Dan Bull Talks About Trying To Reach The Charts While Giving Away His Music

from the sharing-is-caring dept

Earlier this week, we wrote about Dan Bull's new song and new experiment: could he release a track via The Pirate Bay for free... and still get it onto the music charts? We talked to Dan to see how the process has been so far, and discussed a few other things as well. Dan also mentioned a new carrot that he's added to the promotion. If you buy all 10 versions of his song he'll put your name into his next song (and try to make it rhyme with something). You can see him talking about that program here:
Onto our interview:

What are you hoping to accomplish/show with "Sharing is Caring"?

I want to show that it's possible for musicians to achieve whatever they set their mind on without the need for the protection / interference of record labels and their lobbyists. The BPI, who already helped to force the Digital Economy Act through Parliament during the scrutiny-free wash-up week, are now trying to have The Pirate Bay censored in the United Kingdom. This is a website that does not host any copyrighted material but merely connects people who want to share their own files. It's also a site that does more for unsigned musicians like myself than the BPI ever have. Of course, on top of this, it'll be a great personal achievement and hopefully give a boost to my musical career.

What is your opinion on the music charts?

As a young lad I used to listen avidly to the charts every Sunday, and I'd promptly go to the record store and buy the top hits the next day. The charts is a powerful force in influencing young people's musical purchases. It's a shame, because the charts are no mark of musicianship or long-term listenability - merely whatever has managed to sell the biggest quantity of copies that week. It's odd that weekly sales is considered the most important measure by which we judge the success of a piece of music.

What do you think the successful music careers of the future will look like?

The long tail of the music business is going to get longer and fatter. Many more unsigned and niche musicians will find their audiences and be able to support themselves thanks to the way the internet allows them to find a sizeable audience around the globe. The top 1% of musicians might see a dip in sales - perhaps they'll only be millionaires rather than multi-millionaires. Why is this such a problem?

What's the reaction to "Sharing is Caring" been so far?

The feedback has been great. People like the idea behind the campaign, and equally importantly they're enjoying the song. There have been detractors too - someone said "you're not getting a free song into the charts, you're selling it. Every other song in the charts is available for free somewhere online." The difference is that I have published the free download myself and am encouraging people to download it - in hope that it'll lead to more engagement later. Major label artists who do this (or are even allowed to do this) are few and far between.

I'm not sure how well the single will do in the "official" charts - whatever "official" is supposed to mean - but it's currently swamping the Amazon hip-hop charts with half of the top selling MP3s being my songs. One of the b-sides is also at number one in the reggae charts - three places above Bob Marley, despite the release of the new documentary film about him.
Are there certain protections you think artists do need? As in, how do you deal with truly bad actors?

I don't see why creators need special legal protections more than anyone else in society. I was asked yesterday "well what if someone uploaded all your music and claimed it was by them - wouldn't you want it taken down?". Well, yes I would want it taken down, but I don't think there needs to be a law enforcing that to happen. It just means that the person was behaving like a dick and I would make that fact known. It's too difficult to draw a line between "fair use" and "unfair use", I believe we'd be better off giving everyone the benefit of the doubt in order to stop mashups and parodies being caught in the crossfire.

Is there still a role for pop stars, or is that going away?

People will always love a pop star to read about and gossip about. They won't go away any time soon, but as I said before - people are listening to a lot more music. You used to buy a new record every couple of weeks perhaps and not listen to much else. With the advent of services like Spotify, a person might spread their listening time over 50 artists rather than 5. This is probably a far bigger reason than piracy as to why the sales of the biggest artists might be reducing. Listening habits have changed and you can't legislate against that.

How important have tools like YouTube (and Megaupload?) been to you in getting your music out?

They've been absolutely vital. YouTube is how most of my listeners discover me. I also became a YouTube partner last year which means I can earn money from streams of videos I've uploaded. It's a great place to discover and collaborate with other artists.

The Megaupload takedown damaged my musical career. Supposedly done in the interests of artists like me, what it actually did was turn all the links to free downloads of music, on blogs, review sites etc, into deadlinks. Why was this allowed to happen? I'd love to see Megaupload's prosecutors explain to me personally how their actions are helping artists such as me.


Thanks to Dan for taking the time to chat.
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Filed Under: bpi, dan bull, long tail, music charts, pop star, sharing is caring, the pirate bay
Companies: amazon, megaupload, youtube


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  • icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 8:22am

    And the question most important to me...
    What rhymes with That Anonymous Coward?
    Purchased all 10, and somewhere in the world I'm helping seed for TPB offering...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Not THAT Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 8:26am

      @ That Anonymous Coward

      Greetings, fellow freedom-seeder.

      From somewhere else.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 9:56am

      Re:

      Fat Autonomous Flower

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Franklin G Ryzzo (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 1:24pm

      Re:

      I was kinda wondering the same thing... Just bought all 10 songs on Amazon but will download them later to seed them. I normally wouldn't care enough to send in the pic with the 10 songs showing purchased, but I really want to see myself in a V Mask wearing pirate garb in a music video to hear how he rhymes Franklin G Ryzzo...

      Supported by Franky G Ryzzo
      While sippin dark rum-syzzo
      Smokin a black cuban ciggo
      Stackin cream like H to da Izzo

      lmao

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        That Anonymous Coward (profile), 28 Apr 2012 @ 11:55am

        Re: Re:

        He has a packet on TPB already, just download the magnet and set the client to keep seeding when its done.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 8:27am

    dont know about anyone else but i'm just waiting for some knob-brain from one (or more) of the studios to demand take downs and get accounts shut on the grounds of copyright infringement. i wonder what Dan would do and how long it would take him to do it? a hell of a lot longer than it took Jimmy Iovine's son Jaimie, i'll bet! can't think why that would be!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That Anonymous Coward (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 8:44am

      Re:

      I am guessing Dan would let his fanbase know, and then there would be enough money to sue them for copyfraud.
      It would take a while, but the media firestorm of the labels taking down work from someone with no connection to them would be big news. Dan would release an amazing Dear *insert idiots name here* video and mock them mercilessly. And that song would hit #1 with a bullet to help reenforce the message.

