Zoo Animal and The Softrocks Playing at the Newest Club in Town

A place called the 501 Club recently opened here in Minneapolis.  The owners are the same people who own and operate the 331 Club in NE Minneapolis.  That place is an excellent venue to see live music, so we’re glad to see them venture downtown.  It’s near the Metrodome in the space formerly occupied by Matty B’s (which was owned by former Vikings center, Matt Birk).

There’s a grand opening event tomorrow night, but if you’re looking for something to occupy your Thursday night, head over there tonight.  COPYCATS Media customers Zoo Animal and The Softrocks are both performing ther this evening.  There’s a good chance you’ll find Ricky Coles there, too.

Music Services: Pay-per-download or subscription?

Posted by Chris Brummund

I started writing up this post for another site, but then I thought, “This is related to music.  I’m going to use it for my work blog and then I can just take the day off.”  I’m kidding about taking the day off, but the rest of it is true.

I came across a good article touting all that is good and great about Rhapsody’s music service. I tend to agree with most of this article. Rhapsody gives you on-demand access to an extensive music library for $15 per month.  That’s about the same as buying 1 or 2 CDs a month.  The only other “cost” is you have to put up with their rarely-updated, buggy software.

This article and it’s accompanying reader comments inspired me to resubscribe.  I actually had a subscription but ended it about a month ago. It wasn’t intentional. Well, it sort of was. My credit card on file had expired and I didn’t update my account with a new number. They e-mailed me a couple times before shutting down my service, but I decided to hold off on submitting payment. I thought I’d use this as an opportunity to explore some other services.

I again tried to get into iTunes. I really dig their store and the software is fairly easy to use. Unfortunately, iTunes does not offer subscription services for their music. That’s kind of a deal breaker for me.  I absolutely love the subscription model and think it’s the best choice for music fans.

As a music fan, I like to go out and explore all types of music. Rhapsody gave me an entire catalog of over 6 million tracks on demand. I could listen to them streaming online, download them to my hard-drive to listen offline, and transfer them to my MP3 player. If I wanted to burn a mix CD, then I would pay the obligatory $0.99 a track. This is perfect for music fans like myself. Unfortunately, music fans like myself are in the minority.

There’s a reason why iTunes is so incredibly popular, and it’s not just because of the iPod’s complete and utter dominance of the MP3 player market. The reason is that the $0.99-per-track model is perfect for the majority of music consumers who have a narrower listening preference. Most don’t care for full albums, b-sides, and live tracks. They are happy with just purchasing singles they hear on the radio.  Most consumers may not hear more than $15 worth of new songs in a month.

That’s perfectly fine for them, but not me.  I want the whole enchilada (sometimes with a side of rice and refried beans), and a subscription service delivers that at the most reasonable price. I wish Apple and others out there would start offering subscription plans. More competition for this market will lead to better products and services for us all.

Some people have said to me, “Wouldn’t you rather own your music?”  Ultimately, yes I would.  But due to my budget limitations, I would never be able to purchase as much music as I listen to through the subscription service.  Plus, if I am to “own” some music, I’ll go out and purchase the CD to get all the added frills.

So what say you?  How do you purchase and consume your music?  Pay-per-download?  Subscription?  Streaming online?  CDs?  Vinyl?

Save the Record Stores!

Posted by Chris Brummund

There’s a great 3-part story about traditional record stores over at CNET’s MP3 Insider blog.  The first and second part dissect both the good and the bad features of the traditional brick-and-mortar record store.  The third part then offers some ideas going forward.  It’s a good read, and I like the ideas presented in the third part.

Here’s what I suggest to enhance the value and longevity of these record stores: integrate web business with your regular brick-and-mortar business.  The article suggests a few ideas like offering access to a shared iTunes library through their WiFi network or setting up an inventory database with other area record stores. 

