Anything but streaming

[wearashirt]

Has anyone tried to sell and promote their music in any place except streaming? Perhaps purely by ecommerce (bandcamp etal.) or local community postings? If so - how did it go?

Or maybe you had two versions - full band and acoustic , and only either one was available on streaming.

Would love to hear anyone's new ideas even if untested.

[Drew Stephenson]

Well, the last time I tried to release something without a streaming option was before streaming was a thing...
But if I was to consider it, I'd be thinking of using non-streamed options for 'value-add' packages. E.g. If you're on Patreon for example, you can release supporters only stuff. Or if you have an old-fashioned fan club, again you can release stuff directly to them with a private link.

[Pogle]

I'm keeping an eye on these guys though don't feel they've quite got their story straight yet.
https://resonate.is/more-profitable-for-musicians/
The basic idea is successive increase in stream cost until you own the track.

Sceptical about streaming too. It's like an unpaid internship. Gut feeling is that it's time to meet streaming halfway from digital downloads. Much digital pricing hasn't moved far from physical formats. Given the lower costs of production, distribution and music ownership isn't it finally time to rethink prices for downloads? What if we asked 20 or 30 pence/cents per track? Make it a no-brainer for people. You only need a phone now. Our capacity to own music is no longer limited by the size of the shelf in our bedroom.

I had a quick look at Amazon just before posting and found quite a few albums that were more expensive to download than to order physical copies.

[BigRedX]

I had a quick look at Amazon just before posting and found quite a few albums that were more expensive to download than to order physical copies.

I have a feeling this might be done deliberately to steer customer towards buying a physical copy, as that's where the band will make a bigger profit. I've come across a few releases in the last 10 years that have only been available on physical media (usually vinyl).

[playlistpumpagency]

I have not tried to sell music but yes I have tried to promote it through an agency, and it went okay, few things which I have understood from it, that if you hire an agency to promote your song, then they will promote by "hook or crook". they will not use any particular strategy which would help you in long term, they will just try to meet the numbers which they have promised to you. But that doesn't mean you should not hire a promotion agency. Before hiring make sure you have a blueprint in your mind, you will get the number of followers, listeners or streams but "what would you do with those numbers" should be the main agenda of your promotion.