Home > Archived Issues > 1999 Issues > Issue 8

Underground Music Monthly Hits It's Anniversary At UMMusic.com!

    Well everyone, Underground Music Monthly has been here at UMMusic.com for a year now.  I'm very proud of everything we've accomplished so far.  I started the site because being an independent musician is very difficult.   There are so many dead ends and just when you think that you are heading in the right direction someone turns you around the wrong way.  My mission with this site was to try to bring together resources for independent musicians that would actually help them.  I tried to level the playing field so that the best musicians would get the most exposure, instead of the best marketers.  In the year since I restarted Underground Music Monthly, I believe I have compiled resources that will help towards that end.  Of course, the musician will still have to work hard.  Finding my site won't magically make them rich, but it will help them make music their career if they use the resources correctly and don't give up.  It's been a lot of hard work putting this site together, but the kind emails I get from my readers and the people who use my site, and the exposure to all the great independent music I'm getting has made it all worth it.

    Everything I've compiled (record companies, musicians, distributors, radio stations, search engines, for sale pages, want ads, online CD stores, CD manufacturers, free homepages, ezines, and of course my magazine, Underground Music Monthly) is geared towards independent musicians.  At the time I'm writing this, the Record Store section has not quite been put up yet, but hopefully by the time I publish this issue it will be.  I don't know what the future has in store for Underground Music Monthly, but it should be all good things.  There are few things left that I can just compile and makes as resources for you to use, which means after I finish them, everything will just be maintenance and helping people on a one-on-one level.  Maybe forming some kinds of partnerships with other websites geared towards the same thing I'm doing   Hopefully I'll have more time to focus on the issues as well.  Good luck to everyone, and enjoy the rest of this issue.

TheOrchard.com gets mixed reviews by it's artists

by Gary Milholland

   I started my research for this article by emailing many artsits on TheOrchard.com.  Some of them were very happy with The Orchard, and others weren't so happy.  The more email responses I got, the more I began to wonder if The Orchard was a distributor or a label.  There's a line of differnce between the two, and they seem to have both feet on the line.  The most consistent response I received was that getting their album into CDNow.com and Amazon.com was very helpful to them.  The second most consistent response I received was that they weren't sure how much money they were really making.   The Orchard does not itemize, or even specify how many, sales you have as an artist on their site.  They just send you a check.  By now, you should be saying the same thing I did.  "I'm a little confused."  In your case, you are confused by the organization of this paragraph.  That's partially intentional.

    Anyway, The Orchard does some things that can be considered unprofessional, or at the very least, very odd.  If you have a spine with the name of your indie label on it, they'll rip it off, and put their label's name on it.  They also put their own barcode on the CD, therefore giving them credit for sales that they've made.  As stated in the first paragraph, they don't really tell you how much money you're making per sale or how many sales you've had when they send you a check.  They withhold 25% of the profits for three months as well in case your CDs don't sell, which seems to me like the act of a record label.  If a distributor pays you, it's for CDs that have actually sold.  Not for CDs that should sell. 

    On the other hand, a record company will never give you 70 percent of the profits, unless you are your own label.  Even then, you're likely to put 50 percent in your business's bank account so you can be prepared for your future musical endeavours.  That would therefore argue that The Orchard is a distributor.  Also, The Orchard does not really do any kind of promotional work.   That is all up to you.  Plus, they really don't reject anyone who wants to sign up with them, so long as you pay for their services.  One oddity that would suggest they are neither a distributor or a record label, but instead that they are a one-stop is that your agreement with them is non-exclusive.  That means, you can sign a distribution deal with another distributor or record label if you want, and The Orchard won't complain. 

    Regardless of what they are, they have some benifits and some disadvantages.  If you are just starting out, and don't know how to talk to people very well yet, then they are very helpful in getting your CD into places you could never get on your own, such as CDNow.com.  That's why I signed up with them 10 months ago.  If you want to keep 100 percent of the profits instead of just 70, though, I suggest trying to get your CD into CDNow and Amazon yourself.  Amazon.com is setup for independent artists to get onto fairly easily from what I've been told.   I'm going to try and get my new album, "Delve Deeper" on Amazon.com by myself.  I'll let you all know how easy or difficult that was.  I'll also tell of you any sites that have really helped sales, and any other marketing successes I have, and therefore you may be able to share in them in the coming months.  I believe Music Boulevard and CDNow have kind of merged, so TheOrchard.com gets you into 4 sites now instead of 5.  The others being TotalE, and EZCD.com.  EZCD.com you can get into yourself pretty simply for a charge.  I really don't know how difficult getting into TotalE is.  I think if you're in CDNow and Amazon, though, that TotalE won't make too much of a difference.  CDBaby.com is the next most important (maybe even more important than Amazon or CDNow) online store to get into.  You'll find out more about them later in this issue. 

