Theremin Music

"Can the theremin market support this? I think it's kind of irrelevant these days. Put your music out there. If it's good, it will be noticed. I think that's the bottom line today." - Rich

Yeah - its a completely different world.. The internet has made it possible for (almost) anyone to share their art with a world audience, free or for fee..

The problem IMO is that the filters are gone - these filters were far from perfect, and stopped a lot of good stuff from getting through - And they were corrupt, only interested in huge profit..

But without them, there is such a mass of "art" dumped that one is going to miss most of it - the "If it's good, it will be noticed" is, I think, a bit optimistic - One still needs the marketing mechanisms in order for anyone to find you, let alone "notice" you.

I know some wonderful musicians who did their stuff mostly at festivals (there was a huge number of "unofficial" festivals near Shepton Mallet / Glastonbury, which ran in the holiday seasons, and had a few hundred people each at most) These musicians would perform and sell CD's and perhaps make a couple of grand 'profit' each season - They were paid (or got donations) for their performances, and people like me would provide sound engineering and equipment and sometimes get tips for doing so (at least we got free entry, food, drink and occasionally a really good smoke ;-)..

But the internet (and age?)  has mostly wiped them out - Strangely, the only ones who are actually known now are those who 'sold out' and signed with a big label, got promoted and marketed... The others give their stuff away on the web, and people have become poorer and meaner, so donations are rare.

The internet is just too big - Perhaps what we need is some software (a bot or whatever) which can learn ones tastes (actually "listens" to the music, rather than basing selection on what is said about it), and go out trawling the web to find stuff you like.. Where's Lois AI when one needs it?  ;-)

Fred.

The Inactivists have 6 CDs, all available here:  http://tinyurl.com/m4fdnqj

or, go to our website, www.inactivists.com

Fred,

Yes of course marketing is still needed. But with YouTube and the likes, marketing as well has totally changed. It only takes one video of note to turn an unknown piece into a huge success. Performing artists may well just put up their stuff for free to generate public appeal to come pay for live performances. SoundCloud is another huge shift in how things are done.

I think my basic point is, if you are an artist and you want to put your music out there, you should not be concerned with market saturation these days. You have a truly global market now. Take you best shot. It doesn't cost a huge amount of money to record and produce independently. Everyone can now be in the recording business (just learn the craft well).

And yes with that comes a ton of quality issues. But with the ability to preview virtually any song, I think a lot of the quality concerns are also worked out by the buying public rather quickly. If I don't like the preview, I don't buy the song.

So ThereminWorld should list as many titles as they can, as they are in fact a major theremin marketing arm. The power of a simple Google search is amazing when you think about it.

Rich

I have just listened to Amey and Doug's "Secret World".

And I am a great fan of Amey, So yeah - I am biased! ;-)

But I have never enjoyed any theremin album as much as I have enjoyed this one - IMO it is breathtakingly beautiful, and you dont get any real 'feel' for it from the short clips.

This, IMO, is an album you need to listen to from start to end, with no distractions - IMO, this is not "background" music, I have just played it 3 times consecutively and want to play it again - its straight to the emotional center, but gently - Not sure whether theres a "class" or "genre" for this - classical, meditative, oh, I dont know.. Every piece is complete, unlike most new-age or the like which often lack structure or closure - Its simple but not predictable and despite apparent 'simplicity' is actually often complex.

This is an album where the two instruments and their musicians produce something immensely greater than the parts IMO - This is synergy.

Anyway - its touched me, deeply - Thank you Amey!

Fred.

Fred, I agree, Amey's CD is wonderful but I am curious - do you have a copy of the disc? Were you able to purchase the mp3's online (I tried and found that option was "Coming Soon").

I expect you heard the album as I (and others) have, simply by clicking on the song links on the website. I was surprised that what I heard were not short samples of the material, which is what I expected, but the entire CD from beginning to end (more than an hour of music). This is a very generous gesture on the part of the artists, but I question the wisdom of doing this as a marketing tool.

Peter, I am pretty certain that Fred purchased the CD directly from Doug Hammer's Website. When you "purchase" the CD from his site before 10/24/14, you are then able to download the mp3s right away. On Bandcamp, there is a link under the title that says to pre-order, click here... And that will re-direct you to Doug's Store. You have not been looking too hard because even under the title of our album on Bandcamp, you can click the pre-order link and that would have taken you to his store and then could have ordered the album.

Bandcamp offers streaming of "Secret World" ~ no downloading for now. Tomorrow, paid download will be available because it is the official release date. We went around and around about this on Facebook Levnet. I have asked 10 people (Incl. Randy G.) to check the links and page on bandcamp and there are no " Free" dowload links enabled.

If you want to sit there on Bandcamp and listen (and I am not saying going on google and find a site that will convert the songs from streaming to download for you) to the whole CD fer free, that is fine with me. I have downloaded many CD after I was allowed to stream the whole thing. 30 secs samples really do not help in my opinion to decide if you will like an album or not.

Oh and Thank you so much Fred for your very nice review!! I forwarded your words to Doug and he's very happy to know that you enjoyed it :)

Hi Amey,

It was not my intention to start another discussion like the one we had on Facebook! Since Fred brought up the subject, I just wondered if he had bought the CD, or listened to the free-streaming ("non-downloadable") version.

To be honest, I haven't bought a CD disc in years, but I do buy mp3's regularly. When the mp3 versions of SECRET GARDEN become available for purchase (I believe that will be tomorrow???) I'm gettin' it! 

I would like to emphasize that I have never owned any third party software that would allow me to illegally download any bandcamp streaming audio, though I do understand from Gordon C. that such software is available. 

As for musical samples (preferably less than a minute), I compare that to a supermarket offering shoppers tiny morsels of gourmet cheese on a toothpick, as an enticement for them to buy the product. Feed someone the whole wheel and you could lose a potential customer. That's a marketing decision that each artist must make for him or her self. 

I don't want to upset anybody but strictly from a marketing point of view, I am curious how others feel about this question.

Coalport ~ If you are looking for Secret Garden to be available tomorrow, you will be waiting for a bit :) It is Secret World. :)

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