gardiner

alex did not give tim food poisoning, despite what you may hear to the contrary!

hey andrew, great piece.

we're totally into giving out the mp3 for free. it's true the cost is nothing but our time and we aren't going to make a cent on them anyway really, maybe some at itunes for the priority releases (it's obviously neccessary to have that set up as a catchment so the bands get some remuneration).

it's really become the single most necessary tool to promote albums and tours, and has opened up a great amount of new relationships with music fans and websites, relationships that i really enjoy myself.

dealing with online folk has a pleasant feel to it as they are in control themselves of their content and sites, not geared by media juggernauts and deadlines and page space -

it's nice to offer something in return for their support and enthusiasm, for them to generate traffic on their sites and for them to enjoy themselves. having something to give rather than push to sell has made the promo discussion more of a dialogue than a monologue, you know?

anyway, i could talk all day on it. suffice to say the free mp3, among other online initiatives, has rapidly become the only sure fire way to get an act's name out there into the world - if radio don't add the track serviced you're kind of buggered, and if print won't touch it it gets buried - there's always someone out there who'll give you a shot online.

if someone that's stumbled across the track or had it sent by a friend, and they can take it with them to their desktop or iphone to dwell on and enjoy, then it can lead to that album purchase or tour ticket. then everyone's happy!

josh speak n spell