Well, I got signed !

[Washington]

To keep the story short, I launched my third album dec. 10, 2009, as a downloadable pay-what-you-want item, after a long reflexion on what could be done considering the state of the industry. Less then a month later, a french label contacted me to physically release and distribute it in Europe. It'll be available in stores by the end of the month.

I just feel good about it and wanted to share. Don't mean to brag. Also, maybe the experience could be of interest to fellow GS... feel free to post if you got any question or comment. It was a long process.

Below is an excerpt from the press release. The album is still available from my website, which - of course - was the big thing to negotiate.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Dixiefrog to release "Mud & Grace"

French label Dixiefrog (Popa Chubby, Eric Bibb, J.J. Milteau, Pura Fé...) has acquired rights to the European physical release of Mud & Grace. Album is to be available as of april 22.

Mud & Grace, Washington's third album, was initially published december 10, 2009, on Washington's website. Conceived both as a personal experience and as the result of a reflexion on the present state of the music business, it was launched in the form of a of 13-song virtual CD, including a "living booklet" featuring over 45 minutes of motion graphics synchronized to the music. It is - and will remain - downloadable as a donationware album, and can be browsed, played and seen directly online.

The project has been very well received, the website being visited by more than 5400 single users between december 10 and 31 only and donations rapidly covering the cost of its production structure. Media exposure was also quite noticeable (see the attached 5-page article from french magazine Xroads).

Very enthusiastic about the album's musical content, Dixiefrog contacted Washington to press and distribute it in Europe. Washington first turned the proposition down, as he considered the "virtual" existence of the project to be its core concept. Upon the label's insistance, negotiations took place to define a partnership that would allow its physical release not to compete with its digital existence, without the latter being modified in any way. Dixiefrog manager Philippe Langlois then chose to have a luxurious edition of the CD made (32-page full-color booklet, 8-page digipak case), willing to give it an "added value" that would appeal to listeners who care for a well-crafted "touchable" object. Washington took charge of the graphic design for this new release.

"Mud & Grace" (Dixiefrog DFGCD 8686) will be available as of april 22, 2010, and is distributed by Harmonia Mundi (Europe) and Disques Office (Switzerland).

[Farout]

Congrats to you.
Best of luck on your adventure.

[brightbyrd]

Great work! Contrats! thumbsup

[AwwDeOhh]

~Best Wishes to you!

[narcoman]

Cool!!! Good luck to ya!!

[George Necola]

I would like to get a copy

btw.. you look a bit like the "evil mexican" from machette (rodriguez movie)

[terryhart]

Nicely done! Btw, I'm usually not a sucker for flash websites, but yours is slick and oh-so cool - love it.

[Washington]

Thanx a lot to everyone for the nice comments, much appreciated. I'm not too hi on Flash sites content either, unless it has a real sense or a real reason to be.

George, George, George... You mention my (effective) resemblance with the Evil Mes'can in Machette and you want a copy ? Have you read your sig quote, for Bob Katz's sake (and your avatar, while we're at it) ?

Ah, maybe I will...

[Hashbrown]

Hey Washington,

Well done, man.

How did you release the first two albums?
How much of the production (making of) of the album did you do yourself?
What are your thoughts now on 'pay-what-you-want'?


Thanks
HB

[pan60]

congrats!!!!

[henryrobinett]

Awesome!!! It's a great CD! All the best. It's a great story that solved a big problem. Maybe we can learn something.

[EddieTheRed]

I'm a big fan, Washington!

I'll be looking out for it in record stores over here

[Washington]

Originally Posted by Hashbrown

Hey Washington,

Well done, man.

How did you release the first two albums?

Pretty much on my own.

To clarify "pretty much" : first, I didn't make a move before I could secure a real distribution deal... I didn't mean to record anything purely on an ego trip. It is also worth mentioning that it is possible here, if you're able to defend your project, to draw a modest financial help from the local authorities and the local lottery for a first album, however it is rather symbolic in my case. But I financed most of it from my dayjob and gigs.

