switchburn

A few weeks ago while flipping channels on the tube I saw a very relevant story on the state of the music industry. CBS Evening News was reporting on the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the success of their self-made debut album “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah” and despite several offers from record labels, their decision to once again go it alone with the release of their new album “Some Loud Thunder.”

It is awesome to see musicians taking control of their own success and reaping the rewards. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are making about $6 an album vs. the $1 an album they would be making if they were to sign with a label. CYHSY sold 200,000 copies of their debut album. I’ll do the math for you. Instead of making $200,000 for their success they made $1.2 Million! Damn! That’s a lot of money back in their pockets and not going in the pocket of the man.

Even non-Indie bands are going it alone. Jewel, Garth Brooks and the Eagles are all self-distributing their own albums. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they have their heads in the right place.

My favorite quotes from the story:

“The question that we asked record companies was essentially, ‘What can you do for us that we can’t do for ourselves?” -Sean Greenhalgh, Drummer, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

“Technology has evened the playing field. If the artist can gain more power over the situation — over the economics of the situation — why wouldn’t they take it?” -Jeff Tweedy, Front Man, Wilco

Check out switchburn to see how we can make your success happen.

Read the full story at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/28/eveningnews/main2858961.shtml?source=search_story

-Shawn