Hi all, Newbie here. 

This question is for those of you who already have music for sale online. 

I've been holed up, writing, recording & producing like crazy -- finally climbing out of my cocoon and spreading my wings. 

My day job for 30 years has been as a business development consultant, and after working with the Olympics, etc., and assessing the state of the music industry, I've decided I'm going to act like I'm a pro athlete and make sponsorship my "cake" and music & ticket sales my "icing." 

So I've created this site: http://www.w-w-w-music.com (check out the FAQs for details on how it works - http://www.w-w-w-music.com/faq.html ) and want to know:

1) what you think of it and
2) what questions you would have as musicians in order to join me.


--------------------please read below AFTER you look & note your first impressions - thanks!------------------------------


Coca Cola, whom I worked with on the Olympics, just signed an exclusive with Spotify last week, and IEG, the largest global sponsorship consultant, states music sponsorship is outpacing every other category in growth, with $1.17 billion spent in 2011. 

YouTube & MySpace, Spotify, Pandora and everybody else wants me to upload my music so they can make billions in sponsor dollars on my music, telling me they're providing me with free promotion or maybe some royalty pennies (YouTube is projected to make $1.7 billion in 2012).  I'm seeing complaints from independent artists, and even the major labels, that they aren't seeing any revenue. I also honestly cannot get excited about what I'd see in revenue from the iTunes or Amazon types either vs. just posting my songs for sale in my own store.

From this info. and my experience, sponsorship is the elephant in the room.  Just seems to me it would create a win-win-win for musicians-sponsors-music lovers, and create a new music homeostasis, finally transition us all to a nice new healthy hum. 

We made the music, we deserve the elephant. With those billions in the humble hands of musicians (self-absorbed types aside) we could make more music and we could change the world!  Thanks for your thoughts.

I'd suggest that you click through the music made by our members. If you like it make an offer then. I'm open. Listen to MY MUSIC. Here you can find it.

Thanks for your response.  I'm breathing a sigh of relief, assuming everything makes sense.

Your song "ANYDAY" takes my breath away!  Need to listen to the rest!

But I can't find a link to buy it online -- do you have it for sale somewhere online so Music Lovers at W-W-W-Music® can just click a link to buy? (gotta have that! even if it's for sale on a myspace page!)  If you do, consider yourself officially invited to create your own free Artist Channel -- would love to have you! 

If you don't -- oh my gosh, why not?!  The world needs to hear you! 

Let me know.

C.

There are quality songs on this site
Try the hall of fame
http://browse.bandamp.com/hall_of_fame.html
 

Thanks Denis -- can't wait...gotta carve out my afternoon tomorrow to listen!

If you're a member of BandAMP you can download it. Just click the diskette symbol in the right corner and you got it.

Oo Oo Pick me .. pick me ... pick me ... I've also got loads of shit ...uuuh .... HERE

...Denis, you got it all!  So many things to say -- I don't know what to say...
...And kings -- love the Welsh songs and "I Had a Lady Lover" and...and...and...
...And TritonKeyboarder...guitar AND piano...and I love the Polish and German songs...and...ANY DAY is still breathtaking on multiple listens -- I realize I could download it -- but I'd rather you be able to make money on it!
And I didn't even get to the hall of fame! 

Okay, what is this?  I really just don't know what to say!  Have I stumbled into a closet of musical geniuses?  The world needs to hear you!  And you deserve to make a living doing music. 

I want to create playlists in w-w-w-music of all of this so I can listen continually, and have buy links -- come on you three and create your free Artist Channel already! 

I realize in the traditional model only a handful get to make a living -- I'm all for the cream of the cream being superstars, but there's a world full of really, really great musicians that don't fit the major label flavor of the month that we all deserve to be able to hear, and they deserve to make a living with their music!  I realize it may sound selfish -- I want to make a living -- but as much as I want to make my own music, I want to hear all the music in the world, and I want to know the artists can make a living while I listen!

I'm telling you, sponsorship is the forest to make that happen, and music/ticket sales are just the trees!  We're pro-athletes who can offer 365/24/7 sponsor visibility while we sleep -- or while we create more music, with no wolf at the door.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.

