Scrounging
drink can sometimes
turn out to be
quite lucrative.
The
prizewinning headline:
"Buy me a
drink and we'll
both make some
money" has
won a Billboard
Publicity Wire
press release
entry worth $200
for Woodstock,
who is using her
winning token
to draw media
attention to her
site at Sellaband.com,
where she is currently
among the top
30 best selling
artists out of
over 1000 to sign
up for the scheme.
The
contest was run
by Bob
Baker's Buzz Factor
newsletter, a
wonderful free
resource set up
by independent
musician Baker
to help fellow
artists market
their work more
effectively.
Billboard
and Vocus launched
a major music
and entertainment
online press release
service called
"Billboard
Publicity Wire
just over a month
ago.
Bob
Baker explains:
"Billboard,
of course, is
the company that
publishes the
music charts,
the trade magazine,
and more. Vocus
is an online communications
company that recently
acquired PRWeb,
a popular site
that pioneered
search engine
optimized (SEO)
and social media
press release
distribution.
"What
does that mean?
"Combined
with Billboard's
brand and Vocus's
technology, the
new service will
help everyone
from indie artists
to major labels
reach a wider
audience on the
Net when they
post their press
releases.
"Here's
the cool part:
The service will
be very affordable
-- even for the
most budget-minded
acts -- with pricing
plans ranging
from roughly $80
to $200.
"When
you post a press
release through
the new Billboard
service, it will
be indexed by
major search engines
and published
on many news and
entertainment
sites, including
Yahoo! News, Billboard.biz,
eMediaWire and
PRWeb. It will
also be delivered
through more than
20,000 PRWeb RSS
feeds that reach
millions of consumers
and thousands
of journalists
daily.
"Press
releases will
also be search
engine optimized
and enabled with
such features
as blog trackbacks
and Technorati
tagging. Each
release can be
categorized geographically
and tagged with
up to ten subjects
and genres."
Thanks,
Bob!!!
Here's
the press release:
"Buy
me a drink and
we'll both make
some money"
"Buy
Me a Drink and
We'll Both Make
Some Money;"
Woodstock Taylor
Introduces Innovative
Fan, Songwriter
Arrangement
British
songwriter Woodstock
Taylor is inviting
fans to spend
the price of a
couple of glasses
of wine on shares
in her music as
part of an innovative
no-risk scheme
by new music website
Sellaband.com,
where "believers"
share in artists'
profits once a
target figure
is raised.
Edinburgh,
Scotland, UK (Billboard
Publicity Wire)
December 7, 2006
-- British songwriter
Woodstock Taylor
is inviting fans
to spend the price
of a couple of
glasses of wine
on shares in her
music as part
of an innovative
no-risk scheme
by new music website
Sellaband.com,
where "believers"
share in artists'
profits once a
target figure
is raised.
"I've
always been partial
to a glass or
two of wine, but
this looks like
a better longterm
investment for
all those nice
people offering
to buy me drinks,"
says Taylor, who
learned songwriting
at workshops with
Kinks star Ray
Davies and has
since recorded
and performed
both solo and
with some of the
UK's most distinguished
musicians. "Plus
I get to keep
my liver for a
bit longer, just
in case."
Her
invitation is
working. Since
she joined Sellaband
after reading
about it in a
MySpace bulletin,
twelve people
from Mexico to
Latvia have bought
"futures"
in Taylor after
hearing home-recorded
demo tracks on
her Sellaband
page, raising
a cool $800 towards
the $50,000 goal.
Praised by critics
and colleagues
for her intelligent
lyrics, catchy
melodies, uncategorisable
style and soulful,
pitch-perfect
singing, Woodstock
is one of a growing
number of unsigned
artists to join
the Amsterdam-based
scheme, which
promises successful
participants the
means to record
an album by matching
them up with suitable
recording studios
and industry experts.
In
return for investing,
fans (known as
"Believers")
get a free copy
of the resulting
CD, a cut of its
sales, a share
in advertising
revenue generated
on the website
and various other
perks. Each £10
increment (or
"part")
can be transferred
to another artist
or refunded at
any point until
the artist's account
reaches $50,000.
Meantime
Sellaband earn
interest on the
funds, which are
held in escrow
until the sum
is raised and
the contract swings
into effect. Then
they take 40%
of publishing
revenue but none
of the recording
profits.
