I am particularly interested in JK's thoughts on this as well as everyone else as he is predicting the death of the dinosaurs. If you had a hit on your hands would you look to tie in with a Major to release it or would you assemble a team of professionals around you to DIY ?

If you have a:

PR and Plugger.
Distribution (Digital)
Sponsors

What else would you need to complete the team ?
You're not looking to create an album just to have a worldwide hit.

You don't have a hit until the records are flying out of the shops or download sites.

I think the question you could ask is "how big a hit could this become?" The idea is not specifically to go with a major or not, it's to say "who can best bring it to its full potential?" Being able to realistically recognise the exact potential is not that easy, as most people have no idea of the internal functions of the German or French markets - let alone Japan. If you're talking international, you're still talking major involvement in one way or another.

The problem is KZ...

the old model is broken but there isn't a new one yet and the majors do pay up front and have the (broken) machine still in place.

Interesting to see the You Tube viewing figures for the really big hits this year (like Timbaland).

Millions of views do start crossing over into decent downloads and sales.

Exposure and awareness are vital for hits - then they start developing their own momentum.

Thanks for the constructive contribution here and some really good points made.

Do you think that if you did have a 'hit' on your hands and yes i agree Michael it's not really a hit until it's flying out the door, but many tipsters are in the business of finding 'potential' hits.

Do you think that sites like Youtube could really break a 'hit' record and prompt download sales in their droves with the mainstream press only 'reporting' the success and further enhancing it and building it bigger and bigger ?

I think that if this is indeed possible then with a networked Itunes releases a huge global record could truly be birthed on the net. I really believe this is a possibility.

Michael the only problem with working out who is the best for the release is if you get it wrong and your career is f**ked. Orson anyone ? Go:Audio ? They were with Majors and yet those involved dropped the ball.

Exciting times I think still.

By the way. I think that as far as industry is concerned, we are served well with ROTD, Tipsheet and Velvet Rope.

Days gone by - no, You Tube was not enough.
A huge chunk of the charm was VISUAL and FREE - so people simply did not buy the tracks.
However, YouTube is now so huge that a real global hit can catch fire and start there.
Soon it will reach the My Space stage where it is simply too big to mean much and too hard to navigate.
But at present - yes, if there's a real buzz and a real hit, it can kick start a hit.

Not a subtle one but an obvious one.

The strength/advantage of YouTube and the Internet in general is it's a cheap way to reach a lot of people.

Digital downloads, again, are a cheap way of making the product available.

Obviously just putting it online means it's pretty much invisible amongst the millions of others so it needs to be brought to the attention of the swarms of people online.

Promoting it takes time, more hours a day than one person can manage. The Internet can help again by offering a big pool of people, some of which will help because they like the product.

I believe it can be done DIY and done very successfully but if a Major came along waving it's chequebook I'd probably take the money.

If you have a niche audience who gather around certain places on the Internet you can reach them very easily. If your product appeals to them then a 100 people doing a "bit" can amount to a lot. If your product has broader appeal it can gather momentum.

That's a lot of "ifs".

On the old principle of one person tells two people and they do too - the 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc, thing - the Internet gives easy access to millions of people

The Internet is a great facilitator not a magic bullet.

"Promoting it takes time, more hours a day than one person can manage."

Not sure I agree with this, Zoo.

Imagination is a massive time saving weapon.

But it does all depend on the track. I think I probably COULD have broken both Who Let The Dogs Out and Tubthumping in this current era through clever use of the www.

They were such runaway hits (though virtually nobody agreed with me at the time including Doug Morris who, after Chumbas, said "I'll never say no to you again JK" and then, when I played him DOGS, replied "Umm... JK I can promise you America is never going to be going WOOF WOOF"!)

JK2006 wrote:
"Promoting it takes time, more hours a day than one person can manage."

Not sure I agree with this, Zoo.

Imagination is a massive time saving weapon.

What I had specifically in mind is using message boards like this one.

Tipsheet is pretty unique in so far as it welcomes people plugging their songs. Generally if you turn-up and plug your song/project in your first post the response is hostile. It's considered spamming.

Having said that if the first post is cunningly written and not a blatant plug it can get through. (Imagination, as you rightly said)

Usually to use message boards effectively it is necessary to join the "community" and contribute, that's what takes time.

I think anyway, that KZ has made his mind up already! Am I right?

If you want to break something using YouTube etc, then I would also think that you are talking about the equivalent of car-crash music, ie JK's baby: the novelty track. I don't think that a carefully produced singer-songwriter or even a tasteful soul track would do it. It would have to have that wonderful irritating feeling that will set people clicking. "Nice" music comes from other quarters. Do you know what I mean?

Apart from that, what would I do? Perhaps set up PR in a few major markets. Even then, you know you that at best might do well and perhaps launch a career. But for major impact, you know what you have to do. But inevitably, there is an element of crap shoot about the whole thing. At least when you do it yourself, you know who to blame if things fall flat on their face.

I haven't made up my mind per se Michael.
I have an instinct that says it can be done and I would love the idea of an avalanche hit snowballed by the internet and then further spread offline as in a good viral campaign but the question is whether I being too much of any idealist here.

It's not idealism. It's testing a process. A hit is good no matter which way it comes (I've just been approached to do a Eurovision track - you don't get more old-school than that). Which of the paths will fulfill the potential of the track in question?

If the EV thing comes through, I might be on here begging for tips and advice of my own in a few months. It's always easier to give free advice than to take tough decisions!

Congrats on that Michael I guess JK could help you on that one. Would be great for it to work for you.
But yes you are right and the more I think about it the more interested in a hit I get. Now to have the ears of the great 'hitmakers'. lol Any tips JK ?
How do you spot a hit ? What do you look for in a song ?

I'll bite. I don't have the credentials of our esteemed host, but as a journalist I spotted a reasonable amount of acts that went on to do things (Soulwax, Zap Mama, 2 Unlimited).

I think one key element is recognisability. People can hear it on the radio and say very quickly, "Oh that's so-and-so".

The bigger hits ("Paloma Blanca", Abba, Claude Fran

Remember those two who did the Macarena?

There's hope for us all.

I rest my case, m'lud.

Another excellent example, by the way, of a hit coming from out of the blue withy no follow-up.

We experimented only yesterday with a pre-order ltd time free download on the 7digital Indiestore, and much to our surprise this morning, it has shifted a few copies.
Quite a worrying eye opener in many ways, I have read about it enough but have been yet to try it.
On the face of it, hardly a way forward but we seem to certainly found new ears purely by being promoted as a free download by Indiestore.
I shall give it a while and then put a fee on the popular track , which is notably and technically the "B" side and unavailable elsewhere.

Hi Mart,

I don't understand this, how does it work ?
You make it a pre-order and during the pre-order stage is it free ? Or is it free forever ?
Let me know how it works. Also put the link up and I will go grab a copy.
How did the rest of the 60 sec album go ?

Regards
DJKZ

Hiya; details for KZ and others on how we are working this.

Put the new tracks up on the Indiestore/7 digital page, and set the price at FREE.
You can change the price at any time or delete the track(s).
NB: A pro account is required with the company to do this which is a mere