We got numbers folks!

Lots going on here. I finally got the Space March, the Heaven 17 single and the Sonic Hub single into the stores (ok, well amazon and A different Drum, but that’s all that counts, right?)

iTunes crap- They posted sonic Hub and Space March but still no sign of the Heaven 17 single despite the fact I sent the H17 single out a month before. It’s not IODA’s fault either- eMusic and others have the H17 up already…

Garland Cult – OK, finally got art set, the Cd is up on Amazon for pre order and the plant says they will ship it next week. Lots of folks eager to hear this (well, it’s been up on itunes for 2 months people) . In some ways this is a test- I tacked on a second CD of remixes that are not up online (well, legit online at least). So for once you get more for buying the damn CD. And the 2 Cd set is only $9.49 on Amazon.

Oh yeah- another marketing thing. I lowered the prices of every ninthwave CD on Amazon. Singles to $2.99 (most of em), collections $4.99 and albums $6.99. Hey, I have boxes sitting around, why not move em?

The way I see it is you get a CD and the files, rip em till your blue. All for less than iTunes. Your choice. I could charge $14.99 and not sell all that many, but I’m a sick puppy- I like people to hear the music I release.

Smash Hits- a great (ok, some will say stupid) collection of remixes from bands on the label is mastered. The art is pretty much done. I just have to nail down the credits. It’ll be $4.99 on Amazon, yeah it’s just in a cardboard (full color!) sleeve. Whatdayawant?

OK- here’s the big , sad news: Tuesday Amazon sold 50 CDs on mine. 33 Heaven 17 and 17 sonic hub’s (ok, some were pre ordered, but weren’t shipped). Pretty sad?

Hell no! There are months (most) in the past three years where I don’t sell 50 cds a MONTH from the entire catalog on Amazon.

I know, I know, that’s mostly fans (Amazon reordered double on each title, so I expect to sell a few more in this initial burst of fans completing their collections) – but as a fan that’s the point. You don’t need to put out 500k singles, but I bet even today’s pop stars could move 4-5K CD singles (or more) to fans, even at $7 each. You have to master and pay for remixes anyway if you pop these things up on iTunes. Why not spend a few more dollars and press them up? Not 100k, just a few to meet fan demand. Once it sells out the casual fan can buy on iTunes like they do anyway.

Just from a fan’s POV.

So- today I am happy (ain’t that sad?) Even Space March sold a couple of copies. (I know, Heaven 17 and ABC are ringers, they would sell something no matter what, but that’s why I put them out. I begged some record companies to put out Heaven 17 and no one did ( and no, it wasn’t Sony or Universal, it was some small national labels). They said they couldn’t make it work.

And they’re right. Even if I sell 1000 odd copies of the Heaven 17 single (like I have of the album) they can’t do it. But I can cause I’m not in this for the money, just the fame baby!

That is all.

Must Post Blog!

OK
So I have been out of town and generally up to my neck in stuff for the past week. Here's some new stuff:
Got the Space March and H17 CDs in today, Sonic Hub is hopefully right behind them.
H17 single has been selling like Hotcakes on Amazon, nice to see the fans come out.
The Smash Hits remix collection track list is pretty much settled, I am waiting for the master from Brian Hazard. I doubt I will change the track order, but you never know. The Art is all but done too and will look great! I just hope they can get the breasts big enough. ( I am not joking. Have you seen the Ultra Records covers?)
More as I emerge from this massive pile of stuff to do.

I'm gonna make you sell some cds...

Well a spot of good news today- Late last week Amazon listed both the new Heaven 17 single and the new Sonic Hub Fea Martin Fry (ABC)

I rallied the fan clubs on both and today Amazon placed pre orders for 33 H17 singles and 18 Sonic Hub. This from a place that usually orders 2 copies the week after the release date. They even ordered 6 Space March album ahead of time. Now I'm trying not to fool myself- these are the fans ordering, not like the single has taken off. But I did managed to package up 155 promos Cds of the H17 single and to send to DJs this week. NExt week I'll do it all again for the Sonic Hub single and the full length H17 single when they come back from the pressing plant.

Wonderful Todd LeMieux finished up an ad for BPM magazine last night. I am trying again with some ads- have to see what sort of reaction- mainly I am hoping (expecting?) BPM to run a review of the Before/Afteralbum from H17.

I also started 2 new Google ads- do a search on Martin Fry and Heaven 17 and you should see an ad in both results. This has worked pretty well before- it drove lots of people to look at B/A this past Christmas, and I think helped sell a few Cds.

-

Cdbaby strike again- but do right in the end

Well, the subject line probably won't hlpe my case, but I am tired of trying to deal with Cdbaby- which has gone from user friendly to being a pit of trouble.

A few months ago I asked them to remove MOST ninthwave titles so IODA could post them. IODA seems to be able to tell me xactly what has sold and what they have been paid for. CDbaby send me seemingly random amounts of money that never line up to what they report. And here's the funny things, it's not like they are cheating me - sometimes it was more- point is it is always OFF.

So today I was surfing iTunes, and went to Spray just to see what was selling. I then noticed that the online remix EP "Electrified..." was not there. I had specifically asked CDbaby to keep that EP, the first Electroluvs, ESH's Urbanism and MAcondo's Dance Remix CD up because I was too lazy to burn new CDs to send to IODA (never mind find album art).

So, now - I don;t know. Cdbaby got all pissy with me when I took down the other stuff, saying if I wanted to ever put it back I had to have new UPC code. I am sure iTunes told Cdbaby that so CDbaby artists wouldn't randomly pull and put stuff up over and over.

Crap.


UPDATe: Cdbaby emailed me (I emailed first) and said if a mistake was made they would repost the CDs with new barcodes (they would pick up the tab). Alllllrighty then!

Slow Death- 66

66 returns - Electroluvs, Alan Replica's Simulacra and some Color Theory Depeceh Mode CDs I tried to sell for Brian. Sigh. Super D has been great, but they're just dickin around when it comes to Ninthwave. Returning 3 cds? That's embarassing for US, not them.
but the fact is that retail ain't what it was. Where does Super D try to sell the CDs anyway? I went back to my hometown the other day, and yes, they still have a record store- a Plan 9. Plan 9 is a famous central Virginia chain that bought out the chain in my town and opened a branch. Well, maybe all they did was change the sign. The store was sad- you could tell that what they were really selling was jewlery, DVDs and in the back rap mix cds (bootlegs I would guess). It was just sad. Three people in there shopping, two of them going through the small bin of 12" singles. Vinyl! wow.

MEanwhile, tilting at windmills here- the pressing plant gets paid today for the 3000 Cds I am pressin gup of 3 new titles. Wonder how long those will take to sell...

Got paid by Cdbaby for Digital sales- as usual have no idea what I am being paid for since their reports are useless. I only have a few digital titles with them now- ESH's Urbanism, Spray's ESM Remix album and the Macondo Remix album - all stuff I had to "create" and would have to re do to get IODA to carry it. Not worth it honestly.

Had an interesting talk with DJ Slash of Melody & MEzzo- he is working hard on an album but worried about it being ripped and put up. He haunts chat rooms and forums and says he actually knows the people who have ripped M&M's single and put it up online for people to download. And these people he knows are very friendly to him - they LOVE his music, think he is great and want more- yet somehow think it's ok to just rip these songs on line. Hell, M&M aren't MEtallica- they do about $30 a month in digital sales... yet tehy're getting ripped off. Sigh... People...