Giving away all of my music for free.

[datalus]

Seconded. I agree with Torque. I would pay money for most of these tracks if they were self-released on http://www.bandcamp.com (or any other DIY site for that matter). You should put some HQ MP3s up for sale there. Beeing listening to I Am a lot and Here In The Womb of Wombs... you've got the talent

[optX]

[quote="Torque"]
By giving your music away you've basically given up all hopes at making money on any of the tracks you've made freely available by any label of note in the electronic music industry.
[quote]

Torque : Why should someone want to sell a track on a label when this tracks was intended to be free of charge for everybody? If this person wants to do commercial releases this person can simply produce new tracks. Basically that`s music and fun and art and feeling/mood and no business administration.

A lot of nowadays well known artists have their roots in the netlabel scene. that`s the scene were they grew up. That`s the scene were a lot of very nice things are happening. That`s the scene were a lot artists are returning every now and then. (i.e. unfoundsoundrecords)

I know a lot of artists who would do a netlabel release and who would be ok with the fact that the label gives their music away for free. but they say "ok, I`ll do, but that`s 200bucks for the remix."
So giving away for free can bring some money too. And I don`t think that most of the beatport artists make 200bucks with one remix.

Another aspect is the modern way of using the internet. You can self-promote yourself and do guerilla marketing and whatelse you are willed to do. Are you guys knowing the Berlin based producer Hannes Fischer? He is doing top notch house music, giving away most of his stuff for free, no need of looking for a label or doing releases. He is one of the "hottest" artists in the internet at the moment.
http://soundcloud.com/hannes-fischer

and let`s be honest a second time : What are we doing? Do we think we can get rich with releasing techno? Anyway, there is a very healthy netlabel scene which is growing and growing and growing and guys like Hannes Fischer are showing an additional option for us musician to get well known and well booked in the future. No need for prestigious labelreleases or beatport charts/sales.
If you are good enough and you really want it you can have fun AND make money with the hobby you love.

To cut a long story short, I really like Timothy Dalton`s music and I don´t think that he is shooting himself in the foot. Actually this guy with his melancholy music led us to discussions and a lot of us were saying "good music, i like".

But yeah, different strokes for different folks, I appreciate the commercial way too.

[ray parry]

Giving away all your music for free is a terrible idea. If you put no dollar value on your own music why in the world would a label do so? I work for one of the larger labels around and i can tell you first hand that we would never accept any tracks from an artist that were previously given away for free due to licensing concerns. By giving your music away you've basically given up all hopes at making money on any of the tracks you've made freely available by any label of note in the electronic music industry.

Even though you may feel the need to let people hear your music which i can totally relate to because i was once in your position as well, you are actually going to shoot yourself in the foot on this one.

That being said there are better options than waiting for a label to pick your music up for release or giving it away for free. There is always the option on which this entire industry is built, create your own label and sell the music yourself. It takes time to build a following but it's still the best way to gain respect in the industry and with other labels. It's really not as hard as you think and it will insure that you have a long career in this industry.

yeah agreed.

there is already a problem with people not wanting to pay for music as well, by doing this you are just supporting their opinion that all music should be free.

[oblioblioblio]

I don't agree that this is a terrible idea.

I think there are bad points. The one thing that a label can offer is a preexisting fan base, and some protection regarding publishing rights (it might be hard to fight someone ripping the track off if it was never 'published' and just shared).

But I think it's grey area how much this will limit you. Soundcloud has Creative Commons licenses built into it if you were to use that to distribute any files. And if you can reach people yourself from self publishing/self distributing then a label might not offer you that much to get your name out.

About making money from actual published music... I don't think that's a reality for many musicians nowadays. I personally publish music in order to create something "finished", you know an artifact with artwork and mastering and a vision. I also publish music to spread the name of the artist. If I can get the money back that was invested that's the best I can hope for really.

[Shepherd_of_Anu]

Don't let these guys make you start thinking like a pu$$y. You have a great attitude about your music. If you want people to hear it just put it out there, wavs even. If someone is out there stealing music and passing it off as their own.. well they are going to be doing that regardless and as you say, there isn't much money in it anyways.

[MarcAshken]

I think it's a good way to get noticed, I hadn't heard of the guy before he did this, and from past experience I know that it's a good way to get heard by some labels, even if they don't sign the track you gave away, they may be interested in your newer stuff. And let's be honest, you can always make more music.

[Shepherd_of_Anu]

Exactly.

[emoryemlyn]

Man, Ok I didn't see this happening this way. I'll tell you, you guys have been very inspiring. And yes, I'm always making more music. I feel like I have a completed EP almost every week. Making music is just a blast to me.

I think I like that this dialogue has been started. My thoughts were, screw it, I just want ppl to hear it. I know it could be stolen, but hey, to me its not about money or fame. I make so much music that it feels good to me just to get it out there.

And, man, this has brought more attention already that I had thought it would. So I feel like now I can begin handing out some newer stuff to labels, feeling good that this stuff is free and out there, maybe a good starting point. Like I said, I make a lot of jams, and I feel with each passing week they get better, and I learn more through experimenting.

Thanks alot for all the feedback gentlemen. This is turning into an exciting ride for me.

-Timothy Dalton