Bringing Back the Album (Experience) - NYTimes
October 2nd, 2009http://fort-greene.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/bringing-back-the-album-experience
By ANDREW BORYGA
Chris O’Connell is a “musical purist,” doubling as a bassist for a local psychedelic folk band. A musician since age 14, Mr. O’ Connell has been frustrated with the way the music industry has been shaped over the last decade.
“The digital age we are in takes away from the artists’ ability to express themselves to their fans,” said Mr. O’Connell, 27, who lives on Fulton Street. Today’s online industry — which markets most music as individual tracks — neglects things like liner notes and album artwork, which he believes go hand in hand with the music: “An author doesn’t write a book and sell it in chapters; the same should be said for musicians.”
Earlier this summer, Mr. O’Connell launched Your Digital Record, a free Web start-up with the aim of providing a different medium for artists entering the online market.
“I want it to be a place where an artist can duplicate his album as if you were holding it in your hand,” he said.
The site, which is similar in some respects to other music networking sites, such as the popular MySpace and Facebook band pages, as well as Purevolume, is innovative in that it allows artists to give fans a holistic view of their work.
In addition to the tracks on an album, artists are given the option of uploading any artwork or liner notes that would normally come encased in the physical CD. Fans signed up on the site are then given the option of downloading these facets in a digital booklet form that can be viewed while simultaneously previewing the music.
Should they choose to purchase the album, the fans would receive the tracks as well as the digital booklet in PDF format, giving them a digital record — hence the title.
Kittens Ablaze, a six-piece pop folk ensemble from Bushwick area, is one of 40 bands signed up for Mr. O’Connell’s services.
“The idea seems very promising,” said Grant Rafter, 26, one of the band’s guitarists. The bassist for the band graduated from the school of Museum Studies at Tufts University and, according to Mr. Rafter, spent almost three months working on the album cover and artwork for the band’s latest album “The Monstrous Vanguard.”
“It’s great that this site allows for all that work he put in to be recognized,” Mr. Rafter said.
Devin Peralta, 27, is the bassist, vocalist, and songwriter for the band Cobra Skulls, which can also be found among the artists at Your Digital Record. He said he loves the idea of being presented as a physical album to fans rather than just a track.
“On MySpace and Facebook, you get to upload a few songs and some info and that’s about it,” he said. “It doesn’t really make for a good medium to translate what you are really about.”
Mr. Peralta also does most of the artwork for the band, and at times feels like his work goes unappreciated.
“Since the advent of digital music, artwork has gone by the wayside,” he said. “It has become dispensable because it isn’t something people physically see on Web sites.”
Mr. O’Connell said he hopes to change that, and Mr. Peralta is optimistic. “This could be a good first step,” he said.
As of now, the site is still developing, and Mr. O’Connell’s main concern is getting quality participants. “We aren’t really focusing on the marketing stuff right now,” he said, “we’re more concerned about getting solid bands and labels signed up.”
Mr. O’ Connell has been focusing mostly on acquiring local bands and artists of many genres; right not it is heaving on Indie Pop Punk artists.
Billy Farrell has dreams of releasing an album entitled “Laptop Love,” composed of love songs mixed with beats created in the GarageBand software on his Mac and thinks YDR is a great tool for experimental artists like himself. “It lets me test the waters a little bit and see if my album is even worth making,” he said.
Mr. Farrell, 29, has used the site’s feature of embedding digital albums in e-mails and social networking sites to gauge interest in his potential album — and attract fans.
“I can send my album to someone’s e-mail or Facebook page and not have to worry about them putting in passwords or being a member,” he said. “It’s great.”
Although he maintains profiles on Facebook and Purevolume, Mr. Farrell has chosen YDR as his prime source for reaching out to fans. One reason is because of the quality of the sound. After running a test streaming the same song from Purevolume and YDR, he says the sound was about 25 percent better on YDR. “That’s something that makes a difference,” he said.
So far, Mr. O’Connell said, his venture has received great feedback from artists and fans alike, which has caused him to reconsider his early plans for the site.
He acknowledges that today’s market for do-it-yourself-type online marketing tools for artists are pretty competitive.
“Places like MySpace and Facebook, definitely have a leg up on you,” he said. Which is why his initial plan revolved around bringing something unique to the table that might get him acquired by one of the larger sites in the market.
He said he hasn’t abandoned that business goal yet, but his success with YDR so far has made him at least consider the option of trying to make it on his own.