Doing Your Own Thing
It’s not about whether YOU like the music, but whether SOMEONE DOES!
If I get one more holier than thou e-mail from some muso telling me that Wil Deynes sounds like everybody else, is not cutting edge…I’m gonna explode. THAT’S JUST THE POINT! He makes the kind of music that major labels sign, that radio plays… Maybe that’s why your projects are unsuccessful… You’re telling me how fucking different your act is, that it’s superior, but somehow you want mainstream recognition.
Meanwhile, got e-mail from my friend Don Elford about this act Down Under, who seems to be doing the Marillion/Jill Sobule/Sellaband thing, but just a bit different…
Hi Bob,Don Elford in Oz here. I hope you are well and each day brings you more joy then you expected.
I have followed this guy for a bit but it looks like he is choosing his own destiny
This from management:
No one can argue that music has always been a place of creativity and positive energy. Sure sometimes business tries to by-pass these essential elements but the essence of what creates the music will always stand aside from those that are only interested in monetising it.
In recent times we have seen established artists giving away their music for free, new artists vieing for profile with myspace and other
community web sites, simply trying to get noticed. There is nothing wrong with any of these strategies except that at some point one has to put "food in mouth" hopefully from the product of their music.
Established artists will look for their money from touring and merchandise and the developing artist will probably continue to write and perform while working a day job until they get a breakthrough.An Australian artist Clint Crighton and guitarist/producer Dale Allison believe there is a different way.
Clint has been writing and playing since he was 14 and has in fact never held down any other job except for playing and recording music. Call him a gypsy, call him a dreamer but at the same time you must add the tag successful. He has never opted out of the music industry he chooses to be part of. Clint has toured throughout the USA and China and performed countless dates in Australia, mostly throughout NSW, radiating from his home town of Tumut.
This experience over the years has had the 23 year old courted by management and record companies however their procrastinating has got to him. Clint has decided to take his destiny to those that really count, those that believe in the music the most…the Audience… the Fan.
Crighton and Allison are creating the ultimate artist/fan relationship. They are asking people to give Clint the opportunity to make his own record and this is how it works.
Limited to 1000 individuals who want to be involved, Talking Moon
Music (Crighton and Allison’s new label) are asking them to purchase a membership for AU$100. This is the deal.1. Members will have the 1/1000 chance to be randomly selected for an all expenses paid 10 day journey to LA to witness part of the recording process as well as see the sites of LA including Hollywood,
Santa Monica Beach, Sunset Strip and Universal Studio’s.2. Members will be a part of the creation of an independent record which will be marketed to the world (names will be printed ON the CD artwork).
3. Members will receive lifetime entry into all solo/headline
performances by Clint Crighton.4. Members will receive a signed CD prior to its official release.
5. Once 100 000 copies of this album are sold worldwide, members will get their money back.
Launched last week to his own database Clint Crighton is already
proving that the innovative idea is paying off. One individual from
Prague has purchased memberships for all 5 member of the family.Call it a loan, call it a blind leap of faith but maybe you should be calling it the future of the music industry. Regardless of what tag you want to pin to their strategy most will agree it is the most organic approach to the music industry to date and possibly the one with the most potential.
What is on offer can be viewed at the label website – Talking Moon Music www.talkingmoonmusic.com
Clint Crighton is not signed to any recording company but has a
management deal in the US with Fitzgerald Hartley Co.For further information please contact
Anita Heilig – Fitzgerald Hartley Company +1 (805) 641 6441
Dale Allison – Talking Moon Music +61 (0) 409 313 837 or
talkingmoonmusic@gmail.comLet me know if this approach is entirely new as far as you know
Cheers from down here
~ Don ~
What struck me here was the INCENTIVES! The trip to L.A., getting into the gigs…that seemed worth $100 to me. Kind of a charity lottery with a guaranteed return. Not sure these are practical, I can see them redefining "solo/headline performances"…and I see no reason to waste money on the L.A. trip, and what tourist level will that be…steerage? But this is unlike so many other give me money to make a record schemes… You get something in return. These people are thinking.
Meanwhile, since Don is a friend, I fired up the music. And it’s GOOD!
Don’t tell me it’s second-rate Coldplay. THAT’S NOT THE POINT! The music is for this guy’s FANS! And, unlike your piece of shit out there stuff, it’s ear-pleasing. To many. Sure, you might like prog-punk, some new kind of music mashup, but MOST PEOPLE DON’T! Nothing wrong with that, but can we inject a little REALITY?!
If you want mainstream rewards, you’ve got to make mainstream music. I know you hate that, but that’s true.
But, the good thing is both the second-rate wannabe imitators and you and your out there stuff can coexist in this new age and garner listeners and fans. Stop bitching that someone’s taking your spot AND ESTABLISH YOUR OWN!
