As some of you may know, my very first solo record that has taken me through a lot of trials and tribulations is finally coming out this month on February 19th. With all of the stuff I’ve been doing in preparation for the release date, I’ve been living in “deadline” mode for the last two months straight and I now have the swollen glands the size of golf-balls around my right ear to prove it.
I’m releasing my record “Transmiticate” on my own label SparksFly which is exciting because I get to call all the shots, but on the downside, every shot I call costs me money. Recording costs, manufacturing costs, hiring a publicist, shipping costs, and on and on. This stuff adds up big time. I’ve found that the key to solving most obstacles in business, or life in general, is to “get creative”.
I’ve written here at Firedoglake briefly before about my involvement with CASH Music (Coalition of Artists and Stakeholders). Well my partners at CASH and I have come up with an experiment which we feel is completely unique and to our knowledge has never been done before. With everyone screaming that the music industry needs a NEW BUSINESS MODEL we’ve decided to open the floor to the public in a somewhat startling way. We are offering up profit participation on the sync license for one of my new songs “He’s Got the Honey”. More details here: http://donitasparks.cashmusic.org/sparksync.php
Wild West as it sounds, we’re just going to go for it along with the public. You see one of the things that a traditional record label does is invest in the artist. Putting up money on the front end for recording, promotion etc. in the hopes of making it all back (and then some) on the back end. Well there is nothing traditional about me or CASH Music, but we do know that music licensing is one of the remaining lucrative aspects of the music business for artists (and stakeholders). I’m curious to see how this thing will pan out and I’ll definitely keep you posted on my mad experiment!
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Hey hi howdy yo!
Aloha, Donita and fini! What does “Transmiticate” mean or imply? ;-)
Hi fini!
Hi Donita
and I know you’re out there Young Jess *waving*
Right here Elliot! *waving*
hey Joh, where you goin’ with that… hey – what *is* that in your hand anyway?
Hi Everybody!
“Transmiticate” is a made up word meaning to communicate through transmission. We’re kind of doing that now,
Thanks for asking!
Hi everyone! Big Hug and love to all. Been busy – hope everyone is healthier than Donita.
Hey, Feb 19 is not to far away! Here’s a question (and the answer should probably be obvious to me) – is it better for you if I buy the disc direct from you, or if I buy it at my local store?
So the new biz model is that people can buy shares for $100?
How many shares are issued? Do all shares get equal dividend? Are there voting rights attached to the shares? Or just profit distribution? Have you issued a statement of the costs for the song?
In response to Donita Sparks @ 0
The fun being a businesswoman. Sorry to hear that.
I’d like to raise a question here. Will there be an invoice added to CDs ordered via your website? Mail to countries other than the US will get checked by their duty offices. If they don’t get to know how much I paid for the CD I ordered they might confiscate it, which would suck.
hi donita
i’m so excited to buy your first solo record! also, i’ll be the crazy chick in the front row, dancing & rocking at your gig at safari sams!
i love that artwork! that is one badass belt!
love,
nora
Lucky me.
I just got my tax refund today.
I’m in, already did the PayPal thing and am printing out the contract.
My sister in law is a Notary public, so thats covered too.
Now I gotta get an envelope and a stamp.
It’s the leastI could do fer you being so nice to autograph the new CD for me.
Hey folks, I just added a handy dandy embeddable player for the song above if you want to grab it for your MySpace page or your own blog! You can grab the embed here at Odeo!
That reminds me, I owe RBG lunch, Big Time…..
Sounds cool, I think I’ll use it later :)
Donita, you mad scientist! Good luck with your experiment.
I love you and your music.
I’m waiting to see you again on the east coast,
AL
Hi swag,
Well, it is better for me to buy the CD from my website store:
http://donitasparks.com/?page_id=49
Thanks for asking.
JayT!!! Hey folks, we are celebrating JayT Day at the Finito Household. JayT did a very very kind thing for a friend of mine. Jay, you are a heartfelt man, a scholar and a gentleman!
Please do, tell your friends! Wake the kids and phone the neighbors as Letterman used to say! Shout it from the rooftops if you like. You can get embeds from Donita’s media page as well.
Gotcha. I’ll tell everyone I can :)
Hi, Donita…
I´m Zambeli, the photographer…
I hope all are well and our new stile of make music is going in right way. Stand by me and us! The new way to make art and music is always welcome! Viva the inspiration and the braves who begins things!
When you arrival in Brazil? I hope take some pictures of you and of your show… Please, talk to Robert don´t forget me! If you need some help or “caipirinha” (a great drink here) in Brazil, please, don´t hesitate to contact me…
Kisses
Donita,
grab an ice cold six pack of beer.
Hold one to the swollen glands and chug the other five.
You will feel better, one way or the other.
;)
Hi Donita!
