Indie Band V's Alanis Morissette

[Chob]

Indie band Chob is at war with Alanis. Chob(an unsigned true indie band from Australia, proud indie ring member and home recorder) is currently #25 in the mp3.com Alternative General charts under Alanis Morrisette, what the hell is she doing there. Help CHOB skull that fathead by going to www.mp3.com/chob and downloading "All Fall Down"(which was recorded on a DSP Factory using Logic Audio). feel free to call on chob anytime to help fight main stream monsters like Alanis and Phil Collins.

Cheers,

Jay

[BigKahuna]

Hey ... this is off topic but ...
I just saw the movie "Dogma" last weekend and apparently Alanis Morrisette is God! Now what do we do?

[CharlesThomas]

I agree with at least one sentiment. What the f*ck are these big-time-record-contract-havin' artists doing on MP3.COM? It's really insulting. They have their OWN HUGE MONEY web sites they could distribute their music through, but they clog up one of the best high-traffic sites for indy artists like myself.

In March my song "What More Could You Want" got to #7 in the "Rock Acoustic" category. Today, my song "When The Rain Is Falling Down" is at #9 in the "General Latin" category. But these are small, very low-profile genres. If I were in "Rock" and up against the Eagles and other HUGE artists, what chance would I have?

Even now, the #1 spot in "General Latin" is owned by Jose Felliciano.

Puh-leeze!
http://www.mp3.com/CharlesThomas http://www.mp3.com/HotterThanKarl

[Buck62]

Yeah, that kinda sucks... but wouldn't it be great if you rated higher than the "pro's" in one of those categories????
That would rule!
Does that work by sales or by how many people listen to each seperate song?
If it's by song, I'll click on your stuff a few extra times to try to help bump you over Jose'.

[CharlesThomas]

>Does that work by sales or by how many people listen to each seperate song?

I'm not exactly sure of the formula they use, but I think it goes by total hits on that song's link per month. It's nice 'cause you can get into the top ten without selling anything.

So click away, my friend!

[dobro]

CT - two questions, and they're only questions, not criticism...

* Do you think mp3 should only be for little guys?

* Don't you think the presence of people like Alanis Morisette lends weight and credibility to the mp3 site?

[Emeric]

Know your not asking me, but thought i'd answer for myself anyway.

1. No
2. Maybe not Alannis, but certainly other artists.

This whole medium has given everyone a chance to get their music heard.

If anything it's just one more way of marketing for the small people. Anyway, it's a free place to post your music, it's searchable. I'm not complaining.


And, Phil still rocks.



[This message has been edited by Emeric (edited 05-23-2000).]

[CharlesThomas]

* Do you think mp3 should only be for little guys?

* Don't you think the presence of people like Alanis Morisette lends weight and credibility to the mp3 site?

Good points, both. I guess I respect Alanis because she's taken herself out of eligibility for getting "pay for play" benefits. I'm not sure if she's eligible for being at the top of the charts, but I assume she is.

It would be nice if there were seperate charts for "signed" and "unsigned" artists. I agree that having the big artists helps draw people to the site, so your point is well-made there.

However, I do think it's a little unfair for the little guys to try to compete with artists who have multi-million dollar recording companies behind them. They have enough opportunites to promote themselves and don't really need vehicles like MP3.COM.

They have their own websites, for starters.

[David Hooper]

Alanis brings in a lot of people to mp3.com, so you guys should be thankful she's got her stuff up there.

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com

Email biz101@kathoderaymusic.com for a free music promotion course.

[Rev E]

The big problem with having a separate section in MP3.com for "signed" and "unsigned" artists is that an artist could be "signed" to an independent label that may not have more of a budget than an unsigned. Further, what dollar amount (budgetwise) would someone set to say you belong in "X" category, you belong in "Y" category?

Is the competition between X artist on squint records comparable with Y artist on Universal records fair? Both are "signed", but we're still talking probably about $100,000 difference of a recording budget. It would be pointless to institute a "signed"/"unsigned" category for MP3.com or related sites. The Internet helps to offer independents a "voice" among the "majors". It never was meant to "shut out" majors in favor of unsigned artists or amateurs. Community is the key term here... not exclusion.

Rev E