Before the first record, I had a 4-track demo sent to Bruce Iglauer (owner of Alligator Records in Chicago), who commented very, very positively on it. He didn't get involved any further due to the fact that I'm based in Europe and white (it was very politely stated, not exactly in these terms and fair enough, really). I then used Mr. Iglauer's comments as backup to negotiate the recording of my first album, which had already a concept original enough to motivate some good deals. See, it was my debut album as Washington, and I knew perfectly well that nobody would give a sh*t about a white boy stating "I done recorded an acoustic blues opus" (which it was). It was plain to see I had to generate curiosity one way or another. So I went and recorded it under a traffic bridge in the middle of my hometown, renting a truck with a mobile unit (it was 2002, not as easy to do as today). I could obtain a good price for that because the idea drew quite some enthusiasm from the studio... Then the media got nicely interested in it and the album sold respectably well (for a totally indie prod, that is).

I used the money to record the next one, and of course - since there was no particular gimmick involved in that one and that I had voluntarily drifted from the "pure blues" approach - it sold a bit less while gathering a wider audience. It also received a more "standard" media coverage and I didn't tour as much . It got a lot more airplay though, so that helped too.

How much of the production (making of) of the album did you do yourself?

On Mud & Grace ? Well, what I didn't do is the end summing mix (we used a bunch of outboard gear and the talent of a brillant engineer for that, and did it in another studio) and the mastering. I also did not do the flash programming for the site (which was incredibly complex, far beyond my ability, and taken care of in Montreal by a company named Artinbox).

I did the rest on my own. That is preprod, recording, first mix, and all the design, graphics and general conception. But it took 4 years... I actually started by reading all I could find about acoustics (the first bits on this forum, actually) for months, then moving from where I lived to another place where I could build a personal studio and did just that. On top of my dayjob, I worked on some commercials (music and / or directing) to finance it.

I was lucky to trade the external studio part for a website design job. Actually, the studio belongs (with other co-owners) to the engineer I work with for 15 years, and who happens to be my best friend (we surprisingly never had a problem sorting out friendship from professional relation). There was a lot of other micro-deals like this in the project, and I strongly believe that is the only way to go if you are on low money but want to achieve uncompromised quality.

What are your thoughts now on 'pay-what-you-want'?

First, my thoughts are just that : one single opinion. Disclaimer done. Now, I did not do it being firmly convinced of anything, I did it for the experience. Before going that route, I read a wild bunch of economic papers, among which this one is probably the funniest, along with Reznor's comments, industry reports, Albini's rants and many others.

In restrospect, the first thing I'd reckon is that there is nothing special to await from this method in terms of distribution. If you intend to sell your albums or get an audience - two very different things - , it works. Period. But probably not any better than anything else, however differently (see this thread for an interesting comparison). The info you can gather as per general figures, for instance that roughly 10 to 15% of downloads end up in a donation, seem correct. Also, bear in mind that you probably won't achieve even that result if you simply record an album and upload it "as is", counting on Facebook and other such idiocies to generate a buzz. That is very naive. I see only two ways to generate a little interest : either you already have a wide audience and faithfull fanbase, like NIN or Radiohead did, or you find a way to give ypour stuff a measurable "added value" that makes sense for it to be on the web. That's what I did with the "living booklet" thing, and it proved worthy (but an unbelievable amount of work) : from what I know, most of the donations were made in acknowledgment of the amount of the effort.

The thing is, I consider the system to serve an entirely different purpose. The fact that listeners may pay anything they want and download the album is merely peripherical to the proposition, however it is financially crucial for me. I wanted come up with a project that had a chance to serve as a trigger for something else to happen. Now the interesting thing is that I did not no what exactly to expect. How could I have ? I turned out to be that I got contacted by a label to license and release the album, after some media were really enthusiastic about it. Great. But had I submitted it to them beforehand, it would probably have been turned down (even if they'd probably claim otherwise now). Let's rather say then that it'd at laest have gone unnoticed. Besides, they made it very clear that they did not care about the web thing but were solely seduced by the music itself. Dunno how true it is, but at least it's worth noting.

I hope this answers your questions. Thank you very much for your interest, it's much appreciated.

[Darwin James]

Amazing site. Good luck.

[LeMauce]

Indeed really topnotch site. And congrats!
Is your cd getting in the racks of FNAC (France biggest warehouse chain)in France? I want one, don't care the price, for me this is a must a have. Love Ashes to Ashes...
Do you have more info about recording and the pre-production on you last album? And men, if you are playing in Paris let it know asap.

