Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Questions related to Roland Clan site and forum
Zephyer
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Joined: 05:38, 11 February 2008

Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Zephyer »

Well considering the e-commerce price your prices are definitely more than fair.

Personally I would go with the $199/year: 4000 MB + domain name deal, I want wav and HQ video running online as well as the domain name (I have BIG plans).

I think most serious musicians well be fine with the $99 deal as they well most likely have several CD’s (using the MP3 File format) for direct download online at once.

Above all Art, you have a great reputation among musicians, what I find is that when people like a brand name (Roland for example) they normally stick with it. I think you well do great with this.

Roland Clan is not your normal forum, once a few members have success with their site they well share it. That well encourage other members to give it a try and you already know we have no problem helping each other out. If a member is having a hard time with there site I would be more than happy to give them a hand.

In the end we will all give back to Roland Clan and it could get to the point where you have many successful members/musicians. And a lot of us would be proud to advertise or even work under the name Roland Clan (Zephyer from Roland Clan). The possibilities are huge, musicians and businesses well come from all over the place to buy what ever you sale.

The future is AWESOME!!!! :-)
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Artemiy
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Artemiy »

Yes, there are many great possibilities here at the Clan, and I will try to make them all real.
Daniel Mioni
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Daniel Mioni »

Must say that I´m looking foward to see that running.

And, if you have any plans to make it in other languages, please contact me!
Zephyer
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Zephyer »

Thanks Art! Looking forward to it!
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V-CeeOh
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by V-CeeOh »

I've been following this and I'm curious about what you can offer to us Artemiy.
Let me ask you a thing that is bugging me: how will you manage the Copyright "thing"? I suppose the store will have a disclaimer about it and all the copyright issues are handled by the seller.
I'm asking this because I already have several copyrighted songs and my initial idea would be to copyright them all before selling. I know this usually leads to some confusion and is treated differently in each country but I don't quite know the right steps to take.
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Artemiy
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Artemiy »

V-CeeOh, surely this is a sensitive and very important topic and I will pay a lot of attention to it.

So far, my ideas are as follows:

- when you sign up for the service, you agree that you will only post original music that doesn't infringe anyone's copyrights and you hold full responsibility for what you sell

- when a customer buys music from you, before he can download music, he must also agree to your copyrights, i.e. that he won't distribute your music in any way

If you're concerned about your own rights, well, according to what I know you own copyrights for everything you do in any case. So to protect yourself you need to make the users agree to your copyrights before they can download your music.
Shambler
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Shambler »

I have been making music for years and have considered selling but I am in a trap that may affect many composers.

I just don't think my offerings are good enough, I never complete a piece of music to my satisfaction....my girlfriend says she likes a piece but to me I lack confidence in what I have made....always I see faults with what I have written and don't want to release something I feel is not my best...but then I never feel something is the best I can do so catch 22 ^^

Mastering seems to be a dark art and yet sometimes you hear a track on radio or CD and think...hell that is mixed terribly...too much bass or too much treble...how much did they pay for mastering and if it is that bad how come I can't do it myself?

I think the reason that many of us do not release stuff is because we are too critical of our work.

Look at Von Haulshoven though, he releases much of his work and here is music I really enjoy, the difference is I don't feel I have to critique it, I just listen too it and enjoy it because I enjoy something that he has put much effort into...at least he has presented something and people enjoy it.

This is a lesson to us all...just get it out there...it is never going to sound as you intend on all systems anyway.
Bruiser
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Bruiser »

Shambler -

I don't think any true artist out there is ever completely happy with his/her works. A need for income and the natural instinct to avoid starvation ultimately drives them to put their stuff up for sale. The kinds of things (music included) that I have seen (and heard) being sold as "art" over my lifetime gives me a great deal of confidence that my stuff is as good or better than a lot of it. I am blessed in that I do not need to sell any of it for my well being, however. I intend to participate in Artemiy's brainchild simply out of curiosity and certainly not to get rich off from it. I will get a thrill if maybe one or two people out there in the world actually purchase a song or two.
Know1
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Not sure how to go about it.

Post by Know1 »

I've thought about selling MV8800 patches. I did make a meager attempt to do so.

I wasn't really sure how to make a download available or what I should charge for it. So I backed off.

I could do some research and develop a competitive figure. However I would still have the problem of making them available through a download.

The patches I would sell include Synths, Drums, Orchestral instruments, Basses, Strings, Keys, and Environments. All together they are about 20 Gigs. These are not the factory installed patches. They were taken from software and converted to .mvo files, they sound great.

Of course there are some legal issues that may apply with my situation. I could just sell the time that I put into converting the files and give them away. Or slightly change the samples.

To me ebay seems like the most logical place to put these on the market. I see stuff like that on there all the time.


ANY ADVICE IS APPRECIATED!


Know1
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Artemiy
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Artemiy »

Bruiser:

You're right that pretty much all musicians are very self-critical. I am such one, but I know I just need to get over this. Just give people a chance to listen to your music and let THEM decide whether it's good or not. Also, for the prices I'll offer, it will cost no extra to sell your music, so there will be no reason why not to try. If not for sales, you will have your own music website which is easy to manage.

Know1:

It is a seriously bad idea to sell sounds that you've sampled from software. It is okay to use these sounds on the MV if you own that software, to make your own music. However, selling copyrighted sounds is illegal. Manufacturers to monitor the market and I know a friend of mine which was kindly asked by Roland to stop selling sampled JV-2080 sounds. If you want to be on the dark side, it's your will. But this is no good.

I'd better learn how to use those softsynths to make your own sounds, it's not that hard. Then you can use your sampling experience to make original libraries for the MV. And you can not only sell them yourself but offer your sounds to various online sound stores like Producer Loops, etc.
Know1
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I realize the copyright issues involved.

Post by Know1 »

Artemiy:
I am fully aware of copyright law.
I also realize how easy it is to create your own sounds.
I'd like to think I'm fairly good at sampling and resampling.

On the legal side of things, if I do end up selling MV patches. I think creating my own sounds would be the route I'd take.

Also when is a sample so minuet that it basically becomes fair use.
I think many of them with just some minor manipulation would be laissez-faire.
I mean take a three second long sample that has been looped appropriately and ad some modulation. Maybe just a pitch bend.
Then resample it and loop it.
It's no longer the same sample, right?


I guess selling MV patches was just an idea I had. I might have more luck just selling WAV files.
Selling loops is a great idea, and is something I never thought of. The only problem is that they are so easy to get for free.

Thank you for your input, I appreciate your reply.


Know1
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Artemiy
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Artemiy »

Well yes, it's hard to draw the line between original and modified sounds. But just try to make it as "yours" as possible.
Know1
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Re: Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Post by Know1 »

Of course.
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