tired"Why can't I buy your music on iTunes/Band Camp/Amazon MP3/whatever?"
Sometimes the question takes the form of "I have gone all-digital, why do I have to buy a physical CD?", but those are basically the same thing, since "Why can't I buy..." is the flip side of "Why do I have to buy...". And here is my answer:
I will never, barring the closure of all the CD manufacturing companies, be selling my music digitally. If you want to own my music, you will need to either buy and rip a physical CD, or pirate it. I would obviously prefer the former, but since some of my CDs are out of print, I'll understand if you go for the latter.
Why?
Two big reasons. These are...
It's a hobby.
I am not a professional musician. Even if I sell every single copy of every single CD at full "retail price," never selling through filk dealers or sites like CD Baby, I won't turn a profit. Breaking even is the most that I can hope for. Because all CDs are nothing but red ink, they don't further complicate my already incredibly complicated taxes. If I started doing digital sales, which many people view as "money for nothing," I might pass that magical line where I make a profit, and then I would have to figure out how to deal with things.
I don't take enough of a loss for my music to be a tax write-off (yet), but I also don't make any money, and that keeps things simple. If I started needing to religiously track receipts and who paid what where to who, I don't know that the carrot would remain worth the stick for me.
The digital divide exists.
I feel as strongly about physical CDs as I do about physical books. The ability to release things digitally is amazing for people who can't afford a print run, or are doing something incredibly focused, or just want to get themselves out there. I can afford a print run; I have an audience; I am as out there as I need to be. And people like my mother, who doesn't own an MP3 player, and who listens to all music via her CD player, still exist.
Because of the costs of production, I can only afford to produce physical CDs when I'm sure that I'll be able to sell them. If 50% of my audience went to digital downloads, I'd wind up with a lot of unsold CDs, and again, would not be able to justify producing more. And for me, that would be the end of it. I'm not going to pay for recording and mixing and mastering and not have something in my hands when I'm done. I can't afford to produce CDs in units of less than 1,000—and with full "to get this, you must buy physical" buy-in, it still took four years for Stars Fall Home to sell out.
Cover songs.
None of my cover song licenses include digital rights. All my albums would be missing pieces if I put them up for digital download.
And so...
I know that this can create bottlenecks. I know that physical disks come with shipping costs, and that sometimes vendors run out. I know that I'm losing business. These are choices that I made, for the reasons listed above, and while they may be wrong choices, they are mine, and I'm sticking with them.
Thank you.
April 23 2014, 21:31:27 UTC 3 years ago
Somewhat amusingly, it was actually at a Vixy & Tony concert where they covered Wicked Girls that I had to buy your CDs. I then proceeded to rip them. I actually need to find where they wandered off to now, because we "inherited" a nearly-pristine luxury car from my parents that had the awesome new tech of the day -- a CD changer and absolutely no place on the front panel to replace with a modern stereo. So, for the first time in years, I'm digging up CDs (... I'd be burning them but I'm having issues with my optical drive and my laptop does not have one) for my car.
Also, I was able to get copies of the earlier albums in mp3 format from a friend who had bought them (with the caveat that she would only do this because they were out of print). I know you occasionally have the Tip Jar up but since that is for a specific purpose... is there a PayPal address or something so I could send you the cost of the CDs? I have been meaning to ask this for a bit but keep forgetting. Or something else you'd prefer? I love the music and would like to compensate, since I wasn't able to buy legally.
April 30 2014, 05:44:26 UTC 3 years ago
I can't wait to see your tattoo.
April 30 2014, 07:28:12 UTC 3 years ago
Ty! I'm getting my first done relatively soon... the Kushiel's Rose I have been meaning to get done for about ten years. Hopefully I will be able to talk my artist into doing this one without having to start on my other heavier ink first (lovely shop, but they mention they don't tend to do more "extreme" ink on people who aren't as heavily tattooed... as I have many, many, many tattoo plans I hope explaining that will let me get this one done sooner! *crosses fingers*).