Dan Leigh: News

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

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

We all know the music industry is in a confused state at this point. CD sales are down, and that has traditionally been the main way labels(and artists) have made money. That being said, I think a lot of metaphorical walls are being broken down in favor of independent artists. The domination of major labels is shrinking, simply because there are so many more ways for music fans to find independent music and buy it. 95% of those ways involve the internet. MySpace, internet radio, blogs, iTunes, etc. I think a lot of the domination by major labels has been as a result of them controlling the airwaves, and thus controlling what we hear. Many of the world’s best musicians and bands are signed to major labels, but I still don’t think these labels are very good at determining what musicians the public should hear. For every fantastic band they sign, they sign 10 terrible ones. As a result, there have always been a lot of fantastic bands who don’t get signed. And don’t get heard. The internet is finally enabling music fans to find the music made by these musicians.

Music Fans 1, Major Labels 0...

Dan

You can now purchase my "Meaningful Nonsense EP" in mp3 form directly from CD Baby. Same price as iTunes. This is important to mention for 2 reasons:
1. The mp3's are even better quality than iTunes, encoded at even higher bitrate settings.
2. I get 91% of every album purchased. If you buy any mp3 albums from CD Baby, mine or anyone else's, you are really helping to support independent music. ITunes, Rhapsody, etc. keep a large chunk, so musicians usually only get 60-65%.

You also get the artwork with the album download. The only difference is that the CD can't be purchased track-by-track at CD Baby. But, the EP is only $4.95. And I'm willing to guarantee you'll find it worth every penny.
Here's the direct link:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/danleigh2

I read that it helps improve search engine rankings to include the names of popular bands/musicians in these postings. That is so shameless. I would never include the names of popular bands such as Snow Patrol, Paramore, or Travis in my postings. So that means I also would never include the names of bands such as Doves, Radiohead or Silverchair in any of my postings either.

Really.



Dan

Dan''s song "Please and Thank You" is going to be featured in the March/April issue of Farmhouse Magazine. Farmhouse is an online magazine that features works of music, fiction, etc. The issue will be out on March 1. Just go to http://www.farmhousemagazine.com
to see/hear it.

I just wanted to let everyone know that the streaming audio section of this website now has full-length songs instead of clips. Several tracks have been added to it as well.

I have sold quite a few songs on iTunes recently, yet I have no idea to whom they were sold. I want to invite everyone who has purchased my music to either e-mail me at dan@danleigh.net or type your e-mail address into the "Join the Mailing list" box on this page. Not that you'll get a lot of e-mails or anything, but it will enable me to let you know when I have new material out or some other big happening to report.
I know you don't like being bombarded with tons of e-mails any more than I do.

I know a lot of you prefer to get your music digitally. My recently released "Meaningful Nonsense EP" is available for purchase on iTunes now and is soon to be available at Rhapsody and many other digital download services...

I made a video for my song "From the Breeze" off the EP. Check it out on You Tube at:

http://www.youtube.com/danleighmusic

Send me a friend request while you're there. I'm just getting started on the whole You Tube thing....

My new ep, "Meaningful Nonsense EP," is on sale at CD Baby as of today. It will be for sale digitally on iTunes, etc. very soon. I'll let you know as soon as the digital downloads are available. The link to buy from CD Baby is:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/danleigh2

Message from Dan:
This is my new website, redesigned to coincide with the release of my new ep, the "Meaningful Nonsense EP." There are audio samples in the "Music" section, please check them out. The EP will be for sale on iTunes and many other music download sites soon. Actual copies of the cd will be on sale at CD Baby as well. This ep was recorded with my producer/collaborator Scott Mathews and the ever-versatile Tom Leukens at Tikitown Studios. I also have a new e-mail list, you can join it from the link on my front page...