As CD sales continue to slide in the digital age, independent musicians are finding new ways to distribute their music. Total CD sales hit an all-time low of 362.6 million in 2008, down 45% from 651.1 million in 2004, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Over the same four years, digital album sales have soared from 5.5 million to 65.8 million, despite an enormous quantity of free — and often illegal — downloading.
Independent hip hop artist Gregory Skyler Taylor, better known as Skyzoo among fans, has used those changes to his advantage. In July 2007, the 26-year-old Brooklyn native released his critically acclaimed “Corner Store Classic” mixtape — a compilation of both original songs and verses recorded over popular instrumentals. He also allowed several music websites to offer all 20 tracks as a free digital download.
Doing so garnered enough attention to attract some of the biggest names in digital music — iTunes, Napster, eMusic — and Skyzoo later released an updated version of “Corner Store Classic” as a for-sale download in April 2008 with several remixes and previously unreleased songs.
“I was able to grab the attention of people who didn’t have the original version, as well as those who did, since there was enough new music on the re-release,” he says. “Putting your music out in different forms gives fans more of an incentive to follow up on you.”
Making the original mixtape took time: Skyzoo spent 2-3 days a week, spread over three months, writing and recording. Other costs included the money he spent on manufacturing and distributing CDs, which totaled $1,000-$2,000. But Skyzoo also benefited from a supportive network: he was given free access to a recording studio, and was able to get other musicians and producers to work with him for a low cost and, in some cases, no cost at all.
As an independent musician breaking through the middle ground between job security and creative control, Skyzoo has forgone working for anyone but himself since 2005. His last non-music job was a clerical position at Morgan Stanley, which could easily drive anybody out of the corporate world. Nowadays Skyzoo earns some of his money from downloads that sell on iTunes and elsewhere for $0.99 per song. But the bulk of his income comes from live concerts, including recent performances in China.
Other artists across several genres have taken similar approaches to surviving off of their music alone. Veteran indie rock group Nine Inch Nails promoted their 8th and latest album, “The Slip,” as a free 10-song download on the group’s website. In preparation for the digital release, NIN circulated a free mp3 of the lead single, “Discipline.” The mp3 contained a special text tag requesting fans to visit the site on May 5, 2008 — the day the album would become available for download. Soon after, physical copies of the album were distributed for sale.
Skyzoo sees a similar opportunity to boost demand for paid downloads and album purchases. With his own full-length album, “The Salvation,” ready for release, he has been gearing up to spread more free music over the web.
“I’m a firm believer in staying new with online marketing, live music streaming, and digital downloading,” says Skyzoo. “But I’m also a firm believer in the old. You don’t know where you’re going unless you know where you came from, so it’s always important to have posters, flyers, promotional CDs and t-shirts; physical products that help create a brand that people want to support.”
Story by Damian Ghigliotty
Video by James Fair and Damian Ghigliotty
View the analysis video below for a breakdown of Opportunity Cost by Mike Mandel
