I have heard the figures from releases on a few of the more popular chip netlabels and I know my sales figures (CDs) and downloads figures to date for both of my recent EPs. It is interesting seeing how these facts fit into peoples ideas of what goes down as well as other people's experiences in this thread.
I think there are a few interesting things at play in chipmusic and I would like to share some of my opinions and ideas with you.
~With reputation comes the value of your product.
~With access comes reputation.
~People will always have a way to get your music for free.
~CDs/music sells better at shows in my experience.
~A lot of music buyers buy for packaging/aesthetic.
~Each artist/act's needs/ideals/music/location/etc should decide how material is best written/recorded/released.
My plan was to have online chip communities download my music and to primarily sell my CDs at shows and have smaller numbers purchase online. The model seems to be working for me and I hope it continues to do so. People seem to want to buy shit from you at shows if they liked your set, even if you tell them they can get it free online.
I almost certainly would have had more online sales if there was no free download, but I guess my goal was to expose the music I have written, in the hope of building a reputation that increases the value of my future releases as well as my live performance. I am not sure what I am going to do next...
