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@people who run or are involved with labels and netlabels:
I'm curious what the "sales figures" are like for chip releases. As in, what would qualify for "gold" or "platinum" status like in Billboard world.
My off-the-top-of-my-head guesses are:
Typical nondescript release -- 0 to 50 downloads or purchases
Popular album -- 51 to 300 d or p
"Led Zeppelin IV" -- 301 to 1500 d or p
Superstar Fetish Time -- ?a few thousand?
Discuss amongst yourselves.
This is interesting. It must be hard to work out overall, what with iTunes, amazon, cdbaby, bigcartel sales etc, not to mention downloads from obscure filesharing sites.
should we start a Top of the Chips?
You're numbers are too high.
and in reality.. i think it should only count for albums sold.
downloading it too easy. and free.. doesn't mean for anything. someone might download and never listen.
Albums sold.. is what should count.
That being said..
Unicorn Dream Attack. close to 1000 or 1300 records sold. I can't remember how many we got, 1000 or 1300.. but we're almost out.
Time for repressing in Limited Edition vinyl. WooT!
Low-Gain : 60-100 records sold. i really dont keep track of my own record sales. I should, but reality is... i have to dress mine up in fancy packaging to get people to buy them. so what ever. it's just shit late 90's electronic influenced dance music anyways.
Frankly, my opinion of the chip scene for selling records has really taken a 180.. I think there is too much shit being released into the world.
not enough time being put into a record let alone 1 song. people are in too much of a hurry to get as many plays as they can on community websites.
its' all bullshit to me. what's the point? And most of the time we're just selling music to fellow musicians.. never the masses that have no clue what 8bc or cm.org are... I want something more then just niche community... people should be striving for more. striving to push themselves to something bigger, go beyond making a great 4 channel gameboy song.. let go of the BS limitations and do something more with it. it's about the music, not the hardware/software.
So the market is saturated in shit IMHO, and when something really good comes down the pipe, it gets overlooked and only time will tell if it will get recognized for what it should be.
But free downloads should never be considered in something like this.
And most people are too cheap these days to buy chip music. they just assume it should be free.. to which i say, "fuck that"
You pay for quality, and effort. both artist (investing in doing their record right) and consumer (buying a cd/record).
Last edited by low-gain (Jun 23, 2010 2:17 pm)
So the market is saturated in shit IMHO, and when something really good comes down the pipe, it gets overlooked and only time will tell if it will get recognized for what it should be.
But free downloads should never be considered in something like this.
And most people are too cheap these days to buy chip music. they just assume it should be free.. to which i say, "fuck that"
You pay for quality, and effort. both artist (investing in doing their record right) and consumer (buying a cd/record).
Bingo.
should we start a Top of the Chips?
Fuck no.
@low-gain -- Yes to the saturation and niche argument.
But, by your numbers UDA's album would be in the "Led Zeppelin IV" bracket and yours would be in the "Popular" bracket... seems appropriate to me.
Also yes to the "assume it should be free" comment. I'm guessing you've read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"? If not get on it... it's a discussion on what constitutes Quality and Value and a person's responsibility to produce/personify those qualities. 
Actually, I need to re-read that myself.
Shriker wrote:should we start a Top of the Chips?
Fuck no.
Not my intent AT ALL. Just curious.
hmm, ive never kept track on most of my cds for total sales (since i DIY hand-make in batches), but i think "last chance for redemption" sold about 60, which would be the highest for me...downloads, indeed, pretty much cant count 1 to 1 with sales towards indicating how popular a release is, though id say it doesnt count as nothing either...anyone want to decide how many downloads equal a puchase? 20 maybe?
or then again, we can just say "fuck it, who the hell cares"
I'm guessing you've read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"? If not get on it... it's a discussion on what constitutes Quality and Value and a person's responsibility to produce/personify those qualities.
actually i haven't but thanks for the recommendation. i'll pick it up this weekend.
netlabel blah
kittenrock.co.uk downloads seem to range from 200 to 800 in the first month, depending on the release, popularity of the artist etc...
I maintain a fairly strict no prog-rock, no ridiculously happy techno stance (the genres I consider more crowd-pleasing in the chip music world) so labels who put these things out are probably gonna be much more popular 
Sales: I'll be fine as long as I get that gold-plated hot tub before the apocalypse.
You can see the downloads for all the FMA uploads:
http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Chip_Music/
These tend to be reissues and aimed towards a non chip audience, but might be intersing to someone.
Time for repressing in Limited Edition vinyl. WooT!
i'd buy that.
go beyond making a great 4 channel gameboy song.. let go of the BS limitations and do something more with it. it's about the music, not the hardware/software.
while i understand and appreciate the sentiment of this, i disagree. people should make whatever is rewarding to them personally. if they love making 4 channel gameboy songs, then that's what they should do. if they like doing more than that or doing less, then they should do that. there's no right or wrong there.
So the market is saturated in shit IMHO, and when something really good comes down the pipe, it gets overlooked and only time will tell if it will get recognized for what it should be.
do you think that this is different in any other medium? could the same thing could be said about non-chip music, tv, film, etc?
But free downloads should never be considered in something like this.
And most people are too cheap these days to buy chip music. they just assume it should be free.. to which i say, "fuck that"
You pay for quality, and effort. both artist (investing in doing their record right) and consumer (buying a cd/record).
i've released albums online for free download and physical albums that cost money. the response is definitely VERY different. if you put your album up for free download, the message a lot of people get is that this album is not worth anything. in my experience, if you treat your product as some free handout then people will react to it like a free handout. if you treat your product as something valuable, unique, and worth buying, then people will react that way too.
You can see the downloads for all the FMA uploads:
http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Chip_Music/
These tend to be reissues and aimed towards a non chip audience, but might be intersing to someone.
That is interesting. I'll also take the opportunity to say thank you and good work! I've pointed several people to your selections.
I want something more then just niche community... people should be striving for more. striving to push themselves to something bigger, go beyond making a great 4 channel gameboy song.. let go of the BS limitations and do something more with it. it's about the music, not the hardware/software.
A lot of your post was kind of negative, but I really appreciated this sentiment, which is something I've been feeling lately. Why should we always constrain ourselves to the limitations of a chip? It can be fun, edifying, and challenging some/most of the time, but it gets tiring. And it's not like you're "cheating" by going outside that. Why not combine chips? Why not resample chips? Purity for its own sake is lame. I think if there's ever going to be a chip masterpiece recognized by the mainstream (by which I mean, Pitchfork), it's going to be very unlike pure solo gameboy.
That said, I'm not a huge fan of Anamanaguchi's music, and I still like nerdy toys/tools/sequencers.