What do you guys reckon of this? (genuine question, no thoughtless spam)

14 Replies, 7247 Views

So I've established myself over the past 4 years release-wise as Foci's Left, a multi-genre producer, which I like really. I've had some big successes - critical acclaim from magazines, best sellers section on Bandcamp yada yada. (If you're interested, go to http://www.focisleft.bandcamp.com for most of the catalogue).

It occurred to me that I could make more waves for one by offering full tracks for free in an archive / portfolio folder on http://www.muttley.kapsil.net (where 22,600 downloads happened across 4 months this year). In turn, this would give something useful to fans or people with a passing interest, as they could sample anything I intend to release before it hits the stores.

The key is: lower bitrate tracks - say 96kbps - 128kbps - which is acceptable for listening, but not long term listening. This would 1) give individuals chance to hear the tracks in full before they made any purchase decision, and 2) give them a bit of short term good feeling by getting unreleased stuff for free - in limited quantities (no way am I going to bung second-rate tracks up on the server).

What do interested parties think of this? Is the bitrate too low at 96kbps (it does depend on the track how good it sounds)? Would you like to download some lower bitrate unreleased, mastered tracks? I would offer the unreleased tracks as £1 each for a 320kbps version if anyone was interested. I can't see it being a problem with the labels I've worked with. If anything it gives them more exposure and vice versa.

Thanks for letting me know your thoughts guys and girls Smile Wave

Mick Muttley (Foci's Left)
I think that sounds like a great idea. I've never been on the production end of music so I'm not sure how much my opinion counts but from the consumer side, it's a neat, crafty intermediate option for people who are looking for tracks to better explore your particular sound. I have to believe that more exposure is better. I personally think that I wouldn't go above 128, I'd stay well below that as we've all seen how low acceptability levels are in 'sharing.'

Good on you mate, good luck with this venture Xyxthumbs Wave
What about youtube? I'm more likely to listen to things in general that I can stream from any computer/account. Skip the step of downloading altogether.
Personally prefer streaming too. And if you check last.fm, you see see most people stream music from various platforms, rather than use players and downloaded music.
Just as a sidenote, I wouldn't stare at the download count of a page like http://www.muttley.kapsil.net/ since it's an open index of the files. Bots will roam that site and do constant downloads. (also, I recommend hiding your error log, attackers may be able to use that information to gain access to your page in ways you didn't intend)

More on topic, +1 for streaming. And even with streaming, I think the best bet is to use known sites like Soundcloud or Bandcamp primarily, as people already trust those domains and hence will have an easier time checking them out.
@ MetaLX cool, I've just made a "Foci's Left 128kbps dls" folder ready for this.

http://kapsil.net/muttley/index.php?path...6kbps+dls/

@ InfiniteSloth & @widzhit yeah I prefer streaming as well, but it takes more effort to upload a unique image-or-theme video to YouTube on my channel than it does upload a track via FireFTP at 128kbps.

@ SpeaK yes I'm not staring at it, I know from the SEO 700,000 visitors a day statistic on the SC blog (http://www.subvertcentral.blogspot.co.uk) that bots roam that site. I don't want to have to pay for a pro SoundCloud account though when I could easily use my own server of kapsil.net. Also I don't know how many people really are downloading out of that figure. The stats each month are consistent, being mainly the Sold Out Track Clips Archive and 2009/2010 concept mixtape folders.

Simon Bean of Omni Music says streaming is the best option too, so I'll try and accommodate the idea with selected standout tracks from my releases. Smile

In conclusion of this feedback I'm going to use both channels to distribute audio - say link people via YouTube to the 128kbps track.

Thanks everyone!
I wouldn't go below 128K. I had to provide some music at 96K for a mobile game and personally I thought the quality was dreadful, really detracted from the content.
That's part of my concern - wishy washy compressed sound over fluid ambient pads doesn't do the aesthetic of the tunes offered much good, and it's unlikely to convince anyone they want to buy it, in worry the tunes are going to sound dissimilar at full quality.

Think I'll go for 128kbps after all. Thanks Roo Smile
Here's the first YouTube + download media bundle

Foci's Left - All By Myself (Troubled Perceptions EP Track 1) [Forthcoming]

Favourited by Mary Anne Hobbs of BBC Radio 1 / 6Music after I sent it to her through @MuttleySV on Twitter! Smile
"That All By Myself thing is quite nice. Might be my fave thing you've done. Reminds me of Kettel - Volleyed Iron era." ~ James Clements, aka ASC / Intex Systems / Mindspan, producer of the universally acclaimed "Time Heals All" LP on Silent Season. http://www.auxiliarymusic.com
Muttley Wrote:Favourited by Mary Anne Hobbs of BBC Radio 1 / 6Music after I sent it to her through @MuttleySV on Twitter! Smile

Xyxthumbs
Muttley Wrote:Favourited by Mary Anne Hobbs of BBC Radio 1 / 6Music after I sent it to her through @MuttleySV on Twitter! Smile

Applause
I've just finished a non-percussive version of a new track called "J'Aime". It's music for advertisements as central theme. But I am thinking of sending the .wav to Euphony (Eschaton - http://www.omnimusic.org) today so we can work on it for the collaboration EP we have one track finished on.

I'll link my YouTube channel properly when I've amassed the brain cells to.
Here's "J'Aime" video on YouTube with a selection of still images sequenced with it:

[video=youtube_share;4-mYYohWpZU]http://youtu.be/4-mYYohWpZU[/video]

From my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrZkf2M...4KUQyvmdmQ

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Spam on Discogs firefinga 1 1,842 27th October 2019, 10:12
Last Post: Statto
  too much spam Statto 30 9,750 16th October 2012, 18:07
Last Post: widzhit
  Enough with the spam already Statto 7 3,062 1st April 2012, 07:21
Last Post: MetaLX
  Genuine pain through laughter subvert 7 2,811 12th March 2012, 00:38
Last Post: subvert
  genuine lolz subvert 5 1,482 15th December 2011, 14:22
Last Post: noisemonkey