"Pay For Your Ticket And Don't Complain."

Until recent times indipendent musicians, unless they have a truckload of cash behind them, have had very limited control over the release of their material. Keen to have their music made available to the widest possible audience they 'climb aboard' the major distributors without giving much thought to alternative options.

iLike 'recommends' to artists to have at least one free download as an incentive for listeners to return. As I have mentioned elsewhere this seems to be a fruitless exercise for the artist.

ReverbNation also employs the same strategy. Not every song by artists on Reverbnation are available on iTunes as the listener may be led to believe. Again, artists are encouraged to make free downloads available as 'fan' incentives. Additionally ReverbNation has a 'band equity' ranking system. This is based on daily song plays, returning visitors, new fans and 'fan interaction.' I find that 'fan interaction' tends to be somewhat overdone by some artists. By sending letters to fans who have joined an artists mailing list the artists ranking seems to be given a substantial boost. This leads to artists sending messages to their mailing list that aren't particularly pertinent, hence people are more inclined to 'opt-out.'

After overlooking the most obvious means of making ones' music visible to as wide an audience as possible I have recently released the album "Bullet" via Nimbit. This allows the artist the freedom to release material on the exact day that they wish to and have the ability to set what they think is a fair price.

Nimbit charges 20% for this freedom. They have a free account, which I am using, and two paid accounts which offer CD replication, merchandise, e-tickets and so forth.

I have placed my Nimbit store on my website, the "Bob Findlay Music Page" on Facebook (a new collaboration), MySpace and below. Each store has a tracking code for sales (if there are any) which enables artists to view where most sales are coming from and (hopefully) correlate 'why.'

The upcoming weeks/months I shall be following each store with interest. Hopefully a few other folks might be as well.

Times Are Strange

I have always attempted to keep my current personal life separate from my musical endeavors. Sometimes, however, this isn't possible. This is such an occasion.

I have retired, after 23 years, as a State Registered Nurse and am currently undergoing medical treatment for a recurring psychological condition. The condition is not, as some people may be quick to assume, alcohol related. Far from it. I have been 99% sober since 12.20pm, April 2007.

So.....I am now focussing 100% on my musical endeavors. This does not mean that I will be returning to the 'live' circuit which has been mistakenly reported since my first live performance in 5 years last month. Having said this, I cannot express my gratitude to well-wishers prior to the event & the feedback received post-event. My 30-minute bracket brought back a lot of fond memories however since the event I have very mixed emotions about performing live.

During a recent interstate trip I also had a series of promotional shots taken and edited by my Manager, Haych Storm©. You will note that some have been used on this site. More photographs can be viewed on the "Bob Findlay Music Page" on Facebook.

Two music video clips of the songs"Crooked" and "Dear Artist" were also shot during my visit and are easiest to locate right here on the "Videos" page. The videos are very diverse musically, visually and thematically. I hope that you enjoy them and please feel free to comment on them here.As you know, I try to keep my personal life entirely separate from my musical endeavors.

I was recently "Featured Artist" for a third time at noisehead.com. Insufficeint notice was given to appropriately promote this.

In conclusion I leave you with the aforementioned mixed emotions regarding my music as it has now become my sole form of income and the words 'music' and 'money' have never sat well with me but at this point I have no other option. I do, however, have a few ideas up my sleeve and I expect to be an announcement in the near future.

Take It Easy

Yes I am Scots and yes I do record in a tiny studio in Stanley, Tasmania but I think you may be surprised what this unlikely combination has produced. If you’re into classic-rock akin to the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Faces, Warren Zevon, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh and Mick Taylor then this is the place for you.