Mods: I'm not sure if this topic is being posted in the right board or not, so please feel free to move it if necessary.

This topic relates to information that I have posted on my website (http://malexmedia.net/2006/10/21/malexs_structures_frozen_on_track_for_november_release), so unless you are already familiar with the situation, please consider reading the article.

To summarize, my new album is basically finished and will be released in a matter of weeks. (I've been working on it for 1.5 years now, so I'm quite happy to see it come to this point.)

My questions are: aside from advertising here at TF, what marketing moves would you all take? What steps can I take to get this disk in all of the random christian music stores online?

Another thing I want to do is get this disk as "listened to" and as "reviewed" as possible. So aside from sending it in to be reviewed on TF, I would like every single influential person here (including only vaguely-influential) to hear it and tell me what they think. Aside from providing valuable feedback that I can use for future projects, this would (with permission) provide me with "quotables" that I can use for marketing purposes.

So, to that end, I would be happy to ship a pre-release CDR to any and every TF member who wants one, provided you promise to listen to the whole thing and let me know what you think. Keep in mind that it's a 79-minute beast, so I wouldn't blame you at all for not wanting to commit to it. (If you're interested, reply to this and/or PM me right away, so I can send your copy out this week.)

So, any thoughts, anybody?

Thanks, God Bless.

What's the styles?

Well, the article on my site describes the music on the disk in some great depth, but there's mostly Trance and D&B with some breaksy elements too. At least, that's how I'm categorizing the music. (As an aside, I should mention that there are a few non-dancy 'experimental' tracks in addition to the ones I mentioned.)

It's always hard for me to categorize a song, since I'm always afraid that there's some element to a style that I'm not aware of. Helping me identify certain "finer" points of style would be a good reason for me to send you a copy of the album. ;)

ttyl

I'd love to give it a listen. I can even add it to rotation on "The Show!" and OneLifeRadio.

The Show! C/O dj404
PO BOX 4196
Topeka, KS 66604

Well, be careful saying that before you hear it... it might not work for you at all! :P

Seriously though, I'll send this out Monday. Thanks a lot! :)

Any other takers? *hopes*

ttyl

Well, I would love one.    If it is my style I might even request to be the TF reviewer for it.   

Send me one, please. ;)

I have some contacts too so maybe I can get you hooked up with some radioplay. We will see.

my address is
169 Burnside Ave, Apt 3,  Woonsocket, RI  02895   

Rock on man, I loved your EP from the poll. I'll send your copy out on Monday.

It's got some chilled-ish tracks, but nothing truly ambient. I may also send you a copy of Scanned (my last album) so you can check out "Else". It's the last track on my last album, and it's the only truly ambient song I've ever released.

As for airplay, I would be incredibly grateful for any I can get. I really believe in this CD, and I really looked into getting it promoted by various firms, but they all wanted an arm and a leg for it! (Seriously, it was going to cost more to promote this CD that way than it would cost to buy two or three cars.)

ttyl

By the way, anybody who gets a copy from me should feel free to send copies to anyone who they think should hear it. I'm all about grass roots promotion/distribution, so as long as we're not talking about people profiting off of it, I'm fine with it.

Any other takers? :-D

I am interested. just sent you a PM about it. Peace.

I'd suggest starting by sending a copy to your local college radio stations. Find out which ones have electronica shows.

You might also want to pass a few to local DJs to have them spin.

Thanks to everybody so far for their interest and suggestions. Please keep in mind that I'd love to send a copy of this CD to everyone on the boards here. Even if you're not a DJ or producer, I'd love to have your opinion of the disk.


Meh, I should actually have that information already, shouldn't I? :P I mostly spend all of my time working on these projects of mine and with my local church, so (sadly) my overall awareness of the local scene has suffered greatly. I fear that is why I'm mostly just a coder, not a businessman. :-[


Well, as I alluded above, my knowledge of the local scene is woefully limited. I know of a few DJs here in Ohio that I'm already trying to contact. Does anybody else here spin around Ohio or know anybody else who spins around Ohio?

Once again, thank you all for your attention. I just pray that God would choose to use this album to whatever extent He sees fit.

Malex - a bit of encouragement.   I never considered myself a businessman either. I grew up in a household of employees. ;)    but slowly over the last 5 years God has built so much business sense into me I can't believe it.

So, you can train yourself in the art of marketing and business. You just have to look in the right places. Read Seth Godin's blog, subscribe to Fast Company, sit down with businessmen you know for lunch and stuff.  Glean knowledge from these people and retain as much as possible. 

You mentioned that you were gearing up your website to be a sort of record label. Well, go all out for it and study the market and read up on current marketing trends and stuff. You can get your music in the hands of some great idea spreaders.

I too just got back into the industry/business side of music and am learning this stuff all over again. Marketing isn't always fun but it sure helps sell your music. Keep up the efforts.

Oh, and keep praying for your business. God will favor it when the timing is right.

Hope all goes well with this album.

z.

Amen, brother. Miraculously, my company has been operating at a profit literally ever since I stepped out in faith to start it. It's not much of a profit, mind you, but enough to finance the release of this album and still pay the bills. (I'm still working for free, so that's a prayer concern for sure.)

Anyhow, I know I said I'd send the CDs out Monday, but instead they went out today. (I got a number of requests from people who were interested in evaluating the album for radio play, so I decided to wait the mail-out until after the album came back from mastering.)

If you've expressed an interest and sent me your address, your copy is in the mail and should be there by the end of the week.

Officially, the copy you'll be receiving is a pre-release, which means that some mastering issues may still be corrected before the album is released. However, as of this posting, I have not found any issues with the current version that still need correcting. So, if all goes well, the "pre-release" copy you're getting might turn out to be identical to the release version. (Does anybody's brain still work after reading that?) ???

I really believe in this project, so I want as many people to hear it as possible - and that includes you for sure! I'm planning on shipping a free copy of the album to anybody here who wants one, right up until the day it's released. All you gotta do is promise to send feedback on the album and get me your address (we won't use your address for anything except sending this one package to you this one time, so your info is safe with us), and I'll send your copy out the next day! :)

So what do you say? Interested? Just remember, all the cool people will be getting pre-release copies of Structures. ;)

God Bless; ttyl
--Alex Markley

I'm expecting that all of the copies of Structures I sent out have probably arrived by now. If you requested a copy and did not get one, please contact me asap.

For anybody who is interested, I've posted a desktop wallpaper based on the Structures cover art: http://malexmedia.net/media/2006/10/29/malexs_structures_wallpaper

As always, comments are welcome! :)

Hey send the CD my way I would love to listen to it. 

e-mail me at djsaltyflavor@yahoo.com

From Matt

Already done bro. Thanks for your interest!

Any other takers? :)