      It might take time, but it would end poorly for the label.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        varagix, 27 Apr 2012 @ 9:06am

        Re: Re:

        Don't say things like that. You're making me -hope- that the *AA's try it. Feels weird, man.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    jupiterkansas (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 9:02am

    "The top 1% of musicians might see a dip in sales - perhaps they'll only be millionaires rather than multi-millionaires. Why is this such a problem?"

    Multi-millionaires employee lots of non-musicians to manage their multi-millions. They're called record company lawyers and accountants. And there's a little left over for politicians.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 9:08am

    "What are you hoping to accomplish/show with "Sharing is Caring"? "

    I suspect mostly he wanted to see how many stupid tardian blogs would carry his story. He has proven his point that you guys are all suckers for his cause. I doubt he will be paying you back for all your generosity!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      martyburns (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 9:26am

      Re:

      I reckon! Pirate Mike is Pirate Dan Bulls pirate biarch!

      amidoinitright?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      gorehound (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 9:26am

      Re:

      To bad you do not like it Industry Troll !!!
      And none of us like the RIAA or Big Content giving large sums of money to Corrupt Politicians.Your day is going to come and Dan Bull has my full support.
      And by the way AC & anyone else who cares.If you love Old School Punk Rock I am a 56 year old Punk and I also give away my Art via public sites like TPB and also direct downloads at the main website.Over 6 physical releases are free if you want and all ripped to 320k MP3.
      www.bigmeathammer.com

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Lauriel (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 4:53pm

      Re:

      I suspect mostly he wanted to see how many stupid tardian blogs would carry his story. He has proven his point that you guys are all suckers for his cause.

      Perhaps, but mostly he's proven how much free advertising you can get if you are friendly, enthusiastic, and embrace the public, instead of hurling insults and lawsuits at them.

      I doubt he will be paying you back for all your generosity

      You've missed the point completely. Generosity doesn't require reciprocity. Generosity doesn't involve a quid pro quo, or backscratching deals. The fact that generosity is often returned is due to good will, and the desire to do something nice for those who have done something you feel is worthwhile. Generosity is given freely.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 6:18pm

      Re:

      This really isn't an issue for us.

      On the other hand, the RIAA has to pay to have a whole grassroots organisation ("Creative" America) just to support the massive failure that was SOPA.

      I'll leave it to the general public to mull over who was the bigger loser douchenozzle.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Cowardly Anonymous, 28 Apr 2012 @ 10:16am

      Re:

      Ah synergy, what a wonderful principle. People working together for the mutual benefit of all, as opposed to fighting tooth and nail for the tiniest scrap. Truly a cultured person would never dream of acting under any other paradigm but should one find oneself under attack.

      Yet even then, should the attack be weak, one would better be served to teach than to justify such an act. After all, a simple demonstration of one's abilities and the rogue ought be aware that this is one with whom alliance is far better then enmity.

      Now onward, slay the beast that has enslaved one's fellows to the lust for coin. For this, this fight is one that must be undertaken.


      (heh, writing comments in prose is fun)

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 9:27am

    i don't care about this guy's stupid song or answers. it's pretty lame.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Robert (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 9:55am

    What rhymes with Anonymous Coward?

    While hiding yourself as
    An Anonymous Coward
    Launching snakebite attacks
    As disingenuous Howard
    Hughes and the ilk
    Of the like minded greed
    Off the backs of artists
    Like ticks they do feed

    or something like that, I don't listen much to hip-hop anymore.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 10:00am

    I have every right to say his song is stupid. So fuck your face off.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Machin Shin (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 10:07am

      Re:

      No one has said that you didn't have the right to say that. In fact most people here will fight for your right to say anything you want to say. That is the joy of freedom of speech. On the other hand you have to accept that we also can tell you that we don't care if you think his song is stupid.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      The eejit (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 10:13am

      Re:

      You don't want ot do that to me. I bite. A lot.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Stig Rudeholm (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 10:27am

      Just remember one thing...

      Your right to be wrong is also my right to point out that you're wrong.

      Or, as I would like to put it in this particular case:

      Your right to be a dick is also my right to point out that you're a dick.

      You're a dick.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PaulT (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 10:49am

      Re:

      Go ahead, nobody's stopping you. You do seem to be posting a lot of comments and opinions for someone who doesn't care, though...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 12:08pm

      Re:

      Off your meds?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      fairusefriendly (profile), 27 Apr 2012 @ 12:28pm

      Re:

      so your defending your free speech rights by attacking someone else's free speech rights

      you might want to look up the word ironic.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 2:05pm

    Is Dan making an impact on the music scene at large? No.
    Are people fans of his music or his message?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2012 @ 7:38pm

      Re:

      I find it funny that you're willing to give HADOPI time to work despite costing lots of taxpayer money to fight supposed decades of devastation by piracy, but you're not willing to give Dan Bull time to make any impact on the music scene.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      fairusefriendly (profile), 28 Apr 2012 @ 3:27am

      Re:

      are people fans of his music or his message

      weather a person buys his stuff because they like the content
      or they buy his stuff because they like his attitude

      they are buying his stuff.

      That the point.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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