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The Newsletter! Week Three
10 years ago
Welcome to the third edition of the Fortnightly Furry Musicians Newsletter! Magic number 3... apparently...
Today for the musicians newsletter, I'd like to discuss the idea of monetery value, in relation to music. What I mean by this is, at what point can one begin selling their music? Is it from the get-go or is it at a later point when you "prove your ability"?
As someone who is quite low on the ladder of music, I've only been composing music for just over a year now moving up to this "next level" is something I'm starting to consider. But that brings up the question of "how much is my music worth?" One of the issues here is that there's no fixed price or "answer" to that question. Especially in the days of digital distribution, you no longer hold a CD or an LP in your paws, you now just have files on your computer, and how much does a file on your computer cost as it's not a physical object?
One would suppose that the "price of your music" is the price that your audience feel is suitable to pay for it, but I often find myself wondering if the music I'm making is worth my audiences money or not. Sometimes I think that wanting money for what I make is greedy or it'd mean that down the line I'd start worrying that what I was making wasn't earning money, or something like that, or the very corrupting nature money can have. That said, I know lots of people do need money and I can perfectly understand why people would want money for what they do, I just often wonder if it's something I'm ready for.
So in essence, is there a point in one's musical career when you can start making money from your work? Is that from the very beginning or is there this point, whether popularity or skill level when you become "worthy"? Trying to advertise your work not withstanding of course... that's a whole new ballgame...
"...You can't be king of the world if your slave to the adds..."
Thats... that's the addvert seque... I like it.
--- New Releases ---
+++ Singles and EP's +++
Mekuso has released the "Misscalculations" EP, which is available now for purchase on Bandcamp.
More Info
=== Albums ===
FurryDragonDude has released an electronica album called "I Robot" which is available now for purchase on Bandcamp.
More Info
NeoFoxyHound 's album "Dormant", of which "Better Days" was featured here last time, has been released in full. (Note, "Better Days" is NOT on the digital release, it appears to be only on the CD version, at least I pesume so, since it ain't on the digital one and the CD supposedly has bonus tracks.)
More Info
<<<Other>>>
ORiON_697 has released the November editon of "Bliss", a free monthly Electronica mixtape.
More Info
snowywolf12 is holding a free song raffle, the entries for which end on the 18th of December. The reward is a custom free song, as designed by you.
More Info and Entry Requirements
--- Collaborations and Musician Requests ---
wolfymewmew is looking for collaborators to help put something he's written to music, with a similar feel to "Eva" by Nightwish.
Send them a note for more info
If you'd like something featured in the newsletter, drop either me ( 
PascalFarful ) or the FA musicians page a note with details or drop a shout on the FA Musicians page!
Mekuso
FurryDragonDude
NeoFoxyHound
ORiON_697
snowywolf12
wolfymewmew
PascalFarful
Tankyu. ^/////^
1)My music is great and everyone should pay for it, even though in reality it might not be what they think
2)My music is ehh and should be free since it might not be worth anything, when it could actually be worth something
Its good to have someones help when dealing with these things since it really shows you another perspective
Instead, you can ask people to pay for music if they feel like it - which is what they will do anyway. This starts to look awfully like a donation model. Those furry musicians who seem to have made the most money from their music appear to have done so because of donations and kickstarter-type affairs, rather than trying to sell digital copies. Of course you can offer perks to those who pay, such as direct download links to lossless files on a fast server or physical copies of a CD. Just don't expect to actually gate access to your music with a paywall.
This makes it much easier to decide when to start asking money for your music, because the decision is largely left up to your listeners. There's certainly no harm accepting donations, even if you're just starting out. And of course, diversify how you accept donations! (Bitcoin donations are easy to set up, free, and nobody can freeze your account)
I do sometimes wish selling copies still worked - it's what I grew up with after all, and what I aspired to do one day. There becomes a time when you have to let go though.
Personally I mostly gave up trying to do music as a day job over a decade ago - at the beginning of the digital age when the competition started to ramp up sharply. I found the stress severely affected my musical output, not to mention well-being.
I haven't recorded in years, but I do still have a home studio and plan to re-visit the idea of putting out some albums. I don't actually expect to make any significant money from it.
Live shows are an interesting thought, definitely applicable to traditional rock bands. I don't think it would be much help for me, since I'm a single musician working more with genres like jazz and orchestral. I'd need to hire session musicians to do it live, and then they'll probably play way better than I can :p
I imagine a lot of composers of electronic music (i.e. most furry music) would have a similar problem - especially if they aren't proficient in any instruments.
The best solution is to form a band entirely made of fursuiters. Much more visually appealing than watching someone hunched over their stupid MacBook! Probably unusual enough to get some kind of viral coverage if done right.
I suppose my dream is more to form a fursuit band that actually performs to a "mainstream" public, for novelty's sake. Con-attendees kind of expect to see fursuiters on stage, but the general public won't know what hit them! ^^
I'm more into Jazz myself, but I think metal would be a much more spectacular live show. Actually the funniest thing would be to see the fursuiters trash the stage like The Who. Even blowing up hotel toilets like Keith Moon! (Anthrocon beware :p)
Jazz could work, Metal certainally could work, I mean we've had our share of weird bands so it wouldn't be too "out there", it'd be weird enough to be cool, but not too weird to not have an audience. And of course, smashing stuff up works wonders. Pyro could be an issue with us probably catching fire all the damn time haha!