrocket. There are no guarantees of course. All of your company’s hard work could totally fizzle. But you have to be ready nonetheless.

Oprah’s magic touch, as well as any other type of press, is a crapshoot. It may change your life, it may amount to nothing.. but you have to be ready for it.

So, how does promotion work for musicians and labels? I’m certainly no expert, but I do know that people will grab anything for free if you shove it in their face. Yet this in no way means they’ll seek you out to give you money. Giving away all of your music for free can be a good thing, IF you can turn all those freebies into a head count at a live performance. It will likely not sell albums, though

Next: Passive Internet

One of the challenges in creating a party album will be the fact that I am not really a “party” type. In Myers-Briggs analysis I am an ISTJ.. a bit of an introvert, not prone to impulse. As Wikipedia puts it:

ISTJs thrive on organization. They keep their lives and environments well-regulated. They bring painstaking attention to detail in their work and will not rest until a job is well completed. They are often dissatisfied with unresolved issues, whether in life or in fiction.

ISTJs are faithful, logical, organized, sensible, and earnest traditionalists. They earn success by thoroughness and dependability. Shutting out distractions, they take a practical, logical approach to their endeavors. Realistic and responsible, they work steadily toward their goals. They enjoy creating order in both their professional and personal lives.

Despite their focus on their internal world, ISTJs prefer dealing with the present and the factual. Keen observers of life, they weigh various options when making decisions. ISTJs are well-prepared for most eventualities and have a good understanding of most situations. They believe in practical objectives, and they value traditions and loyalty.

The saving grace for me, I think, is that I thrive on rules, parameters, and analysis. I’m objective-oriented, and I usually finish what I start. We’ll see how it goes!

If you’d like to have a listen, I’ve got a clip of the hour-long performance in Episode 25 of my daily podcast, available on iTunes and of course right here.

Good Morning Sidedown is the podcast’s name, in case you’re looking it up on the ol’ iTunes.

I’ll be spending the next few days writing basic tracks that I will then improvise over live. Join me if you can!

The other day I was trying to focus on my next album. More specifically, I was deciding that my next album should have some focus. I’m notorious for being all over the map stylistically. I think that a lot of people find this confusing or hard to relate to, so for my next major project I want to make it very cohesive.

But in what way? A bandmate recommended that I “Make a party album.”

I thought about it for a few days… what is a party album? What do I, a notorious recluse and anti-socialite, know about parties? Sounds like a challenge.

I like a challenge.

This is something I’ll be working on over the next six months. I’ll talk about the process here. I promise to make it interesting.

I’m a huge Hospital Records fan, and their new release by Bop is phenomenal. If you like your drum and bass with a unique IDM flavor, this is an album you’re going to want to pick up.

Go check out iambop.com for more details.

First up is Good Morning Sidedown, my new weekday news/nonsense podcast. I’ll be telling people about various Sidedown news, playing a track or two, and talking about anything else I find noteworthy. It’s a short, daily dose of… well, something… so if you’re into random information or want to be involved in Sidedown projects, this ‘cast is for you. Check it out right here.

Also, a new episode of RPMcast is up for your enjoyment. This one features three tracks from ikiBEAT, and you should most definitely listen to it. You can find the ‘cast right here.

More music news coming up this week.

Thanks to everyone who came out to hear us play… we had an absolute blast!

And hey, are you subscribed to the podcast? If not, you’d better get on that. You can do it through iTunes, or by plugging the following URL into whatever it is you use to listen to podcasts.

feed://www.sidedown.org/downcast/downcast.xml

And hey… you do listen to podcasts, right? If not… you’d better get on that.