ON their myspace page they have a set of youtube videos documenting how they got to 31 in the charts. One thing i must say is that with all the talk about Koopa and others Cushh never really got a mention. But they got to 31 on the nationals. Well done to them.

the idea is that you don't hear about them until the last minute. Notice how few plays the actual single has got on their myspace site verses one of the other tunes, which has clocked 32K. That's because they were actually selling the single instead of giving it away.

There will be much more of this as the biggest revolution in music and the consumption of music takes off like a rocket. There will be those that get with it and those who get left way behind...it is not going to happen, IT IS HAPPENING.

The only press they really got was a few bits and pieces in the Sun.

Because it really was a DIY effort. New single on the way

They've been doing loads of PA's (mainly in the South / South Coast).

No 31? How many sales is that? If you can't generate that (very small) amount of sales you shouldn't be releasing in the first place !!!

Can you clarify what you mean In the Know. As far as i can glean from their videos it is around 6000 sales.
Are you attacking them ? There are many releases not selling that amount. However what is important is how much did it cost to generate that amount ?
If your promotion costs more than your sales you might as well give it away for free.

DJKZ wrote:
Can you clarify what you mean In the Know. As far as i can glean from their videos it is around 6000 sales.
Are you attacking them ? There are many releases not selling that amount. However what is important is how much did it cost to generate that amount ?
If your promotion costs more than your sales you might as well give it away for free.

I doubt it was 6000 - that would have got them a better chart placing.

All I'm saying is that they probably didn't make any money on it - so what's the point?

In the 60's there were around 60/70 releases a week (of which maybe 3/4 would chart).

Now, every track is a "release" so much greater competition as everyone can have a "release" every week !

And they're new at this...Learning as they go, unlike the major labels.

I think it's a fantastic achievment.

At the time I think it was overlooked by the Koopa interest.

ITK, I don't get where you're coming from, please explain.

Cheers for posting this DJKZ, I watched all the video's with interest (although some were a bit boring).

I personally think he's plowed a lot of money into this, the recording studio they were using didn't look like his (the one he showed at the start). Then the dance routine stuff, the clothes and was that a video they were shooting?

He'd also invested in the physical side of things with the bar-codes, agencies etc. which maybe turned out to be a waste because it was downloads where they made the sales. I guess it's all down to learning from your mistakes.

It's a shame they couldn't get radio support but I think this is probably still one of the areas of the industry that still requires a major or very good contacts.

A message to Cushh if they read this forum: Good work guys, thanks very much for keeping this video diary too, I really enjoyed following your progress. Good luck for the future.

Kev wrote:
ITK, I don't get where you're coming from, please explain.

Take a look at the original post - it ends with "Good Luck to them".

The whole tone of the post is pointing as if this was some kind of achievement. It's quite clear that they have spent alot of cash and have almost certainly lost money on this. Anyone can lose money, can't they?

More "success" like this will lead to the bankruptcy Court !

ITK, you

I can only go by what's on their video ITK and they said 6000 sales. From what i can see, distribution was handled by 7Digital probably indiestore. Was Itunes on board ?

No press no TV to get in the charts ok at 31 yeah is no big deal if you are a major but they are not even signed to an indie label and it was a 100% DIY effort. Don't forget of the 6000 sales they get to keep it all. The value in dollars and cents is the equivalent of 60,000 downloads on a major. Also ITK why release a single at all ? Most artists (on the Majors) don't make a penny from them. But i do take your point, one has to make money from the project.

Now there are a few things i wouldnt have done, like shoot the video in LA. or shoot the video with some hot shot video director that you can't really afford. I would have got myself a couple of cameras a DV one, super 8 and maybe a HD one. You can make 100s of videos with that.

As a matter of fact i remember a seminar at a music show in Lond where Steve Levine was talking about recording and he shot a video himself for one of the bands he was working with. He said get yourself a camera and shoot your own videos. If you are producing music it is not a million miles different.

Most important thing i got from the video was how supporting Shayne Ward (ok don't laugh) was and supporting Westlife will be for them. I think the gigs got them more downloads than anything else.

On the TV front check out new satellite tv station www.bubblehits.com. It's on Channel 374 on Sky. One thing we have down here in OZ over you guys is a decent free to air community TV station which is not only easy to get into but can give reasonable viewing. Imagine having a show watched by 48000 (melbourne only) people 10% of whom rush out to buy your single the following monday, costing you under $200. Cost per sale 0.20c or thereabouts. Syndicate that across the country and you can get around 200,000 viewers in Australia. Surely you need something like that in Blighty. Where's Aunty Beeb when you need her ?

Kev wrote:
[quote]
It is an achievement, it

My problem with this is that it's old thinking.

The charts mattered when I first hyped them in the 1970's.

They mattered and influenced media coverage in the 80's and 90's.

But they started declining when they became only reflections of major label priorities.

They killed Top of the Pops.

They made punters feel there was no really good music anymore.

Now even a No1 means little and a lesser chart position can actually damage a band or act by deflecting effort, concentration and expense from the real goal - to expose and sell great music.

Thanks Mr DJKZ for the invite. Good topic and interesting discussion about our DIY process. Thought, I

A lot of sense except your "finally" - I'm not convinced a chart position helps anyone any more and believe there are better ways to spend money and energy.

However, I'm impressed by a lot of your post and need now to do the one thing I haven't yet had time to do... listen to the music.

Which will probably lead to another thread in due course.

The charts are still an indicator just not the monolith indicator they once were.

It's got the band attention and people talking about them and as part of a whole that's cool.

Cushh are a great example of using the low production costs to effective advantage. It's been a good start and I hope they can build on that.

They seem to have not fallen at the first fence like Koopa who had one shot loaded and nothing to follow through with. These people have a plan

that's the style, stick at it. For what it is worth, I think you are going about in right way...a plan and having the balls to actually do something about it.
Good job if you ask me and I look forward hearing more about Cushh.

Well it took forever to actually hear anything; no results on You Tube or My Space; finally heard a very ordinary track via Google.

Seems to me more effort was placed into getting a low chart placing than ensuring there were hits heard by millions.

Anyone could achieve at least that result by spending that kind of money !

I repeat .... More "success" like this will lead to the bankruptcy Court !
What kind of money? You don't even know what was spent, what a pointless argument. Even if you did spend the same amount, the only thing that makes it successful is the determination and hard work. We

Considering I'm paying