How I found the release of Every Day I Read You Like A Book, just over six weeks on.
Overall it’s been quite mixed. On the one hand, I’ve had some amazing feedback from people, with a number of people saying stuff like they really like the track, that they can’t get out of their heads, that it’s really catchy – that kind of thing. On the other hand, the song has so far failed to take off in terms of ‘listens’ on the various music platforms, such as Spotify, Amazon music and Apple Music etc.
The social media campaign didn’t really happen. But it’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation there: if I don’t have many followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, then whatever gets posted isn’t going to turn into engagement with my music. It’s going to have to be a marathon rather than a sprint, with me gradually accruing followers (hopefully) until maybe it reaches a tipping point and the word starts to spread.
It’s important to acknowledge that there is so much talent out there. When I was checking out what other acts are putting out, I heard some great music. There is strong competition. So I shouldn’t be surprised that my “great” song doesn’t make it into widespread media, such as getting played on the radio, featuring in playlists or getting coverage by music journalists. Possibly hundreds, if not thousands, of new songs get released worldwide every week and everyone just moves on to the newest songs.
On the other hand, I got a really positive write-up in one online magazine, Indie Buddie. The writer had clearly listened to the track and it was great to read that they found it ‘infectious’ and ‘bouncy’.
Putting all the positive reaction together, I feel that Every Day I Read You Like A Book has been a proof of concept – people like it as much as they like other music, so I am encouraged to continue with what I’m doing.
Going back to the whole business of trying to get traction on the various music platforms, I’ve come to the conclusion – partly from conversations with other artists – that there is little money to be made through these music platforms. Even if I were to get hundreds of thousands of streams, this would generate tiny royalties – we’re talking much less than £100.
In a way, knowing that putting out music will not make me much money is quite liberating. I don’t have to try to generate sales, but just put out the music I like to share. For the first time, I have released music, globally, standing alongside all the music that’s been released. Just do a search on my name in a major music platform and up comes my single. So I’m now a bone fide recording artist.
And it’s never been easier or cheaper to make music and to put it out there. Back in, say the 1970s or 80s, my understanding is that it used to take hundreds of thousands of pounds to record an album and to release it, due to the need to hire recording studios, complete with sound engineers, producers and other studio personnel, and then go on to pay many thousands for the album to be mixed and mastered. The records or CDs had to be manufactured and distributed to record shops and so on, all at significant cost. If you wanted a video to be made, that could also cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
But now, in the 21st-century, the recording software that I (and many Big Name artists) use costs £200 and then the mixing and mastering costs less than £400. Videos cost less than £400 as well. Sure, you may need to buy or hire instruments, microphones and other equipment, but all of this is much, much, cheaper than it used to be. And releasing tracks that can be heard world-wide is all done online – a few clicks and a release will happen at a certain time.
So, now I can just continue making the music, putting it out there, worldwide, having videos made and talking about it through various channels; I’m kind of ‘living the dream’. I may or may not achieve success or recognition, but I can be known as a recording artist.
And, anyway, it’s great fun and enjoyable to make the music, to make the videos, to work with designers on artwork, to put stuff out there and promote it, so I’m really looking forward to carrying on doing all of this for many years to come.
What comes next?
Well I’m going to start tailing-off promoting Every Day I Read You Like A Book, within a week or so, and start planning and working on the release of the next single, which is called You Shoot Another Lullaby. It’s the second single from my forthcoming album, which is now going to be called Something For Everyone.
I have the rough idea of releasing You Shoot Another Lullaby in about a month’s time, and then releasing the album a month to six weeks later: I want to get the album out there before too long. I believe that when people hear the whole of Something For Everyone, the two singles that will have preceded it will fit into place and they will hopefully appreciate and enjoy the whole of the album.
I want the release of the album to be accompanied by a video for one of the tracks, which perhaps showcases the results of my singing lessons – I won’t really have done that up to then. Adam hasn’t made that video, yet, and we probably need to get past the COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing measures that we are currently in before he can work on the video.
I’m also going to do a couple of side projects. One of them is to re-record the vocals for a track I recorded a couple of years ago and to put that out as a single, quite separate to the album. The other project is to possibly release a couple of examples of me ‘karaoke singing’ a couple of other people’s songs – to illustrate improvements to my singing, thanks to the singing lessons I had from the wonderful Magdalena.
More news on all of this to come through this website and through my various media media channels.
Brian