Dan Leigh: Home

I have been doing some thinking about how different my music might sound if I weren't planning on selling it. In other words, any time I am writing or recording a song I think about how it will be received. How many people will buy it, and what they will think of it.

I believe it makes me more disciplined as a writer, because I know how short peoples' attention spans are. I have to get to something good at the beginning of a song. That limits what I can do creatively somewhat, but I can't say it might not benefit the music. I don't know. The fact that I can't do an album that is 10 hrs. long is probably to the benefit of listeners everywhere.

Another thing I have to think about is the fact that I have to finish songs. I don't know if I would ever finish a song if it weren't for the fact that unfinished songs don't sell very well. You will never see a band release an album of unfinished demos. Although I have heard albums where I wished the band had never finished the songs.

To sum up, we as musicians are somewhat limited by the fact that we have to sell music. We are, however, more practical musicians. Our music is more refined than it would be otherwise.

Although I still won't rule out recording a 10 hr. long album.

Dan

This is another post from my Myspace blog.

I suppose I am kind of conflicted about mp3s. If someone buys an mp3 of one of my songs, I make a nice profit. There is no physical CD being sold, which means that whatever I make from the sale is straight profit. It's fantastic that people can now buy only the tracks that they like also, instead of having to buy an entire CD. That freedom of choice is essential. One downside, however, is that the "album" as an art form is really being cast aside. I don't know if I ever want to do another full album. I prefer to release my music in EP form. Why? Because very few people listen to full albums anymore. They listen to mp3 playlists! Why would I want to make a cohesive album that is best heard in its entirety? I'm more interested in making each of my individual songs as strong as possible. I want my songs to be the strongest ones in your playlists...

Dan

This is a blog entry from my Myspace page at

http://www.myspace.com/danleigh

I decided to post it here also:

"I wanted to turn your attention to what it means to buy music from a major label artist, and what it means to buy music from an artist on an independent label(or not on a label.)

1. If you buy a major label artist's music, the vast majority of your money winds up in the label's pocket. Major label artist's royalties are a very small percentage of each record's selling price(sometimes as little as 10%.) Artists are still making millions if they are selling millions, but if they're only selling a few hundred thousand they're not making much. That's because the label "recoups" the money they spent promoting the album, making videos, etc. In other words, they take back the money they spent on promotion. And they take it straight out of the artist's tiny percentage. So what does the record label do with the massive percentage of the royalties it takes? It uses it to fund records that don't sell. They often spend hundreds of thousands on records that make little or no money. So, the artists that sell well get tiny percentages because of the fact that the labels are bad at business.

2. If you buy a record from an indie label artist, the artist is usually getting a better percentage(although it varies.) If the artist isn't on a label, the artist is obviously getting 100%. So, you know your money isn't going into the pocket of some record executive's designer pants. You also know that your money isn't going to some giant corporation or media group. The majors are owned by massive companies like BMG and, while these companies have some redeeming qualities, wouldn't you rather your money go mostly to the artist? The one whose music is so good it made you want to spend your money in the first place?

I'm not saying you should boycott all major labels and their music. That would be ridiculous. I am saying that you should feel really good about buying indie music. And if you have a choice between two equal artists, buy indie..."

Dan