[Washington]

Originally Posted by LeMauce

Indeed really topnotch site. And congrats!
Is your cd getting in the racks of FNAC (France biggest warehouse chain)in France? I want one, don't care the price, for me this is a must a have. Love Ashes to Ashes...
Do you have more info about recording and the pre-production on you last album? And men, if you are playing in Paris let it know asap.

Thanks a lot. Yes, it will be available in every FNAC. I'll be in Paris in early May, but just for press meetings...

What exactly would you like to know about recording and pre-prod ?

[George Necola]

I think he want to know the mics, pres, guitars amps that Machette used..

[LAstudio]

Awesome work, Washington. I love the album and the booklet is soooo well done, I'm inspired.

Five thumbs up...

thumbsupthumbsupthumbsupthumbsupthumbsup

[Barish]

Superb stuff. Congratulations my man thumbsup

Very good music and the website concept is abbsolutely brilliant. Virtual booklet with lyrics as you listen to the stuff is it.

[Washington]

Thanks very much to all. The time you spent checking it out and the minute you took to comment is precious.

I'll be back soon as possible to answer the question about recording gear, I'm a little busy but I'm looking forward to it.

Cheers !

[George Necola]

Becks rules. Just drank it. Thank you

[blackcatdigi]

Wow. I'm blown away; LOVE it. Congratulations. Any US distribution in the works?

Again, most impressed...

[Washington]

Originally Posted by George Necola

I think he want to know the mics, pres, guitars amps that Machette used..

If I remember well, I'd say a M41 "Jackhammer" Rocket Launcher mounted on a Harley Low Rider from the 70s (not sure, I don't know sh*t about those things)...

Originally Posted by LeMauce

Do you have more info about recording and the pre-production on you last album?

About equipment... this is GS, right?

As stated above, I started by packing all my stuff and moving to another place where I could build a studio. I suppose I got lucky, because my fairly small room (roughly 5.5m x 3.8m x 3m) turned out to be very good acoustically. It was a lot of work, designed around an RFZ front and a rear zone a bit more "live", including due bass trapping (membrane traps cloud, and 5 other traps of a BBC design I found linked somewhere in this forum), slat resonators, a QRD diffusor and a semi-floating floor. Everything was done on a very low budget, but with great care.

I did record most guitars, vocals and upright bass in there. My setup is built around a Lynx Aurora 16 + Lynx AES 16, a quad-core Mac Pro and a pair of second-hand Genelec 1037c that I really love. I work on Logic and I am very happy with it, but I don't belong to any kind of DAW church. I've worked in PT and Cubase in the past, they were good products too. Get to know one so it becomes completey transparent, and that's it IMO.

As for preamps, I have a Millenia HV-3D. I figured I'd rather go with 4 pristine channels than a half-ton of mediocre pipes... but for this record, I could borrow an API 3124 as well. A few things were probably also recorded through the (acceptable) preamps af a Motu Traveler. Not sure what, though.

Drums were miked with a fairly simple setup in a very live room. Most importanlty, overheads were either a borrowed old Telefunken SM2 in MS (and a Sennheiser 8020 mono room mic roughly 6ft away) or a pair of omni Senn 8020. Kick was AKG D-112 and Senn 421, and snare was SM57 (top) and Senn 441 (bottom). Some kicks were replaced here and there, but that's all.

All vocals, some guitars, some mono drum room and even one mono piano were miked with a sE Gemini (first model, no hipass). I know it used to get bashed here on a regular basis, but I like it and besides, I am not Sinatra. Pertaining to other pieces of gear susceptible to have me excommunicated from this place, I'll admit I have a pair of sE3 of which I think reasonably highly, and.. a Big Knob. There, I said it. Have mercy.

The only outboard I'm lucky to own is a pair of opto comps. They are based on the LA-2A circuitry, but all transfos and some specs are quite an upgrade from the (excellent) original UA design. They are boutique stuff, pure point-to-point working on über-selected components made by a local genius friend whose name is Boris Gerber (going around by the name of Gerbehringer to us). I actually could buy the pair for almost nothing, because I designed the faceplate and traded the work for an outrageaous discount. The unit - however as high-end as it could possibly get - sports the jolly name of "3C-FO (Triple Cheese and Fried Onions)" under the unregistered brand "Universal Idiot". Pure work of art, of which maybe 20 units were made. If anybody cares, I'll post pictures, it's worth it.

