Artist Support...

[Vi0LenTMoodSwngs]

Well I want to support the artists i enjoy...i want them to get money for their work so they can continue to make and release more art...and i\'ve seen the artist support page where you can directly donate money too the artist...but what im wondering is how much of a support is buying the album from the artist...say i buy a buckethead album off of tdrs music...that is in a way supporting the artist and tdrs correct?...because when the artist support page it makes me want to donate because it makes me think that tdrs doesnt have enough money to put out all of these projects...which is a shame because i would like for them to continue releasing great albums...but at the same time there are a ton of records i wanna get off of this site...like at least 10...so if i were to buy a bunch of records off of tdrs music isnt that a good amount of support?...or is most of the money going to distribution companies or management or something...its just something i\'ve been wondering...because I want buckethet and travis to have enough funding for their records and so forth...but if me buying records off of here isnt that much support then maybe i should donate a little...if anyone can help me answer any of these questions i\'d be very grateful...thank you!!!  

[Steve McKagan]

Good question!

[Travis]

It is a good question and I guess I didn\'t articulate it well enough on the donate page. The donate page is there because we know a lot of music changes hands without the artist seeing a red cent. I myself don\'t blame someone for acquiring something they can\'t get for their collection any other way, but you must be mindful it\'s like eating your seed corn in a hard winter. So the donate page is mostly to help direct money to the source of the music your enjoying and perhaps will help allow more to be made.
Second, this site is here for independent artists. Independent artists tend to sell small amounts of records. Most of the records I have paid to release have yet to break even. The reason they go out of print is there are not enough people willing to buy it to make it worth pressing. I thinks fans have a hard time understanding they are fans of fringe artists, people who push the envelope are the artists who pave the way for an imitator to make the big money off their innovations. They tend not to make the money themselves. I can safely say there is way more great music out there that will never see the light of day because it doesn\'t make the economic sense that a lot of junk that millions buy does. I\'m here because I have my whole life been making idiotic business decisions to make the music I want to make. I own a studio because no one else will pay to record this music, I have this web site because no one else will distribute theses records. Why? Because there is no money in it.
I do know however, there is great potential in the music I\'m involved with. The record company used to nurture artist to build a following. They were willing to lose money if they believed in an artist because they knew it was good and would eventually find enough of an audience to make money. They don\'t do that anymore. I think this is a great time for independent, risk taking artists. Because of digital distribution and the internet, we can get our music out there. The trick is to make a living doing so. The best support you can give us is to buy the records we sell here but yes, I\'ll take donations, that money will go toward pressing a recording that will  probably never see the light of day otherwise.

[Aquabot]

I think this is a great time for independent, risk taking artists. Because of digital distribution and the internet, we can get our music out there.

Don\'t we risk having tons and tons of bands and artists able to distribute their music but who won\'t sell much due to some lack of publicity? I mean, I don\'t know the way it is in the USA, but in France I\'ve never seen any Buckethead records in record shops, never read any Buckethead interviews in french guitar magazines, never heard about Thanatopsis. It\'s only cause I bought a issue of Guitar for the practising musician magazine in which there was a review of Colma that I discovered him. The risk is having millions of bands with no-one who knows them.

[bornalive]

Aquabot, you\'re exagerating a little...
I\'m from France also, and I\'ve seen Buckethead a couple of times in a couple of french guitar magazines. And I\'ve seen some of his albums in record shops too.
Sure, it\'s hard to find his stuff, and without Internet I wouldn\'t have found more than ten albums... but it is possible to discover him in France even without Internet. That was my case.

I discovered Buckethead\'s music at the Virgin Megastore in Metz, with the first Cobra Strike album. I did listen there and bought it right away, and then everything else followed (and then I thank Internet).

I agree with you on your sentence... but I needed to make clear that it is actually possible to make the first steps in Bucketheadland from France, even without Internet.