Industry
figures on board
include legendary
producer Tony
Platt, musician
and former head
of jazz for Sony
Music UK and Europe
Adam Sieff and
Abbey Road Studios'
chief engineer
Haydn Bendall.
Following the
success of the
first act to reach
$50,000, Dutch
rockers Nemesea,
Sellaband recently
celebrated its
thousandth sign-up.
"Along the
road" incentives
like professional
mastering at Sony
Music Studios
for artists who
pass the $1000
mark before the
new year are bound
to keep acts selling
hard.
"This
is such fun,"
says Taylor, one
of five very diverse
UK acts in the
site's top 30.
"Till now
the Internet has
been amazing for
independent artists
like myself in
terms of making
international
connections and
raising our profiles
via music websites
like MySpace,
GarageBand.com
and IAC through
networking, forums
and podcasts,
but frankly it's
been pants when
it comes to making
any money directly
from music sales.
"Sellaband's
different, because
it gives fans
an incentive to
get excited about
acts they've never
heard before and
to take a gamble
on them. They
get the chance
to be in on their
chosen artists'
music right from
the start. They
have a risk-free
but utterly real
choice and they
are rewarded for
exercising it.
It's a realistic
alternative to
the old fashioned
way of waiting
for the big break
or getting signed
by a record label:
this way we make
our own breaks
and get to stay
independent.
"
I love the fact
people I've never
met are putting
money down on
the strength of
songs I've recorded
in my bedroom
and kitchen, and
that these songs
can stand up and
have a life of
their own. One
of my songs actually
features my dustbin
as a kickdrum.
It's real do-it-yourself
lo-fi stuff. Enjoyable
though things
like that are
to do, I'm aching
to get back into
the studio with
some real musicians
and proper equipment.
"With
support from the
Believers and
people like Adam
Sieff, it actually
feels like a team
effort to get
this album funded
and happening.
I've made some
pretty idiotic
financial choices
in the past, but
I'm banking on
this being one
of my better decisions.
If it all goes
according to plan,
the drinks will
be on me."
Based
in Edinburgh and
London, in the
past year Woodstock
Taylor has toured
as a backing singer
with the vintage
1960s band formerly
known as Thunderclap
Newman alongside
UK blues legend
Zoot Money, performing
songs by Cream
lyricist Pete
Brown, made her
catwalk debut
modelling Fair
Trade fashions
in Glasgow, recorded
a dance single
with Dutch electronica
producer Patric
Bakkenist for
charity collective
Sound Aid and
co-starred in
One Night At The
Caravan Club,
a musical set
in the 1920s jazz
era, which played
to critical acclaim
at the Edinburgh
Festival and in
London, where
Woodstock recently
appeared in "Andy
Warhol - the Musical"
alongside former
Placebo keyboardist
Xavior Roide.
In addition to
numerous live
performances and
podcast plays,
her music appears
on over a dozen
compilation CDs
of new music (most
recently BandUnion
VI, from Austria)
and has been broadcast
frequently on
BBC radio.
"Fine
quality songs"
The Scotsman
"Doyenne
of chanson"
BBC Scotland
"a
fine balance between
rock/pop tradition
and inventive
lunacy"
...Radi8, Garageband
"In
my opinion it's
artists like Woodstock
Taylor that should
be making millions
with record contracts
and sold out world
tours… ...it's
artists like her
that keep music
good, because
it's real."
...Groove Machine
Magazine (sadly
deceased)
"Delightfully
British, tonally
beautiful and
I fear, as barking
as Mister Normal
himself. Monster
sound."
…The Johnny Normal
Musical Box
"Settle
down to the moody
blues songs of
Woodstock Taylor,
whose dark husky
voice is reminiscent
of Carly Simon
and Hazel O'Connor."
- edinburghguide.com
http://www.sellaband.com/woodstocktaylor
http://cupparecords.com
http://www.myspace.com/woodstocktaylor
http://iacmusic.com/artist.aspx?id=11007
http://www.garageband.com/artist/woodstocktaylor
http://www.soundaid.org/woodstocktaylor
If
this all works according
to plan, the drinks
will be on us. You
heard it here first.
WT.
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