It’s no secret that most artists struggle financially. It’s kind of part of the gig. We thrive on the creative process and most artists are happy just to be heard. We spend our lives pursuing the sound and focus little energy on the business of music. I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories of bands that go to the major record labels just to have their sound changed or [perhaps worse] have their album collect dust on the labels shelves. To that end, many artists choose to stay true to their sound and live in the independent world. I’m certainly in that group - and the bands that we work closely with on evinyl.net are too. We don’t get rich, but some of us do earn a living by touring, selling albums, and merch. We have been pushed by our fans to put out new music - especially on vinyl. Their awesome support is why we play.
The 90’s opened up a new medium for sharing music. If you think about it, this was the first time that anyone could share whatever music they wanted - whether they had permission or not. This was relatively unregulated and really for the first time since the creation of sound - the value in music was significantly disrupted. Licensing in music was enforced since the 1920’s when radio started to become mainstream. Fast forward 70 years, and now artists had no way to control the distribution. This world wide distribution drove the perceived value of music through the floor. Fans still wanted to listen to music, they still wanted the entertainment, but they now could find “stores” where they didn’t have to pay for it. Today’s trend is streaming music online. With massive companies making huge profits from free streaming, artists are paid the equivalent of one album sale per 3,000 plays (DMN pay per stream $.004891 Spotify 2016).
With that in mind we set out to disrupt that industry. We live in a time where fans are willing to support the bands if they are just told how. So we want them to listen online - right now everyone can listen to their favorite indie albums ad free at e-vinyl.net. The awesome part is that when they discover music that they love, they can support the artist directly by buying the vinyl to enjoy at home.
So come on in to our little online record store, stay awhile and listen to whatever music you want while you browse the bins and remember you can support the artists directly by clicking that cool little “buy now” button.
Peace and music-
Sandy & John