There’s been a lot of talk lately about the value of free. First from Chris Anderson, then Malcolm Gladwell jumped in the fray.
Dave Matthews Band was one of the first bands to openly encourage fans to record and share their live music, but it’s been Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead recently making news by releasing their own albums and tracks independent of label influence.
Instead of taking the normal route and talking about why giving away music is so great, I’m instead going to talk about how giving free music away is only one way you can provide value to your fans.
Imogen Heap (of solo fame, as well as half of Frou Frou) has been vlogging and blogging (and posting on Twitter, and running a forum…) to provide her fans with an up-close-and-personal glimpse of her new album in progress, complete with snippets of the music as it develops.
In addition, she just put her album on her site, in full streaming goodness. For your listening pleasure I’ve also posted it here.
So, now for the list:
- Post cover art in progress
- Video yourself recording (:60 or less, ideally)
- Vlog about your inspiration
- Blog about how recording is going, complete with photos
- Create a short video about your latest interview
- Livesteam concerts
- Show tweets about your concert at the concert, including photos and videos
- Interview your manager – what’s it REALLY like behind the scenes?
- Reveal an embarassing home video of yourself performing when you were young
- Run a contest for a limited edition signed giveaway of choice (t-shirt, CD, vinyl, etc)
So. Free may be the new black, but it’s up to you to choose your “free”.
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