Sat 26 July
Peace & Ecology Festival
St Luke's Church (bombed out church)
Top of Bold St, Liverpool
More gig info here
Alun Parry Blog
Buskernomics: What Do You Think?
Reprinted below is the page from my site explaining the philosophy of my music distribution. I'm reprinting it here because I want your comments.
Once A Busker....
As many of you will know, I am a former 'Merseyside Busker Of The Year'.
So I started my musical career as a humble busker. I was so humble I didn't even own a guitar. I borrowed one. But it taught me a lot of lessons about people and music. The main one is that if people like what you do, they'll let you know it.
Some will let you know it with a smile and a nod. Others will let you know it by putting some money in your hat.
But the key thing is that people are free to decide.
I bought my first ever guitar with the money that people voluntarily put into my busking hat. I even had some left over to buy my Nan a radio!
But nobody was forced to pay. They just wanted to. That's what people are like with music after all. It's not a 'product'. It's something that touches people. And when it does, people tend to let you know.
Soundproof boxes on Bold Street
Here's a question....have you ever seen a soundproof box on Bold Street? With a turnstile?
No, me neither. Bold Street in Liverpool was my standard busking pitch. But I didn't sing inside a soundproof box then make people pay to hear me.
No, I just put the music out there. Some people would like it and get it for free as they walked on by. Others would volunteer a few bob. (And no doubt some will have wished I was in that soundproof box haha!!)
But the point is, that I made the music freely available and let people choose how to respond. And yet I still got that guitar and my Nan still got that radio!!
Buskernomics: The Philosophy of this site
Well I'm not a busker anymore. That was some time ago now. But I'm keeping that same street philosophy with me.
My album is still available in the shops. The retailers have priced it up at £9.99. You can get it at HMV and Virgin and Amazon and Borders and the likes.
But here on my site, I'm going to do it differently.
I'm putting my music freely out there, just like I did when I busked on the streets. As such, all of my music can be downloaded completely free from this site.
But at the same time, you have the option of paying too. And if you decide to pay, then you also decide how much. Just like you do when putting money into a buskers hat.
It's a revolutionary new philosophy - and it goes against the industry folks who are sending their lawyers round the world to sue kids for downloading music off the internet.
Viva la revolution!
So what do you think? I really want to know. Please add your comments by clicking the add comments link and type away.
8:14 AM | Permalink
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Greetings from a fellow busker!
I like what you said about busking and I identify with that.
I have a feeling it might not work the same on the Internet, because the immediate interaction and face-to-face connectin is missing. I'm curious to find out how your experiment works out.
Cudos for the innitiative!
All the best,
'Saw Lady'
www.SawLady.com/blog
Posted by
Anonymous |
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Hi Saw Lady
Great to hear from you. I see you play the musical saw in New York City. That's awesome.
I'll keep you informed how the project goes.
Al
Posted by
Alun Parry |
Sunday, June 03, 2007
This was such a good idea that I pilfered it! Don't worry, I've given you credit! Well, credit in the form of a link to this blog article from mine.
www.davehughesmusic.co.uk/blog
Posted by
Dave Hughes |
Friday, July 06, 2007
Hey Dave
I think it's fab that you're going down the buskernomics route too!
Thanks for the link back.
Let the revolution spread onwards!!!
Al 8-)
Posted by
Alun Parry |
Friday, July 06, 2007