    To sum everything up so far, if you want higher visibility easier, then sign up with TheOrchard.com.  Know that you will lose 30 percent of your profits compared to getting into CDNow and Amazon on your own howwever.     The last real thing worth mentioning is that TheOrchard.com has EXCELLENT customer service.   Every time I've talked to them or emailed them, they responded very positively, even when I was asking where my check was once a week.   They are very polite on the phone, and generally respond within 24 hours to email.

    I can't make up your mind for you as to whether or not to sign up with The Orchard.  That's something you'll have to decide on your own.  I can, however, tell you that I will be trying to get "Delve Deeper" into Amazon.com and CDNow.com without them.  Then again, I wouldn't sign a million dollar record contract either because I want to do everything myself, so my mind is assuredly different from yours.

CDBaby Just Keeps Getting Better!

    Back in December of 1998, we did our first article on CDBaby.com.   You can read that article by clicking here if you would like.  Just hit back on your browser to get here again when you are done.  Well, since that article, they have made quite a few improvements.   They're customer service is just as great as always.  They still send you contact information on the person who bought your CD so you can have a mroe personal relationship with your fans, and even offer them autographs, etc.  They still only keep $4 of your CD sale, which is better than any other online store.  CDBaby suggests a selling price of $10, so $4 would be 40 percent.  Amazon takes 55 percent as far as I know, and going through a distributor or TheOrchard.com you will get even less of that.  You still get your own personal webpage on their site with a description (that you provide) of your music, RealAudio soundclips, the image of your CD and a link to your own website.  You still get the personal feel that an indie CD store would have.   You still get your product shipped within a day, and usually recieved within 3-5, sometimes even in 2.  That doesn't happen with CDNow, Amazon, or any other of the major online stores (believe me, I've ordered from there, and sometimes it takes 2 weeks).   You still get all of this, but now you get even more.

    In the eight months since that article, CDBaby has made some major improvements.  First of all, you can make money for referring a friend to the site.   You get $5 per friend that you get to sign up with CDBaby.  CDBaby asks on the sign up form where the new member heard of CDBaby.  If the person just says "referred by a friend," then CDBaby will actually call the new member and ask who the friend was so they get the $5 that they are supposed to.  Also, CDBaby has added an easy way to make a buck.  If you go to CDBaby.net, you can sign up to be a friend of CDBaby.  They'll give you an ID number which you put in your links to CDBaby.com.  If anyone buys a CD through that link you get a dollar for every CD sold.  To check your progress on your status as a "friend of CDBaby," you can login anytime from their website.  You don't have to wait for an email.   They've also added a weekly newsletter to send to past customers to keep them updated on new arrivals, etc.  The customer has a choice as to whether or not they receive the newsletter, so they aren't spamming. 

    CDBaby's small indie feel continues with CDBaby.net.  There you will find several resources, including articles on getting into the college touring market, and many other tips on promoting your music in general.  You can get a shorter web address as well on CDBaby.  Instead of www. CDBaby.com/buy/yourband.htm, you can (for $5) get it changed to CDBaby.com/yourband.  This can be useful for those of you who want to print that URL on flyers, etc.  CDBaby has also added some new banners for your links so they will get more attention, making someone more likely to click through and either sign up with CDBaby, or buy a few CDs giving you some extra cash.  

    Just a few more things worth mentioning about CDBaby.  You can add or your own review of your CD.  That is, they have a discussion board set up for each and every artist now.  You, or your fans, can add a review, and someone can reply to that.  This gives the artist more of a defintion, and if there is a review there, then fans will be more likely to buy it.  You can even add reviews that others have done of you.  For example, Kelly Pardekooper could put my review of his CD on his CDBaby page.  For those people out though who like to play on the internet, but are still reluctant to give out credit card numbers over the web (and really, who can blame them?), you can order CDs though a 1-800 number listed on the site.  That's available about 16 hours out of the day.  There are now more ways to browse through CDBaby as well, giving you a greater likelihood of someone finding your band.  When you sign up, you list three bands that you sound the most like.  When someone searches for sounds like "Beastie Boys" for example, one of the CDs listed will be mine.  While I don't sound exactly like the Beastie Boys, they are the easiest for me to compare myself to.  They are much better than I am.  Anyway, you can browse by 50 styles of music as well.   Not only by major genre, but by mood as well, such as "angry" or "sex music."  Finally, you can add MP3 soundclips to your CDBaby site for a slight fee as well.

    Well, that covers the changes I can think of at CDBaby.  Of course, they are always looking for ways to improve, so you can let them know of any ideas you have, and they may just implement them.  They are very responsive to everyone's needs.  They're always quick to get back to me on any subject. 

