I mean that quite seriously. I’m not a tech wizard like Imogen Heap, or a genius at fanbase engagement like Amanda Palmer, but the way I work now is so heavily influenced by technology.
I still write words on paper, and write music notes on music manuscript, but then I use the Soundcloud app on my phone when I’m demo-ing something quickly or to record some improvs. The recordings are stored online for me to check out again when I’m back home, or working on that piece again. Of course, I also share the finished recordings of my work on Soundcloud too.
I use the free notation software MuseScore to put together my arrangement ideas that I’d sketched out on manuscript, and edit and fine tune the arrangements using the software. I send parts to other singers, or performers, by exporting the parts from Musescore and emailing them. Or I share the score on musescore.com.
I test out early demos of songs by posting them to a web forum community I’ve been a part of for over a decade that has always been an honest sound board and a very helpful support for creative artists of all kinds.
I funded half the costs of my record by using fundit.ie to crowdfund the cash from friends, acquaintances, fans, supporters, family, and well intentioned strangers who just wanted to help art get made. What I discovered was that the people funding me online were a mix of folk I knew from back when I was hanging out online on Fortunecity.com from the late 90’s, through to ones I interacted with a lot in my years on Livejournal, or music fan forums, as well as people I interact with through the current batch of popular social networking sites.
Most of my music sales are through my bandcamp store, or other digital music stores like iTunes and Amazon. I get it on to those other stores using Tunecore, an online music distribution service. People discover my music by streaming it on Deezer, Spotify or Earbits or somewhere similar. I do little hangout concerts on Google+ for strangers and familiar faces all over the world, and my music videos go up on youtube and vimeo.
Basically, I’m saying that I love you internet, and I’d be lost and lonely without you, playing to the wall in my room or a handful of people in a local venue. The internet has changed the music industry a lot, that’s pretty obvious, but I like the change. It suits me a lot more.