Plug-ins used were the Logic stock (some), a good bunch of UAD, some Stillwell, Paul Frindle's DSP here and there, a bit of Sonnox and at summing stage (under PT, in another studio), a good pinch of George Massenburg EQ.

As I mentionned three times already (I'm just grateful), summing wasn't done in my studio but in another place and a bunch of outboard was used. Comps were mostly Distressors, Summit and more 3C-FO, plus a Manley Vari-Mu. The only outboard EQ I remember was a API 5500. Everything went through a Shadow Hills Equinox. The Vari-mu and a TC 6000 were used for mastering. Monitoring was through ATC (not mine, dunno the model).

I'll be glad to elaborate more on any particular subject (or the instruments), however I'd be surprised if anybody done read through such a interminable catalogue... but let me know, just in case. Thanx !

Originally Posted by George Necola

Becks rules. Just drank it. Thank you

Ah, those beers from the north of Germany... almost salty, dry as a Motown backbeat. Love it.

[Washington]

Originally Posted by blackcatdigi

Wow. I'm blown away; LOVE it. Congratulations. Any US distribution in the works?

Again, most impressed...

Thank you kindly. Nothing in the US at this moment, but I'm honored to have a European distribution already...

[Croaker]

thumbsup

I love it. I checked it out when you first posted about it.

Very well done all around, amazing really from all aspects. Slick presentation and down and dirty music.

The donation page just cracked me up. I donated, thanks for the music...Worth every penny.

congrats and good luck

[PeteJames]

Nice album art, haven't had chance to listen yet. Check you out with your fancy logo! Very slick!

Do you think labels will be reluctant to sign you if you give away your music for free (before they sign you) or is it not really a factor worth worrying about? I know it didn't make a difference to you, just always wondered. Another situation i've wondered about - After you have been signed, is it illegal for people to continue to share copies that they legitimately downloaded for free of you? Not that it makes much difference in practice because they likely will anyway.

Lol Awesome website...superb!

Just as a side point - how much roughly do it cost to set up and maintain a cool modern flash website like that?

[Steab]

Great music and great site, happy for you man, you really like Tom Waits, dont you?

[3rd Degree]

Awesome and congrats. In the Hip Hop world, too often to people exaggerate, lie, or do anything they can to get a false buzz. Also, it is very refreshing to see someone happy about their accomplishments. I am personally around established artists who have deals, or people with no deal, no money coming in. I am in between so when I see someone else on the come up and happy, I can totally relate and makes me feel like I can do it too.

[Washington]

Originally Posted by PeteJames

Do you think labels will be reluctant to sign you if you give away your music for free (before they sign you) or is it not really a factor worth worrying about? I know it didn't make a difference to you, just always wondered. Another situation i've wondered about - After you have been signed, is it illegal for people to continue to share copies that they legitimately downloaded for free of you? Not that it makes much difference in practice because they likely will anyway.

Generally speaking : yes, I believe distributing your own music for free would compete with a label's plan and would hardly be regarded as a plus. Most labels intend to digitally distribute the music they sign, thus it would obviously amount to shoot yourself in the foot. It is only common sense that a seller wouldn't be too fond of seeing you having already spread around for free what they're supposed to find a market for.

Nevertheless, there are exceptions. The first and sorriest one being that up to 25% of sales nowadays are reportedly made to the artist himself (i.e. for gig sales) by the industry... Therefore do bands suddenly become less interested in giving stuff away. Next, if free downloads are by definition nefast to the CD sales, their consequence - if managed well - can be of great interest for both parties. But for that to happen, a lot of careful thinking is necessary : just putting your album online won't do. You'll need to find a way for the web to make your music more desirable, your product a bit more interesting, and its digital version not to compete with a "hard" release. It means for the label to invest bigger-than-average money to make for a very appealing product, which is certainly harder for the artist to motivate. Still, by not competing with the label but cooperating with them, you may end up with a few cards in your sleeve.