    Oh yes, one last thing I almost forgot.  Last night, I was browsing through CDBaby.net a little bit.  They had a link on the lower left side of the page that says "need barcodes" or something close to that.  Well, since I'm getting ready to release my new album in a couple of months, and I don't have a UPC number yet, I thought I'd check it out.  If you are a CDBaby artist, then you can get your own unique barcode real cheap.  Instead of paying $500 to the Uniform Code Council to get a UPC number, you just pay $20.  You, of course, have to be an artist at CDBaby, but to do that you simply pay $35 and send them 5 copies of your CD.  You can register your album before you release it as well, so if you need barcodes for that album, then you register the album, plus pay the $20 for the barcodes, and they'll email you a bitmap of your very own barcode.  You can then print that up anyway you want to.  That is, on the back cover of your CD, or on a sticker that you can take off and put on your CD.  Unlike other places that offer barcodes, the barcode you get from CDBaby will have your information in it.  That is, when a store scans it, it will show up as YOUR band, YOUR album, and YOUR record company.  It won't give CDBaby as the record company.

Letters To The Editor

Do you have what it takes to succeed in the MUSIC INDUSTRY???? If so, you may consider sending demo materials to
Jewel Entertainment Inc. Jewel Entertainment Inc. is an independent label searching for new
talent. We offer in-house recording studio, manufacturing and distribution. We plan to be open to the public August "99".
For more information please call (770) 739-1920 or send demo package to:

Attn: Lindsey Gator
A&R Department
2632 Rainbow Way Ste.108
Decatur, GA 30034

We look forward to working with you in the future.


JEWEL HARNESS/CEO

Inquire Is Amazing!

by Gary Milholland

    Today, as I sit at my computer to try and come up with words to justify Inquire's album, "Inquire Within," I find myself rather upset.   I'm upset because somewhere along the way, when I moved from one apartment to another, I lost the album.  I've been frantically looking for it everywhere, but not for this review.  I heard the album enough that I don't need to listen to it now for a memory refresher.  I want to find it so I can listen to it.  It's one of the best CDs I've heard in a long time, independent or not.  The music is outstanding, and they do a wonderful job of blending everything together.

    Inquire also does the longest song I've ever heard, at least, the longest modern song I've ever heard.  It was 26 minutes long.  I knew it was going to either be terrible or amazing.  It was certainly amazing.  The piano is played beautiful, as is the guitar.  I have to give a ton of credit to whoever produced the song as well.  The song is called "When Darkness Turns To Light." 

    "Kongfrontation," and the other songs on the CD sound great too.  I'd suggest buying this CD to anyone who likes music.  You can find more information on the band at www.inquire-music.de. They have their site programmed in English and German.  If you want to know how to buy the CD, and/or download some mp3 soundclips, go to http://www.inquire-music.de/startseiteengl.htm.  

Vozuluzov Is An Eclectic Mix Of Dark Poetry Inside A Fish Tank Of Music

by Carrie Wagner

    This is a band, which is of dark mystic sound. A combination of pain and joy with lyrics that makes you hold your head and hear.

    The sound is a shadow of Stabbing Westward and Soundmind. The band's creativity is a Picasso masterpiece. Vozuluzov merges electronic with metal; they are esoteric.

    I was surprised by how beautifully this CD was mastered. The music is nothing that should be classified as "underground." I don’t believe that the sound is music for the masses either. Overall, the music is just damn good.

    The lyrical styling of this band has touching fragments of serenity in songs "Despair" and "choked." There is power with anger in the song "ester;" this song includes a bit of Nine Inch Nails edge.

    This band is not like anyone’s. It not the popular metal sound on the radio station, or what your parents don’t want to listen to. This band is on their own level of sound and time.

    There’s a hidden surprise upon this CD. It’s a bit annoying with it’s metal infused inside of it sound after sound, but then when the lyrics start pumping you got a surprise in store. It’s definitely a "cats" delight.

What else can I say? I now behold a CD that you should just check out.

Teenage Girls Have A Baskins And Robbins CD

by Carrie Wagner

    Welcome to the wasteland of "Surberian Angst," other wise known as "Teenage Girls." They spin their riff through their 15 track CD. The CD opens up with a touch of 80’s Metal Fever.

    Then the sound dramatically changes to a sound like the Beastie Boys. This sound is emplified in the song "Kooya Koombaya" which is parity upon frat boys. This song should not be missed.

    Keep your ears open to the lyrics and melodies and you will be surprised by what each song presents. It will be that odd present that you don’t know what to make of.

    One of their tacks, "Jesus is Gay," is a dance track parity that will make your body move and make your mind think about what exactly they are trying to say. Then the CD spins forward to their 11^th track, which is a manic obsessive compulsive song that sounds just a little bit like the band Tool.