Your initiative is very good! To do music with creativity is a brilliant idea. Congratulations for the great work! Keep rocking! Our gratitude will be your reward for so much work! I’m very happy for your new album, yeahhhh! Now, your new works will be transmitted by the whole world! Let’s “Transmiticate”! =D
Hopefully soon, my friend.
Hey Donita! Hey Fini! Nice embedded linkie thingie.
Thanks for the info, Donita. I just bought the non-autographed version. You should autograph it anyway!
Hi, YoungJess! What’s rocking? =)
1000 atta girls for you! Hey Jess, if you want to help us out I sure could use someone to help me spread the word about the release on MySpace, Facebook and elsewhere you youngin’s hang out online. If you or anyone else want to help out email me at finifinito at gmail dot com.
Not too much, just listening to some music and all that regular stuff, how about you?
Maybe it got lost in all the text in my provious post.
Is there an invoice to CDs ordered via the “store”?
I love Odeo, I have used them for podcasting for years. It links to your mp3 file wherever you have that posted and the embed can go anywhere.
Hey Donita,
It’s me Dan, Dan the Tinselman! Just wanted to let you know that I’ve already pre-ordered my copy and I can’t wait!
Hope to see you again in Boston REAL soon!
Lemme know when you are coming around so I can take a day off or at least get a haircut.
Hell. I might get ‘em both cut!
Sure! I’d love to help out!!
Yes, this is part of my new business model.
100 interests are offered, which is equal to 1/2 a percent.
Equal shares.
No voting rights, just profit distribution. I retain complete ownership of the composition and recording.
No “cost of song” statement has been issued. That’s not really the point here.
Please refer to our legal document to further answer any of your questions.
http://donitasparks.cashmusic……eement.pdf
Send me your email address and I will email you this weekend with a gameplan! Same for anyone else who want to help out for a couple of hours over the next few weeks.
Aww, fini, you shouldn’t inflate his already enlarged ego…! We’ll never hear the end of it…! ;-)
I’ll look into this. I don’t have an answer for you at this moment.
It would be fun to prod dipsetmuthafucka to dance to one of the songs on the new record. Yesterday he danced to the Wipers. Today, it’s Junior Mervin. I think he’s a really good dancer. Wish I could throw like that.
I’m listening music too, but not having fun a lot… Because I’m studying as a lunatic, to pass in the tests and to enter in the university. ^^
Bustednuckles! Welcome to the Music Business my friend! Light yourself a big cigar and cut yourself a line of blow!
Thank you very much for your support and confidence. Hopefully we’ll all make some bread.
Due to privacy concerns of the person involved I can’t go into details here, but Jay did a wonderful thing for a friend of mine and we are ecstatic about it. He is an awesome human being and I am proud to know him.
My email:
edited to remove email addy since purpose had been served
The problem I see is what is the profits which are left to be distributed. Are the expenses of promotions and tours and so forth figured in? They must be no?
It’s an interesting concept. When are the distributions made?
Donita
I just downloaded the pdf. great idea. I love it. it must be a little scary for you too. lol what if iphone wants to use it all of a sudden, you’d be like rats, i cant believe i did that. ;-)
good luck!!!
I have a client who is in the biz. He manages OK GO and They Might Be Giants and so other groups. He’s a terrific guy and quite the lefty too, writes for the Nation occasionally and is a lawyer to boot. That’s a tough business.
I guess I might want to like, actually listen to the song now, huh?
LOL!
Kisses back at you! We arrive in Brazil on February 21st. Please email Robert then and he will remind me that you want to take photos.
RBG: can you fix Young Jess’s last comment, she dont need no spammers bugging her and I got her address.
I hear you, I like to rib him from time to time…! 8-)
Yes Dr. Bustednuckles, will do.
I was wondering about when it was going be released. I plan to buy a copy.
Interesting approach. Not sure if you’ve seen David Byrne’s article in Wired describing, among other things, all of the interesting business models artists are starting to choose in order to survive.
Byrne describes six different models. Your model sounds like a hybrid of Byrne’s #4 approach (the profit-sharing deal) and #6 (self-distribution).
Good luck, hope it works out for you.
Thanks Jandira! See you in Brazil?
Oops, sorry Donita, I accidentally posted while signed in as you!
Big love to you Dan Dan the Tinselman!
You guys have GOT to see this awesome video my friend Jimmy just sent me. It’s a mashup video of David Lee Roth wailing away in a fake audition for American Idol. Its brilliant!
Mr. Finifinito. I see you edited the email address of Ms. YoungJess. Note that “good” spam bots can interpret the “at dot …”. Best thing might be, you edit it out alltogether. :-/
Sorry, I didn’t read the last comments before posting. So my last post was kinda pointless.
Aww, fini, you shouldn’t inflate his already enlarged ego…! We’ll never hear the end of it…! ;-)
ahem…. Actually I have a rather small head, at least literally.
But I have a cool australian leather floppy hat, which i take fro court to court trying to garner votes for the ugliest hat in the building….