I’d take it another step further and try selling online.  It may take some time and investment to build a fully functional online store, but in the meantime just set up an area on the site where a customer can send a request for a particular item.  A store employee would receive that request, look up the item, and call or e-mail the customer back.  The customer could then pay for it with a credit card over the phone and have it shipped, or the clerk could put it on hold for the customer to pick up.

I actually came across another articleprofiling an online vinyl dealer who is opening up a brick-and-mortar store in NE Minneapolis.  You heard correctly: a new record store is opening.  You can read the article here, but this is the best quote:

If I were just to open up a record store, there’s no way it would survive. But I have the online component, which is the main part of my business.

Integration is going to be key.  There’s still a place for record stores, but they have to embrace the web and digital formats.  They don’t have to build their own iTunes or Amazon.com, but they should be finding ways to use the web to increase sales.

Good News for the CD Duplication Business

Posted by Chris Brummund

By way of @buzzsonic’s Twitter feed, I came across this short article highlighting global music sales.  Most commentary on the subject centers around how everything is on the decline, internet is killing the recording industry, the sky is falling, our pets’ heads are falling off, etc.  But let’s look at the bright side of things.

The thing that sticks out to me as a CD duplicator is that 75% percent of the global music sales are through a physical format.  That’s 75% of $20 billion.  If you’re quick with your math, that’s $15 billion in CD sales being made each year throughout the world.  While those numbers are slowly declining, it’s not time to jump off this ship yet.

We cater to a lot of independent musicians.  To them, the CD is still a key piece of revenue-generating merchandise.  I don’t see the market fading as quickly.  The digital format is good to distribute music and raise awareness of your band, but they don’t earn as much revenue when sold.

Also, by only selling downloads, bands would be missing out on ripe sales opportunities at shows.  When I see a good band perform live, I want to purchase their music instantly while the energy of their show is still pulsing through my veins.  If my only option is to buy their tracks on iTunes, there’s a good chance I’ll forget the name of the band by the time I get home.

The day may come when independent musicians are able to make easy money by marketing and selling digital downloads, but until then, the CD needs to be sitting right there with the T-shirts and other merch at your show.

Where’s the Beef?

Posted by Chris Brummund

Here’s a fun example of daily human conflict I’d like to share today:

The location of our office is somewhat cut off from the rest of Downtown Minneapolis, so when we’re looking for a quick lunch, the employees at COPYCATS Media often like to dine at the college cafeteria across the street.  It’s a fine establishment that provides freshly grilled burgers, made-to-order sandwiches, a full salad bar, and daily specials that range from chicken linguine to meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  It’s quite excellent and comes at a bargain price.

COPYCATS sales rep Adam Wachter and I went over there to have ourselves a delicious lunch.  We were delighted to see that the sandwich special of the day was something called a steakhouse tortilla wrap.  It’s not really a sandwich; not really a steak; but something good to eat, nonetheless.  I conveniently stepped in front of Adam to get my order in first.  The surly sandwich-maker put together my wrap without incident.  I was pleased.

Adam stepped up next and ordered the same thing.  He also asked to have his made without tomatoes and onions, to which the sandwich-maker replied with a grumbly grunt.  Adam also asked to have his wrap in a to-go box.  This request was granted, but again with an indecipherable grunt.

Here is where the story gets interesting (it really doesn’t get interesting; slow blog day).  There was only about a half-slice of meat left in his little tray at the sandwich making station.  A normal wrap (or at least the one that was made for me just minutes before) has three full slices of delicious, protein-packed beef.  The sandwich-maker just throws on the half-slice and continues on with the rest of the wrap, which only consisted of lettuce, cheese, and mayo, since he opted for no tomatoes or onion. 

So what would you do in Adam’s situation?  Would you make a third request that the chef tend to the meat deficiency, or would you meekly accept the wrap that was handed to you and retreat to the COPYCATS Media office to consume your mostly lettuce-mayo-cheese tortilla wrap?