    Teenage girls have a Baskin and Robbins CD full of flavor, meaning you never know what you will get. I would check out the CD, and see what you think they might fall under in their music category; it might one day be a Jeopardy daily double.

    The CD is titled "Cheerleader Offering" and the band once again is Teenage Girls. I hope that this will be enough info to start you musical quest.

Sailor Free Has Good Rock Sound

    I only received a five song demo from Sailor Free, but I like every song on it.  The first track, "The Run," has a cool-sounding distorted guitar, and some rocking drums.  I'm trying to think of what the drums remind me of, but I can't quite put my finger on it.  Hmm... maybe U2 mixed with a good high school marching band.  Anyway, whatever it is, I like it.  There's even some layered guitar going on, done very well.  The distorted guitar blends very well with the non-distorted guitar.  Three minutes into the song, they take a little cue from Ozzy Osbourne, and go into an organ type sound, and from there build dramatically with more instruments, a nice silent change, and back into the rock that began the song.  I definitely have to applaud the producer on this particular song.  As well as the musicians of course.  There's no real vocal effects, but the singer has a great voice, so there aren't any really needed.

    Onto "Heat," the tempo slows down to about half of "The Run," with a sweet, yet distorted, guitar intro.  Some soft-singing to some poetic souding lyrics.  The tempo picks up after about a minute or so temporarily, and goes back into what makes the song beautiful.  Just as with "The Run," there are beautiful dramatic music changes in this song.  This sounds like a group that has been together for at least three albums.  After looking through the package they sent me, I see my feeling was right.  This is actually their third album that I have.

    "Walking In Me," begins with soft drums, a little piano, and a faint beautiful guitar.  It also adds some more music as time goes along.   The song is beautifully sung, just as all the other songs on the album.  I really hope this group stays together and makes some more music.

    The only thing I feel is missing from this CD is some complicated guitar work.  The guitar is beautifully played, but there's no guitar solo.   This band, Sailor Free, definitely has a future ahead of them, and a solid base to start that future from.

    Check out their website at http://utenti.tripod.it/sailor_free. They are based in Italy, so I wouldn't suggest finding them in stores in America, but I'm glad I got to hear them, and I think you should check them out too.

Pill Shovel Could Be Good In Time

by Gary Milholland

    I got Pill Shovel in the mail yesterday.  I was really in a musical zone, so I decided to just go ahead and review it, along with Dopamine which I also got yesterday.  Well, yesterday became a mixed bag.  I was very happy with Dopamine.  However, Pill Shovel's "feast of a thousand pleasures," fell about 999 pleasures short of it's title.  I listened to the whole album, or at least, the first half of each song on the album.  I didn't finish a song until track 6, "Franklin."  I thought, "this beginning's cool.  This has some real potential to be great."  But then my train of thought pulled into the service station in a matter of seconds.  The music was still pretty cool, but there were no lyrics for over two minutes.  Don't get me wrong, some great songs have no lyrics for that long, but they usually last 8-10 minutes in that case (or 26 minutes long on Inquire's album).  This song is about 4 minutes long, with about 20 seconds of lyrics.

    I proceeded through the CD, and finally got to a track I actually really liked.  Then I realized why.  It was the radio version of "Franklin," and had a lot more lyrics.  It was produced better than the other tracks, which I found to be kind of odd.  It's almost as if there was a different producer for that song.  If so, Pill Shovel should stay with that producer.  

    Pill Shovel could be good if they find their niche, practice, and make sure they have a really good sounding recording.  For now, I'll listen to Inquire, Eric Clapton, Santana, Ozzy Osbourne, Tupac Shakur, Billy Joel, U2, Everlast and many great indie bands like Eden Automatic, Dopamine, Bumblefoot, Miss, and well, I think you get the point.   

I Feel Inspired By Dopamine

by Gary Milholland

    I feel inspired by Dopamine... inspired to write new music.  When I first started making music 7 years ago, I knew I had a long way to get where I wanted to.  Recently, I have felt much closer.  Now, I hear Dopamine, and realize I still have a ways to go.  Their music is absolutely beautiful.   Especially track four, "bottle thrower."  It isn't so much the lyrics "You're a bottle thrower, set me free," but rather, the way it is sung.   Not only is the singer's voice wonderfully melodic, but it blends in perfect harmony with the music and transports you into a world of wonder and amazement. 

    When you go a couple of tracks deeper into the album, to "nickels and dimes," you're again sucked again by music that is reminiscent of the beginning of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven."  The music stays harmonic, and the voice is still melodic.

    They show their range a little bit in track 10, "one:way ticket."  It's got a faster pace and a heavier, distorted guitar.   It's not as good as the rest of the album, but it's still worth listening to just to hear their different abilities.