[gkg]

to return to Vi0LenTMoodSwngs\' initial question, and Travis\' response, i\'d simply add that it is my intent to do both.  i buy the music i love, and i have donated what little i can on the support page - and will do so again when spare cash comes my way.

it\'s a double dip in the indie pool - you pay for what has made it to CD, and you donate toward getting more brought to CD.  once that is brought to CD, i\'ll buy that too.  it\'s a cycle that nurishes and feeds the indie music that i enjoy - and much more personally satisfying than buying from an impersonal mega-store that panders largely to the lowest common denominator in music rather than striving for the best and most creatively challenging.

yes, some may eventually copy it in mainstream, once it has a proven track record - and that is all the more reason to support the indie people creating on the edge - they will generally NOT be the ones to make it big in mainstream with that sound.  it\'s unfair but it is the nature of the beast known as the music industry.  compare the bank balances of the Stones to the blues legends they originally copped from, for one small example.

i agree completely with Geranyl\'s remarks below

[Geranyl]

I\'m here because I have my whole life been making idiotic business decisions to make the music I want to make. I own a studio because no one else will pay to record this music, I have this web site because no one else will distribute theses records. Why? Because there is no money in it.

I think it\'s great that there are people like Travis still out there who will stick their necks out for what they believe in. Call me an idealistic fool, but there are purposes in life other than making gobs of money. To have passion for what you do and feel a calling for it means so much more; even if during money tight times it doesn\'t seem like it.

[dirtface]

I\'m here because I have my whole life been making idiotic business decisions to make the music I want to make.

Well, if this is really the case sir, then I must say thank you for your bad business sense

[rezonator]

kick ass?!Travis you mo\' definatly do!seems every time i\'m not on the net fer awhile when i come back you\'ve got more tunes up!your heart is in the music and your words speak volumes...

[Aquabot]

I discovered Buckethead\'s music at the Virgin Megastore in Metz, with the first Cobra Strike album. I did listen there and bought it right away, and then everything else followed (and then I thank Internet

No really, i didn\'t exaggerate, I lived in Bordeaux for 9 years, I never saw a Buckethead album anywhere, not even Colma.

[d6]

 and again a proof what a great person travis is.
it´s all said and  I couldn´t agree more.  

maybe one thing - when I met shadyshall in nyc , we talked about how cool it must be to have the chance just to sit with travis and talk about - well, - everything.
travis, must be quite something to know you in real life.
uh-oh , now I sound like hannibal lecter -
d6 over and out
 

[bigbri]

Travis, an idea popped into my head while reading your response. But before I get to that, I want to reiterate what others said here: What you do here is awesome, you go above and beyond the call of duty for us fans of the music affiliated with TDRS. I hope you can keep it going for years to come.

Now, my idea. When you talk about artist support and it allowing more music to be made and whatnot, I wonder if it would help you get more donated through artist support if you let us know what specific projects might be directy impacted.

For example, if you said you had some great stuff left over from the latest Thanatopsis recording but you need funds to get it together, I\'d bet you\'d have Thanatopsis and Buckethead fans donating at rates you\'ve never seen before. Same goes for Vince\'s stuff or projects like Gorgone.

Of course, I know you\'d probably not want it to look as if you\'re begging for donations, but I would say, personally, if you said you could get together some Buckethead stuff that wasn\'t used on another release, I\'d be writing you a check ASAP.

Bottom line: I love what you do here, and I love getting my music here. I feel connected to TDRS in a way that I definitely do not when I have to go get a CD at Best Buy.

I\'ve rambled, but it just spilled out.

[Vi0LenTMoodSwngs]

i think thats a great idea...knowing that your money will directly affect a certain album will make you want to donate...moreso than just knowing that its going to different "projects"...

[d6]

I respect you thoughts in the last two posts, but for me it is and will be ok just to donate for "new projects" in general.

it gives much more freedom to the work itself; besides that I, and I´m sure you all as well, trust travis - hence all the musical adventures he did in the past.

sure, for some people it will become more attractive to donate for a specific project. but if I follow  this thought  - it  can lead to different directions.
I just dont want questions like "tell me where exactly my money goes;  how much did it actually cost? it could have been cheaper/ more expensive.." e.t.c

dont get me wrong, I just dont want to see travis chained to a desk.  ( or not to a bigger amount as he is now anyway, managing the studio)
and I dont want it to end up in an  annual supervisory board meeting about independent music.

[Milieu]

agreed that it should stay as a "new projects" kind of thing.

funding for specific releases seems too much like a bake sale to me.

trust the musicians and great things will come from the money.