Friday’s Ping-Pong Madness

Posted by Chris Brummund

We take nothing more serious than ping-pong here at COPYCATS Media.  Well, except for CD duplication; that’s probably #1 on our list of things we take seriously.  I suppose #2 would be DVD duplication.  And after that, there’s probably a number of other items that are related to both CD and DVD duplication that we take very seriously.  But the #1 non-CD/DVD duplication related item we take serious here at COPYCATS Media is ping-pong.

It all started when Ricky Coles raised $90 to purchase a table.  We assembled it and started playing games during our lunch breaks and after hours.  Then we started tracking wins and losses, and it has now become an after-work obsession.  In fact, if you look to your right while taking the ramp from I394 West onto I94 West during the evening, you just might catch a glimpse through the window of some games still taking place into the wee hours of the evening.

This morning, the updated rankings were released:

Rank	Player	WP	RPI	WP + RPI
1	Ricky	1.000	0.688	1.688
2	Adam	.606	0.541	1.147
3	Ed	.574	0.571	1.145
4	Jeremy	.549	0.558	1.107
5	Jason	.371	0.729	1.1
6	Steve	.520	0.528	1.048
7	Rich	.379	0.43	0.809
8	Nick	.222	0.574	0.796
9	Zac	.306	0.418	0.724
10	Joshua	.333	0.382	0.715
11	Dale	.125	0.503	0.628
12	Justin	.154	0.338	0.492
13	Chris	.063	0.312	0.375
14	Eric N	0	0.289	0.289

The WP stands for winning percentage and the RPI stands for ratings percentage index.  Notice anything odd about the standings?  Look at the 5th and 6th place positions.  Jason sits at #5 with a win percentage of only .371, substantially lower than #6 Steve’s win percentage of .520 (and even lower than Rich’s at .379).  But when you look at the RPI, Jason is head shoulders above everybody.  That’s because his head to head match-ups are almost all against the top players. He’s rewarded for playing the toughest competition and not inflating his record by defeating weaker opponents. 

It’s confusing at first, but it makes sense when you understand the formula.  This is the same thing that happens year after year in college football and basketball.  Certain teams with lesser win-loss records but a schedule played against stronger opponents get selected to play in BCS bowls or the NCAA tournament, while teams with better win-loss records against a weak schedule are passed over.  It’s fair, and everybody seems to agree with it when the season begins.  But at the end of the season, certain teams feel they are unjustly left out by these rankings.  That’s when the cries of “Bullsh*t!” start to rain down. 

The result is the same with our ping-pong league standings.  The second I e-mailed the updated standings, I got a phone call from Steve Javinsky.  For those who don’t  know, Steve is our boss.  He demanded that this situation be rectified and for the second time this week, jokingly (or was he?) threatened job termination over the results of ping-pong play.

I thankfully had a quick solution.  The advantage we have over NCAA competition, is that we can immediately schedule a match to settle any argument.  That is precisely what happened this morning.  Steve and Jason played a series of 5 matches. 

Steve: 5
Jason: 0

So that settles that.  Barring any significant number of wins by Jason or losses by Steve this afternoon, the standings released on Monday morning should look more normal.  But this incident just shows the importance of playing top flight competition at every opportunity, whether it’s in NCAA sports or your company’s ping-pong league.  If you want to be the best, you have to play the best!

Freebie Fridays at COPYCATS Media

We’re looking to give back to our loyal customers who spread the good word of COPYCATS Media.  That’s why we’ve decided to have a free prize drawing each Friday at noon.  Anybody with a Twitter account can enter (don’t have a Twitter account? Sign up now and start following COPYCATS Media), and here’s how you do it:

Reply to @COPYCATSMedia on Twitter or use the hashtag #copycatsmedia in one of your tweets before noon on Friday.  That’s all you have to do.  We’ll have a drawing and announce the winner Friday afternoon.  It’s that easy!

So what’s the prize this week?  25 Full Color 11″x17″ posters!

