THE CULT - New Music Released in Partnership with Aderra

I always start posts about Aderra by apologizing. This blog is supposed to be about my personal thoughts not just boosterism for my company. But This project has loomed large for the past couple of months. September 14, 2010 was the official drop date for The Cult's new "Capsule 1" release at http://cultcapsulestore.com. Singer Ian Astbury envisioned a constant stream of mixed media content being delivered to fans. He and fellow band founder Billy Duffy made a decision to stay independent and to step outside of the usual long form CD cycle. Today was the day we set it in motion. The band partnered with Aderra to deliver their new music straight to fans. The package includes: The Cult Capsule 1 CD/DVD Dualdisc featuring two new songs, to classic live tracks and a short film by Ian Astbury and Rick Rogers, a Limited Edition 12 Inch Vinyl Single of the Cult's two new tracks, "Every Man and Woman is a Star" (we released this previously as an exclusive at iTunes)and "Siberia". Also included were MP3 and FLAC format downloads and USB "Dog Tag Capsules" of live shows from the current US Tour.

Back on August 1, we had "Every Man and Woman is a Star" debut on iTunes simultaneously as the band debuted the song live at Knebworth. To commenorate the occasion we gave out 500 limited edition "THE CULT DESTROY KNEBWORTH" t-shirts to fans right in front of the stage.
That day the song went to number one inSpain, Number 5 in Holland and top 40 on the iTunes Alternative chart. I am guessing we were the only tech company to have a song on the charts that day.

Now six weeks later we flipped the switch on cultcapsulestore.com and we start their US tour tonight in San Diego.

THE CULT - New Music Released in Partnership with Aderra

5 Ways Music Acts Can Make Money

One of our lead investors planted a seed: How many ways do musical acts make money? I sat down and was able to distill it into 5 specific categories. Each revenue stream can be subdivided in hundreds or thousands of ways but at the end of the day the 5 ways musicians make money are:

1) Recorded Music - Hard to believe right? But even in the age of file sharing, recorded music is still a fundamental part of an artist's income. There are 2 types of fans: those who will pay for your music and those who won't. Make it as easy as possible for the fans who want to pay to buy your music.

Don't ever, ever alienate your fans who don't want to pay for music.

Because they might want to pay for something else, like a ticket or merchandise.

2) Performing - Guarantees, a piece of the door, pass the hat for tips. You get paid to play. Some times a little, some times a lot but this is A) What you love doing. B)A great way to find and retain fans and C) money.

3)Merchandise - This includes tour merch, online sales of merch and retail distribution of our stuff. Think hard about what fans will actually want and be sure to include a range of items from inexpensive to premium.

4) Licensing - Placement in TV, Film or commercials is a payday. And a great way to get new listeners, especially now that FM radio is essentially a wasteland. The massive proliferation of programming on cable television as well as the web has created a need for licensed music that has never been seen before.

5) Sponsorships - "Sell Out" - Get over it again, but don't be stupid with your brand. Sponsor money from small affiliate links on your web widgets to full blown tour support is a godsend. The thing to avoid is being associated with a sponsor that doesn't make sense for your fans.

Those are the five critical channels for artists to make revenue. Depending on the current state of your career one or more of these may hold more weight than the others but they all contribute to your ability to generate revenue.

5 Ways Music Acts Can Make Money