Let's Take A Stand

Enough is enough! I received an email last night informing me that a certain blues festival and their retail vendor have decided to take 45% of the artists CD sales versus the standard 25%. This is ridiculous and it's time that we as musicians put our foot down. We already have to haggle with these festivals over money and I understand that providing airfare and accommodations can get costly, especially in today's economy, but fair is fair. Most artists will accept less money to play a festival because they know they can make up the difference in merch sales and this is only fair because people will only really buy your product if you put on a great show. That CD sale is a direct reward for your great performance and people at festivals come prepared to spend money on Cd's of artists they like. What has happened is that the festivals have taken notice of this and instead of just staying in their lane, they have decided to take even more of our retail money. Well I say NO! I advise any artist to protest this kind of ridiculous percentage by simply not selling your product. You can print post cards to give out with your retail purchase information such as itunes or Cd Baby. Some will say that we will loose . . . NO WE WON'T. The festival will loose because if we don't sell product then that's money that can't make either and when people by direct from us via the Internet, we don't have to give the festival a dime. It's time out for this disrespect. Without us they couldn't have a festival anyway and it's all the same. No matter what shape the economy is in, they will always complain about how they don't have the money and we have just gotten used to playing THAT game but we will not play this retail gouging game. Spread the word. Anything over 25% is a no go. Also with people having a direct link to the Internet via their phones now, at each show take a moment, while on stage, to have people go to your site and tell them to download your music directly to their phone. I know that most blues music fans still like doing things the old way but this is a part of taking a stand. We have to educate them and bring them into the digital age. Technology has given us even more entrepreneurial freedom so let's use it. Enjoy the journey.

The Truth

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