We all know that technically there is no download or internet A+R.

We have looked at the future of music in many ways on this forum and I have a new theory of the way forward for digital music.

It will come from the music forums which will eventually become the new model of "majors".

Not sure i understand how you mean Mart and was looking forward to a longer post by your good self about this. Perhaps you can explain what you mean.

From my point of view i still believe the future majors will rise out of the model Tunecore and Dittomusic are using. Gosh is there anyone from a major label out there that reads this board.

SET UP A DEPT THAT SAYS NOW ANYONE CAN BE ON A MAJOR LABEL WITH OUR NEW CO-OP DEAL.

Then offer services for hire, for as little as 20.00 quid or thereabouts. From consultation to reviews to press etc and watch the major label PR be transformed. What the heck if you don't you will plummet further and further into oblivion and your owners will move on to selling baked beans.

Or am i wrong ?

V2 run a co-op deal for labels such as Luaka Bop. It's a little above the market you are talking about, but it does exist. However, I've no idea how it's running.

Hi KZ, you have pretty much finished my unfinished post there which was cut short by the telephone ringing.

But let us look at what we have done here in the last two years re the Co-op idea which I truely believe in.

The Tipsheet became a different music forum for quite a while, when quite literally, the writers started working together on material and projects, this unwittingly was the start of the Co-op.
This did stretch slightly over to other boards, but not in abundance.
During that time, there was that incredible uncertainty, of what was actually going to happen when the digital turnaround started in full.
Look at the contrast two years on.
The mainstays of the board are now uploading to their own labels, of which I believe we have at least seven now between us, through the various distributors and of course the mainstays are their own A+R.
This has increased quality greatly as well, as the realisation is , with the click of a mouse you have released a track on the world.
Therefore the Co-op is already in place and ready to go.

Now this raises some dilemnas that need addressing as it has started happening before a plan has been put in place.
Most of the a+r/posters on this board or Co-op tend to like pretty similar "pop" styles of music.
I think there is a need to specialize in a genre and aim at it, as when you look at many of the groups of people already experimenting with this idea, there is too much of a cornucopia of music and no spearheading.

I`m not suggesting a clique of a Co-op, that would be self defeating and there is no money in that , and it`s a spiralling business with no audience and artists just pleasing themselves.

I agree about offering services for hire greatly via the Co-op deal, I rarely charge for advice but it has occured to me recently as I approach 45(ouch!), that a lot of young people ask me the simplest of questions of which I am surprised they have not got the answer to themselves.

The search for the all time classic pop hit must continue, I believe and that should be the business model of the new "Major".

It will require all hands on deck.

Mart wrote:
We all know that technically there is no download or internet A+R.

We have looked at the future of music in many ways on this forum and I have a new theory of the way forward for digital music.

It will come from the music forums which will eventually become the new model of "majors".

Its wierd that we as artists will put our music onto another site to sell, and lose 40% of income, when we could sell it from our own site for free?

I think www.dittomusic.com are the most relelvent as they register you with the charts company.

They are now cheaper than CDbaby which is good, i like CDbaby but am not keen on losing a percentage of sales.

Mentioned them before, and recently saw a burst of sales through them:

www.potatosystem.com/en

Sell your own music, and encourage buyers to sell it on. There's an example of that (me selling a track by Amanda Ghost which is worth tipping) on my site below.

But the fundamental premise of this thread is that the large blogs could act as A&R, except that they won't actually invest in talent. So I think the more accurate term is "filter".

"But the fundamental premise of this thread is that the large blogs could act as A&R, except that they won't actually invest in talent. So I think the more accurate term is "filter"."

hell yeah. everyone forgot the marketing budget?

above mentioned aggregators are not new majors - show me an aggregator with a decent marketing plan, investing a shitload of $$ etc. i like the new models re: independent artists, but they are the opposite of the old major model. most acts do not know where to invest first. the strategy of some aggregators: cooperate with third parties (ie. CD replication, t-shirt print, mastering studio) and take a cut of the fees for the promotion third parties get (by being advertised on aggregator

Slightly snipped again I fear Centaur...