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| From | "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: Elephantine Album Gestations |
| Date | Sat, 31 Jul 2004 00:10:04 -0400 |
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At Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 23:43:29 Jason wrote:
><<Now for me i LOVE that i'm connected with a label like Not Lame that
>encourages me to record and release records.>>
>
>Exactly, and as long as artists who are as talented as Michael Carpenter
>are
>recording and releasing records, I'm going to be buying them. But I don't
>mean to heap all the blame on the artists, either--I think the labels are
>as
>much a part of the equation--if not more--and it seems that one of the
>major
>problems is that albums get shelved to wait for the right spot in a
>promotional
>cycle. Obviously you want to maximize your exposure each time out, but
>there's definitely a limit to how long this should wait. It's nice that
>there are
>labels like NotLame and artists like MC who do break this mold. --Jason
Just to play devil's advocate here for a minute, people do have to realize
that labels are at the mercy of economic cycles as well.
You can't release an album from about November 15 to February 1st because
retail won't bite on
the initial release date (Xmas stock has already been pre-advanced nearly 6
to 8 weeks prior to this date) and if it isn't a 'best of', 'greatest hits',
'anthology', boxed set or the swan song of a dying (or dead) act you've lost
all visibility and sales potential at retail. Likewise, the media is also
your enemy at this time because they're busy writing year-ends, and reviews
of 'best of', 'greatest hits', 'anthology', boxed set or the swan song of
dying (or dead) acts.
Then...between December 27th and February 1st NO ONE is buying new
product...mainly because labels release very little during this period.
Your best windows for retail, promotion and touring start around the middle
of February to the end of May -- which is when school gets out and your
audience is off having lives and not listening to new music. The other is
September 7th through October 31st as Mom & Dad are back at work full-time,
College and Universities are back at full strength, retail is pounding to
get their 4th quarter quotas in and media is ablaze with "what shall the
year-end" bring?
Other than touring between May 15th and Labour Day, you haven't a hope in
hell of getting radio play, media or retail...who are busy clearing out
Spring merchandise to make way for compilations and summer themed sales
clearances.
And THIS, ladies and gentlemen is why a band that starts recording an album
in September may not get it released until the Spring or even subsequent
Fall of the following year. If they miss the window it could be shuffled off
another 6 or 12 months...and the writing process could be delayed just
because of this....cause, what's the point if the album's going to sit on
the shelf?
Our former band The First Time (formerly Soap Opera) completed their 3rd
record in November last year (I blew out an appearance at IPO Liverpool to
executive produce). We shopped the album right through to April of this year
with major labels. We got bites, but no secure offers. We've decided, as a
Plan B to release it on Bullseye.
The band's target audience is the College crowd so releasing it anytime
between May and August was not an option. That lag has bought us valuable
time to get artwork, a single, a video and touring schedules in line. We're
ready to go out of the gate on September 15th with a radio single, a video
launch, a retail assault, an appearance on ESPN's "Xtreme Motocross" and a
tour (as part of a package deal with Road Runner's The Mudmen, and Warner's
Staggered Crossing).
If we had thrown the album on the street the minute we finished mastering it
(December 15th 2003)....no one would have heard the record and it would have
been a HUGE chunk of money lost to the band and to the label. Now, we've got
a shot at getting them where they need to go and recouping all the expenses.
And this is something FANS don't necessarily comprehend...nor should
they....but in many cases there are REASONS why albums don't come out right
away.
Jaimie Vernon,
Bullseye Records of Canada, Inc.
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
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