We’ll print up 25 posters with your custom design.  The posters are printed on one side with full color CMYK.  All you have to provide is an art file of your poster design, and we’ll print them up and ship them to you for free!

You can use these posters to sell to fans, promote an upcoming event, or advertise your CD/DVD release.

Fan Financed Music Business Model In Practice

After yesterday’s post, I came across an article via the @artistshouse Twitter feed.  It also talks about fans financing album releases and tours for their favorite musicians.  The difference is this article sites actual examples of artists using this method and making it work.

Read “Where Will The Money Come From?  The Fans” and hear the stories of how Ellis Paul, Seth Glier, and Jill Sobule used donations from fans to finance their music projects.  It’ll give you some good ideas and inspiration. 

Of course, these artists started with large, established fan bases.  If you’re a relatively new artist, the post written here yesterday might provide some good ideas to start.

Fundraisers to Finance Your CD Project?

Posted by Chris Brummund

I was wandering through the wonder world of Twitter, when I came across this particular “tweet”: 

Just got home from Aubrey’s CD fund raiser party! $418 donated for production and mastering! yoo hoo! Thanks everyone!!

My amateur internet stalking skills were unable to get any more information as to who this Aubrey person is, but I soon didn’t care much to find out.  I was more interested in the concept of having fundraisers to finance an album release.

I tried to outline a plan that I would attempt to execute if I actually had a band, recorded music, and performed live.  Here it is:

Fund Raising Parties

Hold fund raising parties where you can invite friends, family, and existing fans.  Use these parties to mingle with your supporters, pitch your plan, and perform.  Look to play outside of the normal concert venues.  Instead of playing at some bar or club where your fans will have to pay a cover, pay for parking, buy drinks, etc., have a fund-raising party in a cheap rented space or host it at your own place if possible.  Imagine a backyard barbecue where your only expense would be some hot dogs, buns, and a keg of cheap beer.  Just make sure to play an acoustic set so you don’t upset the neighbors.

Donation = Preorder

Remember watching those PBS telethon fundraisers where you’d get a cool Sesame Street backpack or umbrella for donating a certain amount?  Do the same with your album project.  Set a dontation level at about $10-$15 and include a free copy of the new CD to those who donate at least that amount.  If you get just 100 people to donate that amount, that will add up to $1000-$1500 in revenue.  That would be more than enough to cover a CD replication run of 1000 units.  You could also think of other benefits to include for donors who give even larger amounts.

Grant Exclusive Access

Get the contact info of all the fans who donate and send them bonus materials why you are producing the album.  Record video logs and send them exclusively to your donors.  When designing your album, get their input.  If you have a couple different photos you are torn over using for the album cover, send them out to those fans and have them vote on it.  Keep them involved during the process and make sure it’s exclusive to only them so it entices others to donate and be a part of the club.

Open Up The Books

Just like a business that goes public, you should share your financial information with your donors/investors.  Let them know how much money you’ve raised for the project and update them monthly with any funds being deposited or withdrawn.  Make sure you mention how much money you and your band mates are contributing each month, too.  Finally, share the cost information, like how much you are spending on recording, mastering, design, printing, etc., so they know where their money is going.

There’s my rough plan.  To any actual working musicians out there, would this seem feasible?  Or is it completely unrealistic?  Let me know if you’ve tried something similar

Jeremy Hagen for Muscle Milk

It takes a lot to work in the COPYCATS Media art department.  You’re dealing with art files that don’t have bleeds set up, resolution that’s below the minimum 300 dpi, and having to change color modes from RGB to CMYK.  That’s why Jeremy Hagen drinks Muscle Milk.  Chock full of premium proteins, complex carbohydrates, functional fats, vitamins, and minerals, it’s what helps get him through the day.

No matter what his nutrional goals may be – building lean muscle mass, toning his physique, or gaining enough strength to drive a ping-pong ball through Ed Bonach’s skull – Muscle Milk is the perfect protein-enhanced functional beverage for all his nutrional needs.