Dan Leigh: Home

I am of the opinion that there is one particular thing that is a huge problem, in general, for music. The problem is that, as far as I can tell, at least 70-80% of the promotion available is used to promote less than 1% of all artists. The major labels control the radio airwaves almost completely. They have massive budgets for other means of promotion such as print ads, street teams, etc. I would guess that less than 1% of all artists are signed to major labels. The rest are unsigned or signed to indie labels. Indie labels have good intentions, but usually little or no money. Most indie artists have little or no promotion available to them. When I say "indie artists," I mean 99% of all artists. I think it will only get worse, due to the fact that the market for CD's is dwindling. Major labels are making less money, so they are signing fewer and fewer artists. The indie music world needs to figure out how to gain a bigger market share. If they don't, 99% of all artists will continue to be shut out...

Dan

I am concerned about the rampant music piracy that is happening. I'm not concerned about the fact that is cutting down on the profits of big record labels. That is actually a fantastic thing. I don't, however, think anyone should illegally download indie music. Ever. I don't blame the average fan for not understanding the complex economics that indie artists deal with. I wouldn't understand them if I didn't deal with them myself. Records cost a lot of money to make. Or, at least, to make them right. There are some indie artists that make their records "on the cheap" or self-produce them. Those records generally sound terrible, and you probably wouldn't want to buy any of those anyway. There are a lot of indie artists, like me, who make their records in a proper studio with producers and engineers who have worked on major-label records. Those records generally sound great, but the producers and engineers must be paid. Thus, indie artists must sell plenty of their music just to break even.

To sum up:
If you hear music by an indie artist that sounds great, buy their album. Or, go to iTunes and buy the best songs. That artist obviously put some money into their record. Shouldn't you put a little money into that artist's pocket to make sure they can make another?

Dan

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