So, bottomline -- come on you three:
1) just send a link to your music for sale online and your PayPal email through the artist contact form.
2) register with your artist name.
3) once we receive your Link/PayPal email and registration, within 24 hours we'll notify you that you've been activated as an artist.
4) set-up your Artist Channel using the step-by-step Artist Guide.
5) share your Artist Channel url with everyone you know and everywhere you can.

Any artists who read this in the forum, if you are interested, just send a link to your music (must be for sale online), once approved the steps are the same as above!

You three could lead the way!

So what do you say?  Thoughts?

(Gotta go carve out more time now in my schedule somewhere to listen to the hall of fame!)

I just spend some time on your site and something puzzle me a bit it seems to me that you've got only one artist on there under different names doing different styles

Hi Vincent,

Thanks for taking the time.

Yup!  Those are all my personas doing the different genres I love, expressing different facets of me!  I created a different character for each style I wanted to do -- that way I have all the artistic freedom I need. 

Just yesterday, I was listening to the final interview with Jimi Hendrix seven days before he died.  (It's right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P0cJhQ1200), as well as an interview with Joni Mitchell talking about her last conversation with Hendrix, (right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTDEsT8kkMI), that reconfirmed I made the right decision in doing different personas.  Hearing Jimi, and then Joni, I started to feel that he felt trapped in the image he had created and, as Joni put it, was dying inside, as every artist does when we're not allowed to evolve.  So sad...  RIP Jimi...

...And RIP every other artist who self-destructed feeling trapped in an illusion with nothing left that's real...

All the "illusions" are there in each of the characters I play while I sing ... I'm having a blast, with an endless kaleidoscope of creative possibilities, while keeping something real for myself. 

That way everyone gets what they want -- my jazz audience can count on Sere™ always doing the jazz that drew them in, but as an artist, I can still go step out of Sere™ and step into Rese™ to scratch the itch in me only Blues Rock can scratch with my rock audience.  I have "media personalities, too" for my other artistic passions. 

Sound crazy?  Crazy is losing a musical genius like Jimi Hendrix...  This, this is very sane.  From a marketing/entertainment business standpoint and an artist survival standpoint, it's the only thing that makes sane sense to me. 

I suppose I'm also poking a little fun at "celebrity worship" -- I don't want this to be about me, it's entertainment, it's about my audience, it's about transporting them, allowing them to reflect and feel and love, reminding them to play.

Look at all the different facets I've heard in just the three artists here I've heard so far, especially you Denis.  I don't have a corner on the persona market -- hmmm, how may different personas are in Denis?  Oh, and your "Blues Smoker" Denis -- when I heard that, I saw Honey West, the first TV female private eye, slinking into the room with her ocelot Bruce!

Vincent, where can I hear your music?  I haven't quite gotten to explore how to navigate this forum yet!   Can't wait to hear it!

Figured it out and found your music!  Bosssaaaaa -- yes!  Love it!  You've got the light bossa touch -- so many guitarists get too heavy-handed and somehow miss the genius of Joao Gilberto's feather touch!  Bravo! 

The studio musician on my bossa is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but...I'm so thankful to have them -- if I didn't I wouldn't have any music at all!

Love the vocalist -- who is she?  She has that playfulness in her voice genuine bossa just can't do without!  The bass is also sooooo nice...

Okay -- invitation #4 -- please bring your Jim Jims and create your own free Artist Channel on w-w-w-music!  See steps above!  All my personas need company -- they're looking pretty silly there all by themselves...and all that yin estrogen needs some yang testosterone to balance it out, you all! 

If it's about creating an on-line presence then it really is all about you.

Wiki, my space, numerous legal companies .... and your 'whole product' just keeps on popping up all over google pages.

I've registered .... will look even closer later .....

OK, some A to Z male criticism then ... it's all you, artist, designer, web developer, production company, legal representative .... and most of the adds too.
That you worked at it and that you have plenty of 'it' to around is undeniable .... it's just a bit much ... at the moment, obviously more participants , more 'variety of life'.
Your right that it's female, yet the look and feel say it will stay very female even with male artists.
You have gathered the right ideas ... Albums, ring tones, adds , a right bar very reminiscent of iCompositions and I also like "For Artists by Artists"   
I do think you could develop the Waves banner and the main water splash logo ... they are less 'cool' than the rest of the site, like the Eliyora Entertainment tower is cool, and the iTune like soft silhouettes 
Though ultimately I doubt W-W-W-Music as a name ... it's a bit of a mouth full.
But that's criticism for you ....    you know your doing it right so keep in up.

