Blatant Marketing Question

[filkertom]

Folksinger Jonathan Coulton has been pursuing an interesting idea for several months now. He's got a "Thing A Week" -- literally, a new song every week, released through a Creative Commons license. You can subscribe to a free podcast of the songs; you can make a donation if you are so inclined; you can buy the songs individually. (The FAQ explains it pretty well.)

I can write a new song a week.

How many of you might be interested in me doing that kind of thing? In all cases, we'd be talking brand-new, never-heard-before songs. I'd likely solicit ideas for a song about once a month here on the LJ, just to get really crazy. Would you subscribe? Might you donate? Might you buy the songs individually? Would you like them collected into a downloadable album? Is this a stupid idea?

Comments

[eleri.livejournal.com]

I'd be in :)

[ericthemage.livejournal.com]

I'd subscribe and donate and buy them. It's a great idea.

Which reminds me, I sent 96.3 WDVD the link to Coulton's Ikea song because they were chatting with people at the grand opening in Canton today. Don't know if they played it or not.

[ratbastrd.livejournal.com]

I'd most assuredly be willing to both subscribe and likely donate. It sounds like fun. You can do a loot with podcvasts, too. Check out They Might Be Giants, they dop what amounts to a little 1/2 hour radio show once a month or so...

[mrteapot.livejournal.com]

They Might Be Giants has been doing this sort of thing since well before the Internet was a part of everyday life. They had Dial-A-Song back in the 80s, where they'd put new songs on an answering machine all the time, and you could call and hear new songs for free.

[thingunderthest.livejournal.com]

I'm down with any idea that gets me more Tom Smith musical content.

[wookiee71.livejournal.com]

I already subscribe to Jon Coulton's deal and would happily add you to my musical donationary fund.

yes

[phaedress.livejournal.com]

Absolutively!
We need new Tom Smith content in my home, perhaps we'll even stop singing "badger pajamas" at one another.

Re: yes

[sydb42.livejournal.com]

Haha, even our 3 year old sings "badger pajamas" around here. ;)

[sydb42.livejournal.com]

Wolf and I would subscribe and buy individual songs, and maybe a downloadable album, particularly if you threw a few songs on the album that are only available on the album. Donations would depend on money availablility at the time, but would not be out of the scope of possibility. And, I think it's a great idea! Looking forward to it starting, if you decide to pursue it. :)

[ericcoleman]

Ummm ... what everyone else said ...

[knitmeapony.livejournal.com]

I'd probably download them every day and be willing to donate on the days that I particularly like and want to keep. I love your work but I don't think I'd buy them sight unseen. (Sound unheard?)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

As I said, the podcast subscription would be free. Possibly lower audio quality (i.e., 128 Kbps rather than 160 or 192). I have to look into that as well.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

I believe that setting a hard schedule on what is fundamentally a creative process will cause a decline in quality. Ask any published writer what they feel the problems with their worst books are - they almost always answer that it's the pressure to produce on schedule that made them put out a shoddy story. You may be able to ram out a song a week for a month or two, but then you'll probably find it difficult to continue the pace, especially while touring.

In your shoes, I'd create a weekly "Filk at 11" podcast that showcases your talents and those of your fellow filkers. Have guests, a costar or two, fandom news and call ins for chats. You probably already have almost all of the gear you need for a top-notch audio show.

[popefelix.livejournal.com]

oooh. I like that idea.

[cadhla.livejournal.com]

I think you should go for it.

[jonnorthwood.livejournal.com]

Considering I love his work, and I love your work, and I don't have a problem donating to both ... heck, yeah!

Donate and purchase, I would do. Subscribe, of course. The downloadable album's a great idea (maybe do it as a quarterly thing: follow each three-month block by clearing your list and having them available in a set).

And no, IMNSHO, it's not a stupid idea.

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

I did subscribe to Jonathan's, and I'd subscribe to yours. Between direct withdrawal of the dollar from my checking account each week, and using iTunes to get the songs, it's a pretty painless process.

You'd be a better judge of this aspect than I, but it seems to me that the biggest advantage for you is the creation of a predictable income stream.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a cool idea.

