PROJECT I/O

The project I am working on entails the release of a full album, using the medium of vinyl. The album is a postmodernist piece, entitled ‘I/O’ and it utilizes samples and influences in a backdrop of minimalism. The mood of my album is designed to be unobtrusive, and means to reflect thought on the listener. The album will be released in three ways, with a stereo mix on vinyl getting the first release. The latter releases will include a stereo mix available on iTunes, and a ‘5.1 Limited Edition’ mix released on USB pen drives.. The official release date however will be when all formats are released for sale. Pre-orders will receive the vinyl version of the album 2 weeks early, and will also receive exclusive content online, with stems available to download for people wishing to sample and remix. Because of this, I have decided to publish the album under the creative commons license under Attribution – CC BY. With this choice of media formats, I am hoping to appeal to music fans and collectors, who appreciate listening to and accessing music in different ways. With the ‘5.1 Limited Edition’ version, I intend to include an extended music video, covering a selected mix of the album, with an approximate running time of 20 minutes

Market and Audience

One only has to search in Google the words ‘Vinyl sales’ to appreciate the increasing value of vinyl. Every search result on the first page indicates rising sales in vinyl, with figures varying from “Vinyl sales up 39%” according to Sean Griffiths on mixmag.net, and whathifi.com claiming an increase of 55% in the first half of 2011 compared to 2010 in its entirety.

My album will be targeted to listeners of artists and bands such as: Aphex Twin, Autechre, Biosphere, Boards of Canada, Carbon Based Life Forms, and Venetian Snares. Potential markets on a regional/national level are irrelevant, because the project exists online, and is available globally.

The website I have created to sell my album is located at “http://www.wix.com/joshuajeanmusic/io”. This is a temporary domain, for use until I find hosting.

I will eventually have more song snippets on the website, but I have included just one for now. I will post links to this website on various networking sites, and submit my tracks on last.fm as well as sending the album to various radio shows.

Revenue and funding

I am not concerned for record sales, or interested in making money from this record, so I will cut vinyl to order, and ensure that the price I sell the album for covers the manufacturing costs. Any sales from digital downloads will be a bonus, along side any royalties from radio play, but they are not something I will depend upon