Hey kings, I saw you registered and got excited thinking you came as an artist -- I sent you an email.  Guess you're just dipping your toe in?  I appreciate it!

Thanks for taking the time to check it all out. 

Yes, of course, I'm trying to create an online presence and do as much marketing as I can -- and I'm just getting started!  The site just came out of beta, and everything goes at a snail's pace, but I'm going as fast as I can, like the little wizard of oz guy, standing on the stool, trying to keep all the knobs and buttons running behind the curtain, or the little red hen preparing the seed, planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, milling, baking...!  Whew!

What I meant when I said "It's not about me," is with the personas in response to Vincent.  I meant I don't need, or even want, to see my real name up in lights, I don't need to be famous or be discovered.  I just need to be a blessing and make a living.  The nice thing about the personas is you get to leave your ego at the door, and when you get to do that, you also get to leave your fears and insecurities there, too.  You're free, humble, vulnerable yet safe -- and in some odd way, to me, even more real. 

I may also look at my music differently than others, I don't know.  My earliest memories are singing with my sisters, performing on stage.  When it comes to writing, I'm just a song gardener harvesting songs from the hum in the air, God's song garden, and giving them flight.  Good or bad -- I can't think and write music, even though I've done that music theory thing -- I can only hear and feel.  Since I'm not thinking, just feeling, I can just let go and let it be.   I approach recording and producing the same way -- rehearse until the song's concert-ready, then record, then let it be --zero editing.  It just feels more real to me.  Then, my only hope is that each song is a blessing to someone.  And I'm blessed to be the messenger, doing my best with the tools God gave me.

I really appreciate you strolling around w-w-w-music.  I laughed so hard I cried when I read "it's all you" -- that's not by choice.  If I had my way, I would have hired a Steve Wozniak to design/develop the sleek "home theater" design I drew on paper (someday -- need my one major House Channel sponsor first, and since Coca Cola just locked themselves in with Spotify last week, which is still encouraging, I have to go back to my list and see who's next). 

Instead, I had a little help to hodge-podge together ready-made plug-ins and extensions, which I am grateful for, or I would have nothing.  I want to thank Mark Zuckerberg for Facebook's original blue box and his t-shirt & jeans, because if showed the world a good idea doesn't have to be showy to work.  Am I a "lone ranger" -- guilty as charged -- oddly enough, I'm an introvert when I'm not on stage,  and a keep-it-simple freak, so I can only do independent contractor, work-for-hire situations, even with my music.  Am I a Designer?  Ink -- yes, digital -- have no idea!  Developer -- nearly clueless, html -- forget it!  So, given that, w-w-w-music is a miracle!

I also had to laugh when I read "more participants" more "variety of life" -- well, uh yeah, when it's just me!  And "all female" -- well, I am what I am, I did have to draw the line at doing a male persona.  When it comes time to perform, unlike Lady Gaga, I could never pull off a male persona!  So come on already!  Yeah, yeah -- never want to be the first on the dance floor.

Well, you're all seeing it just out of the gate.  One L.A. record label already contacted me a couple days ago -- so far we're playing phone tag, but I'm sure we'll catch each other this coming week.  I haven't even gotten a chance to start contacting the majors.  I've been madly working on the House Channel sponsorship kit.  Also invited the largest music educator association to set-up Tribute Artist Channels with America's music pioneers' public domain work so they can receive the sponsor revenue from those.  Should hear back by the end of next week. 

Once all of the artists in the world are on W-W-W-Music (which is similar to radio station call letters, "You're listening to WWW Music...," BTW, in addition to the "world-wide-web," and "Whatever-Whenever-Wherever Music") all of the music lovers in the world will come listen -- then all of the sponsors will follow.  And on W-W-W-Music, instead of YouTube getting the $1.7 billion, or Spotify, or MySpace, or Pandora (though I wish all of those folks the best -- it's just business)...each artist will receive 100% of their Artist Channel's sponsor revenue! 

Thanks again for taking a gander -- gotta get back to finishing up the House Channel sponsorship kit -- got inspiration to do a results-based pricing formula that sponsors will love -- if the sponsorship doesn't match projections, they get discounted the difference -- so excited!  See ya!