... hmm. The serialized adventures of the Waffle, perhaps? :)

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Sponsered by IHOP

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're serious, then are you open to suggestions?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I will be. Not yet. Let me set this up, which it certainly seems as if I should from the response. :)

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

Damn you! Like I'm already not poor enough! ;-)

I'd be in - absolutely! I prefer to buy singles as I hear them anyway and being able to buy regular new music is uber cool.

[partiallyclips.livejournal.com]

I discovered Jonathan Coulton's business model about 3 weeks ago and I have been fascinated with it ever since. I can't wait to ask him about it at Confluence. Grarrrrrrrh too few hours in the day to look into everything that interests me!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I'd subscribe and buy.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Considering you can write a new song an hour, I imagine your song-of-the-week would be pretty good.

I've never shelled out money for individual songs yet, but I'd probably buy your album of Weekly Smith (what would 52 songs in a year work out to, about three albums? Two if several of them were of the little gem variety like "Crystal Gayle/Frank Herbert"?) project.

AOL! AOL!

[ttamsen.livejournal.com]

Oh, me too. As long as there's stuff to buy, I'll be buying it.. on whatever schedule. I don't do iTunes, though.

Oh, and regarding the cute kids singing .. Our 4.5 year old knows all your lyrics, including the entirety of LHoE. It cracks me up whenever he walks past singing Cthulhu Fthagn happily to himself. He's never heard the unfilked original. And he woke the house up a month or two ago, sitting bolt upright in bed from a sound sleep, to shout "Oh .. that .. FREAKING BADGER!"

Poor kid. :-)

LOL! LOL!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Have I mentioned lately that I love all of you? :)

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

Would you subscribe?

YES!!!

Might you donate?

When I get a job, for sure.

Might you buy the songs individually?

Definitely would buy the songs I like.

Would you like them collected into a downloadable album?

Probably. If I get a job, definitely.

Is this a stupid idea?

Well, it's stupid for asking. I mean, who here _wouldn't_ want a new Tom Smith song every day? I say go for it!

As for the podcast, I think it would be a great idea. Might not need as much planning and production as you think. First off, you have a lot of older music to slip in, so there's a big plus right there. There's many people I would direct to your podcast and it would be a good way to introduce people to your older stuff. Secondly, you don't have to be physically there with your "guests" to interview them. In fact, a few podcasts I know of email their questions to people, who record their answers and send the sound files back so the host can "ask" and edit in the answers. In your case you could contact the filkers you know and ask them to provide a song or two along with some commentary and meanderings. Thirdly, I've heard from many podcasters that after the first few it becomes easy, you get into a groove as you learn what works and what doesn't. I've heard several comments to the effect that the first few weekly podcasts took most of a day, but by the end of the month it only took a few hours, or an hour a day edited together at the end of the week.

I'd say try it for a while, see how it goes. Worse comes to worse you drop the podcast and just go with the song-a-week thing.

Either way, it means more stuff for us fans ;-)

Go for it!

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Seems like an idea that's worth trying. Don't sell long-term subscriptions until it has a track record of working for you -- if you don't like it after 3 months but there were people who paid for a year, that would make it a burden. Even if paying for it is optional, you shouldn't encourage people to make an optional contribution that goes way into the future.

After you've been doing it a while, look at how it's going and decide if it's a good use of time. (a) are you getting good songs out of it? (b) is it soaking up a lot of time in relation to the amount of money and/or interest it brings in? Be willing to admit that it's an experiment so it might not work.

Re: Go for it!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't be a long-term subscription at all. The "subscription to the RSS feed" would in fact be free. You could purchase higher-quality downloads, or just donate generally.

And, yeah -- if it's killing me on time, or if the songs aren't good, there would be no point in continuing it. Even Coulton calls it an experiment.

[tollermom]

Sounds great to me! I'd subscribe and buy songs. Probably wouldn't buy the collected version, simply because I expect I'd be buying the songs as you released them, so I'd already _have_ the collection. :-)

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Oh hell yeah... I'd stump up some dosh for that!

[khadagan.livejournal.com]

Count me in on the yea verily crew. Sounds like it would be good for everyone -- including you.
Hugs -- K