To sum it up, here's my modest guess : if you care the least to get signed, definitely forget about uploading your music, giving it away and then prospecting for a label. I'd reckon it would make things far more complicated. In my case, I simply did not imagine I'd ever get signed, thus didn't give a flying f*ck. But still, I tried to use the web not just to distribute my stuff but rather to stir interest, in the hope of triggering something, and that ended up in a label contacting me - but I hadn't planned that specifically. I never would have been allowed to keep my web platform if I had sent demos around... I probably wouldn't even have been listened to. Being called for instead of the other way around means much more weight on your side to negotiate your deal.

As for the legal side, note that it is not legal to share copies of your CDs, wherever you got them from and whatever the price you paid them. On a side note and noticeably not directed at anyone in this thread, one should not assume that pay-what-you-want digital download is free just because there isn't a digital cop to control what you do. This is not splitting hair : for me, the intention was only to make it possible for people not to pay, no questions asked, if they figure they have a good reason for it. I know we don't all have the same income, for one. I imagine my music addresses the adult side of people anyway, and therefore do I trust their judgment.

Originally Posted by PeteJames

Just as a side point - how much roughly do it cost to set up and maintain a cool modern flash website like that?

Domain registration and hosting costs the same for everyone, and it's fairly cheap whatever the content (unless you need a huge streaming bandwidth, which is terribly expensive but wasn't necessary in my case).

I can't quote figures on the rest, but it doesn't come cheap. Programmation took a full-time top-notch engineer six weeks, with long days, and professional work in that field is much more expensive than one imagines. The design (particularly the films) must have represented another full-time job for at least 13 weeks, at that's counting gently. You may figure out the cost for all that in the real-world economy for yourself. Perhaps there is something interesting there : I could do it because I didn't need to pay for my part. A major label who'd want the same thing would have to pour big money. I suppose that's why you don't see that very often if at all - you see, I wouldn't imagine I have invented anything : I could simply afford something tremendously expensive because I paid in sweat, which is the only thing I'm rich of. It is very probable that an idea like my little "living booklet" has already been voiced more than once, and perhaps brought to completion.

Originally Posted by talontsiawd

Awesome and congrats. In the Hip Hop world, too often to people exaggerate, lie, or do anything they can to get a false buzz. Also, it is very refreshing to see someone happy about their accomplishments. I am personally around established artists who have deals, or people with no deal, no money coming in. I am in between so when I see someone else on the come up and happy, I can totally relate and makes me feel like I can do it too.

Thanx. It's a nice thing to say, because I got my motivation the same way. But however glad I am to somehow "return the favor", I really don't wanna brag. I'm happy as hell, but I wouldn't consider it as an accomplishment per se - I won't get rich or famous with it (that's fine), it's more like a nice "stair to reach the next stair and keep going". On with new things now.

[Id Ridden]

Originally Posted by Washington

I can't quote figures on the rest, but it doesn't come cheap. Programmation took a full-time top-notch engineer six weeks, with long days, and professional work in that field is much more expensive than one imagines. The design (particularly the films) must have represented another full-time job for at least 13 weeks, at that's counting gently. You may figure out the cost for all that in the real-world economy for yourself. Perhaps there is something interesting there : I could do it because I didn't need to pay for my part. A major label who'd want the same thing would have to pour big money. I suppose that's why you don't see that very often if at all - you see, I wouldn't imagine I have invented anything : I could simply afford something tremendously expensive because I paid in sweat, which is the only thing I'm rich of. It is very probable that an idea like my little "living booklet" has already been voiced more than once, and perhaps brought to completion.



Thanx. It's a nice thing to say, because I got my motivation the same way. But however glad I am to somehow "return the favor", I really don't wanna brag. I'm happy as hell, but I wouldn't consider it as an accomplishment per se - I won't get rich or famous with it (that's fine), it's more like a nice "stair to reach the next stair and keep going". On with new things now.

Dude....your ish is mega s s s s s s sick!! haha

It is really nice to see that some people still actually give a crap and are willing to sacrifice to do something of quality. Very inspiring!!

That booklet movie thing is incredible. Keeps me wanting more, of you, of myself, of everything. I am not sure if you will ever get back what you put into it but I hope you can just be satisfied within yourself to know you are stepping it up above what most people will do in this day and age and that in itself is worthy of reward, whether monetary or not. I will project a positive energy through the Universe to you, that is about all I can do for you, hope it helps...

Again, well, well, done and best of luck to you!!!