A Song from the Attic (2)

A week or two ago I told you about the old diary I found at the attic - and now I'm getting back to it because it makes me believe I'm insane. When I picked it up again yesterday a new entry had appeared out of nowhere... someone's still writing in it! Is it a ghost of times long past? Only if 'recording software' once had a meaning different from what we know today... piecing together parts of the puzzle. Although I feel this ghost is benign it definitely has some unfinished business to attend to! Read with me:

So I did finally get to sleep after recording my little improvisational session in the middle of the night. Now, the morning after the birth of a song, I wake up wondering if what I have created is any good at all! This is when I get critical and judgemental; this is when the real work begins.

I open up my recording software to retrieve my last piece of creation and while looking at the piano track on the screen, I remember - oh yeah, this is 15 minutes long! Yikes!! That is way too long for a song, unless we’re talking about Led Zeppelin of course. So what I attempt to do is go through the recording and see what parts I want to keep and what parts can be canned in order to make something that somewhat resembles a modern song structure. This is where some self doubt, combined with the ego’s desires, tries to make it’s way in. Is this good enough? Can I really make a song worth listening to out of this? Will people like it?

I try to calm the voices in my head and get to work. I take the track and start cutting it up and changing the sequence of sections or repeating certain passages with a little copy and paste. This of course, is just to give an idea of what order the music will be in. The next part will be arranging the music and re-recording the whole thing plus adding layers if I decide to do so.

What about a text? Well, if I listen carefully to the soft notes that sometimes came out of my low volume voice in the recording, I can make out words and sometimes phrases: “All the pretty places are calling me. I want more than their faces; I want to dive deep”. Well, it’s not much, but it’s a start! There are a few more words that I can make out. Let’s see what else I can find here and then add some more to make a storyline. I feel a title coming on… yep. There is definitely a title in there. So the song shall be called,… (AA)

Wanted: Graphics Designers

Thinking of how music makes a great gift, I thought Sellaband may have a lot of gift giving potential for the upcoming holiday season. But currently there are only two options besides wrapping one of your superfluous Cubworld, Nemesea or Second Person Limited Editions: Ordering a CD from the store which to my knowledge does not know how to gift-wrap, or to get one or more gift parts.
Now I don't know about you, but somehow my heart fails to beat faster at the idea of giving out (or receiving) a festive present in the form of a code like "A562Bh72Y" and by e-mail too!
The least I would like to do is to take that code and put it in printed form on a good looking card. Besides communicating the spirit of Christmas, New Year and (not too obvious) Sellaband the design should of course also contain clear instructions on how to claim that gift and before which date that should be done. Ideally you could enter the gift part specific data on your computer, and print out the whole card yourself.
Assuming that SAB HQ is a bit tied up at the moment, and my own graphical skills are limited, is there perhaps someone to volunteer? Perhaps a few volunteers for different designs? When you're done post it on the web somewhere and pm me so I can put a link in this post for all to use. If you don't have any webspace to put it, pm me too and we'll work something out (VB)

A Song from the Attic

When clearing out an old dusty attic recently I came across a diary that looked as if it's been lying there for ages. I started reading and it appeared to be from a musician, or composer, of times long past. After hours of reading I came to the last page, where the date read November 4th, but as with the earlier pages the year had been omitted. On closer scrutiny the ink on this page seems to be different from the other ones... almost fresh. As the content may be of interest to the Sellablog readership I copy this entry:

The Birth of a Song

With so much noise going on in my head at times, the daylight seems to pass by too quickly and the nights can be restless and long. Last night, I decided to try what many have suggested and get out of bed instead of trying to force some shut eye. So I did. I got up, at about 1AM, and went to sit at my piano.

Of course, one of the main reasons why I could not get to sleep was because of a melody in my head that would not leave me alone. Sitting across an impressive line-up of black and white keys, I decided to see if this melody could actually take me somewhere. When my fingers finally made contact with the notes, and a feeling of calm entered my mind, I then realized that I was to be taken somewhere. With my recording software on, I played the piano for over 15 minutes non-stop. Of course, that is quite a bit long for a song but I always try to leave limitations and judgement at the door when the creative process comes to visit me.

The music always comes first. Then, as I’m sliding into different piano chords, a melody escapes my vocal chords (ever so softly as I am doing my best not to wake the neighbours!) and sporadic words appear. At first, they don’t mean anything to me, but when I let them come, they somehow turn into phrases. The emotions of the music dictate the meaning of these lyrics and soon enough, I have a theme for a song.

So tonight, at around 1:30 in the morning, a song was born. Now, I go back to bed and feel I will sleep like a baby. AA

Reinvesting still has to happen...

Sellaband has before been accused of being a 'pyramid scheme', but in my opinion people making these accusations just don't understand the Sellaband model. A true pyramid scheme is built on money flowing from newer entrants to older ones, who are then the only ones making actual money and usually for no apparent reason or value add.
Sellaband differs on two key points here: First, actual value is created by artists who make music other people are willing to pay for - directly or indirectly. Secondly, money flows into Sellaband because of this added value and from sources who do not have to "buy in" to the whole "believer" scheme: Music buyers and advertisers.
This doesn't mean that Sellaband isn't built on a growth model - it is! Up to this point growth has come from two main sources: New believers, and existing believers willing to put more money in. So, if both the number of believers increase and each invests a monthly amount, you'd expect the total invested sum to increase double, right? All the more reason why the actual graph for the past 200 days (see above) is intriguing: Instead of the expected upward curve it is basically a straight line! One must conclude that either there aren't many new believers, they aren't investing much or current believers are holding back on increasing their share. The latter hypothesis is supported by anecdotal evidence of people saying "they hold back until the model has proven itself" or "are simply broke" (hopefully figuratively speaking!).
This points us to the third growth source of the total invested sum in Sellaband artists, which is the revenue of CD sales and advertisement income which is distributed over believers. While people are allowed to take that money out, it seems that the average believer is willing to reinvest as expressed on the Sellaband forum. Unfortunately, for many there isn't much to reinvest mainly because it takes quite some time, up to 6 months or more, between the moment an artist reaches 50k and actual CD sales starting. With only 3 full CDs currently released it may take a while before Sellaband profits from leverage of earlier investments. Until then, we'll probably be seeing the straight line a bit longer... (VB)