I like your ‘modest’ request… 8-P
Expenses are not figured in at all nor do they need to be recouped by participants. If the sync is licensed by a company, film, what have you, the profits from the sync will be distributed to participants as soon as the check comes in. No joke, no jive.
Hmm, I did not write this. Fini, did you log in as me by accident?
hey, I said I was lyin’ – how much more honest can I be?
I’m trying, but I didn’t get to go to São Paulo… The trip will cost expensive and my parents are separate, we are in a financial crisis… I’m studying to enter in the university, and many problems… I’m very sad with this, because I want a lot to attend your show. But in the end of the year, if you come again to Brazil, I could go. It will be the best show of my life!
- Hey, when you come to Brazil, you MUST drink “caipirinha”, you’ll like a lot!
He did and he seriously confused me by that.
Yeah me to I was like “ummm….wait what just happened?”
Heh, Good Point! ;-)
I could have far worse problems than I-Phone wanting to use “He’s Got the Honey”!. That would be an ideal win win for everyone involved fo sho.
Hmmm. *g*
I have a wacky business model for musicians. It’s basically to record and sell their live show on-site. Record the show off the board, then cut the disk on a Mac, or download it to a buyers I-POD. Sell the discs for about $5, maybe a bit more if there is packaging, downloads for $4. You could also carry around some studio produced material if the buyer wanted that.
Each show unique.
And one could even print out playlists for packaging or inserts. If you have a standard set list one could already have this printed on “blanks”.
The great thing about this is you produce just as many CD’s as you sell or distribute. No wastage, no stuff sitting in stores gathering dust, no distributors…just you and the fans.
Yeah, I went to edit that comment and Our FDL Technical Overlords had already fixed it, but I forgot to logout under your name before posting it. Oops, my bad!
Thanks JoeBuck, I’ll keep ya posted.
Live Nation tried that and it kind of came and went. There is a lot of logistical nightmares with trying to do that, bandwidth for the downloads being the problem.
Having said that, if you offered downloads ON SITE for attendees to grab, folks could line up and have the show downloaded from a few people with laptops and a couple of USB hubs with cables people could pop into their iPod or other devices, or make it available via one of the wireless phone networks inside the venue after the show. Download direct to your Razr or iPhone!
Good one!
That’s not wacky at all, it’s smart and I think there are some bands who are doing it already. I have not done this so I don’t know how long it takes etc.
Ok, now we can make business suggestions, cool. :-)
My advice for the L7 store is to bring back the “Smell the magic” tour T-shirts that are constantly out of stock. As they’re out of stock, they probably sold well. Now in the time of the internet, where one can google everything, people that have not heard about the band and see the shirts being worn by cool people might wonder what L7 is and google for it. This could have some effect on the sales of the old records, but I don’t know for sure. Maybe one should examine the effect that “GTA San Andreas” had beforehand and then make estimations.
Btw. I just noticed the site has been updated. Nice to see that subsites like http://www.smelll7.com/loveadvice.html still exist, even though the links have been gone for ages.
I think the update looks pretty cool, I’m liking the little slideshow at the top of the front page
We just updated the L7 Website and Store this week, though the shirt you asked for is still out of stock and may be completely sold out forever. Maybe you could search for one on eBay or other rock band memorabilia sites. Sorry!
Oh, I also like how the discography page has the cover flow thing going on :)
Please note that the old L7 link SmellL7.com now redirects to the new L7Official.com, the new official website of L7. Either address will take you to the new site we just launched. I’m still working on a Media page for the site but the rest of everything is there now.
Yeah it has a jukebox kind of effect doesn’t it? That’s one I thought was pretty cool to add. Don’t forget to grab her widget off the sidebar for your MySpace page too!
Yeah I like that effect. And yes, I’ll grab that widget!
Please don’t remove the original site completely, it has it own unique charme.
Btw. Does Mrs. Plakas still run the advice service?
The whole smellL7.com site is faithfully recreated in a new design at the new site. We didn’t change a whole lot except visually, and we are adding a Media page with a bunch of YouTube videos and playlists with embeddable players for you all to enjoy wherever you want to place the widgets. We have one widget on her sidebar already which makes the band’s MySpace page portable with her blog posts and the video for Andre that is on the MySpace page.
Donita count me in. IO have already done the credit card thing, printed out the agreement and tomorrow I will see my notary Public. Looking forward to receiving your autographed first album… Best of luck with your adventures in Music. We are a musical household… Sweetie is a music teacher for young children 12 months through 3rd grade. she also plays Oboe and sings soprano… like I said we have a musical family.
cinnamonape, not only is your idea not wacky, but bands and clubs have been doing this for quite a while (recording shows, burning it to a CD or MP3s, and selling to the audience at the end of the show), and then some asshole managed to get a patent on the concept, even though he didn’t invent the idea. The patent is being contested.