Good morning, I hope you are well and rested. I was sitting down to write my normal Monday (Tuesday actually) blog but after reading some comments from last week I decided that, judging from the amount of comments regarding my iTunes explanation, I should spend this time responding to some of the replies posted directly on the FFH.net site. Thanks for being so interested in this, it means a lot to us that you cared enough to respond. For those of you who really don’t care, I don’t blame you and I’ll be back with some “life” stuff later. Responses follow…
ANGIE: You still can purchase our songs a track at a time and download them directly into your iTunes browser, no sweat. Thanks for the kind words too!
RUTHIE: I like turning physical pages too, and the smell of an old book in my hand. You as an author would empathize with us as artists who compile an ALBUM of songs out of a season of life experience. Just like you wouldn’t want someone to read just one chapter of a book that was deliberately compiled, we would hope that people would want to buy our whole album rather than just one song. Photo albums tell a larger story, one snapshot tells a smaller one. Song ALBUMS do the same. For now, though, we are still offering single tracks on our site and have no plans to stop doing it yet.
JPEG: If you knew us you’d know that we are not nearly cool enough for school. We’re just a married couple in a band on a journey with our kids and our fellow musicians. Furthermore, this won’t even be a blip on the iTunes radar, we know that. This is a matter of personal choice. ITunes may give us some exposure that we wouldn’t normally get but it will also keep those people at a distance. That’s not really the point though. Our issue is integrity of creativity. When I write a song and pour my life’s experience into it and then spend hours and money trying to communicate those thoughts to people I don’t want a company or a computer to tell me it’s value in the end. I’m sitting at a Starbucks typing this. Starbucks’ coffee is expensive, but it is good and it is reliable. Every Starbucks has the same vibe, and for the most part ,the employees are really pleasant. I would argue that if a mandate was given that every cup of coffee served in America was to become $1.00 places like this wouldn’t exist. Gas station coffee is cheap and works for me in a pinch, but I prefer Starbucks.
GRETCHEN: I know, I can’t figure out why my computer camera flips everything. Weird.
BEN: Give bandbox a chance. It easy, it’s cheap, and you will be sending money to the people who MAKE the music, not the ones who sell the music.
LISA: My sense of humor is pretty dry. I recorded that message on a drive home from writing and sent it to a few people to make sure it wasn’t offensive. They said go ahead but I still had reservations. No one who believes in Jesus is going to hell.
BRODY: Good point. When you are at a restaurant and you sample a great glass of wine or an amazing Carrot Cake you have to go somewhere else to buy it. With direct music sales someone can listen to our album and download it immediately. Granted a click or two to another site is easier that a drive to another location, but the premise applies, especially since it’s the one who actually MAKES the music getting the money.
KEN: People have been distribution music between one another since the days of mix tapes, then Napster, and it continues today. To think that iTunes has solved this problem is a bit nieve. Instead, they have allowed a music buyer to pick and chose the songs they want without having to listen to the whole collection of songs. I think this is convenient when it’s an old Fleetwood Mac song that I need for my collection. However, I still would much rather go to Fleetwood Mac’s site and buy the music from them and have the money go to them, the artist who wrote and birthed the music in the first place.
My family likes to shop local farmers markets. We like the closeness of knowing who grows the food and how they grow it. We enjoy knowing it travels from their farm in middle Tennessee in the back of their pickup to our market in Franklin. We pay a little more for the eggs but they are bigger and taste better and don’t come from a factory a thousand miles away. We pay what they ask for their eggs because we trust that they are worth the value and that we are supporting them and not a big company. Furthermore, we don’t buy one egg at a time. We buy a dozen, or a flat, because that’s how they come.
My biggest contention with your post is about your ability to avoid songs that you don’t like by buying tracks individually. This may be convenient for you but it is eroding the art of musicians. and I believe it will eventually be extremely crippling to even the most promising of new bands.
When we were kids we were fans (or listeners) of bands, or artists, not just their songs. When we heard a song on the radio that we loved we bought the record so that we could hear what else the artist had to offer. We didn’t get the choice to chose and we we’re better for it. We played the albums over and over and built a relationship with the music. When that band came to town we went to see the concert and knew all of the songs, not just the ones on the radio. I learned how to play music listening to and studying albums by Billy Joel, Elton John, Amy Grant, etc. If there was a song I never fell in love with I just hit fast-forward but I never felt cheated out of a dollar. Furthermore, you many not feel like you are building a relationship with us by purchasing directly from us but you absolutely are. You are giving your money to US, not to Apple. This is greatly appreciated.
Now, about the horses vs cars comment… I see your point. However, I would argue that cars do a good job of getting you from point A to point B, but a lot of interesting landscape is missed along the way. I’d also assert that the option of getting what we need from a Walmart twenty minutes away may be convenient for the consumer, it has been the demise of the local farmer who in trying to make a living has been out priced and overlooked in the process.
Technology is not something we can avoid apart from removing ourselves from society. But we still have to be responsible with the choices we make and to remember that EVERY SINGLE CHOICE has a direct effect on someone else, somewhere, at some time.
MIKE: I’m pretty sure we’ll see each other again before heaven.
COLEY: Your call, wish you’d reconsider.
JARROD: Thanks, we’ll see.
Nevermind! I retract my first comment; i found your bandbox!
I heard Undone on klove, so today I went to itunes, then amazon, and then i googled why you weren’t available. I watched your video on youtube, but then i couldn’t find your website. Finally i did, but i don’t want the whole album, and i couldn’t find a way to just get one song in your store. Thankfully, I read your blog, so i knew it was possible, but i couldn’t find it, but now, two hours later, i’m downloading it. gah.
…Time well spent? *facepalm*
I’m a little girl, and I really can’t afford a whole album right now, even though yours is very reasonably priced. I’d really just like to download Undone, but i can’t find a way to do it on your site.
I was really sad that you weren’t on itunes or Amazon.
THANK YOU!!! i have a nice mp3 player (1/2 the price of ipod w/same capabilities) that won’t play itunes format, but ipods will play mp3.
Trying to buy song “Coming Home” that I saw on JCTV but can’t find it anywhere. Where can I find this on your website.?
I grew up buying a lot of vinyl (then 8 track, then cassette, then CD, then online…boy, does that show how old I am or what!) for the reason you mentioned: you hear a song you like and you want to hear more from the artist. Did it always work out (e.g. Gary Neuman for example)? Of course not! But neither does every restaurant, movie, product, or any other suggestion you might hear or choice you might make based on a “sample” of input. Hence why we need to rid ourselves of sound bites…but that is a whole other conversation.
Point being is that I have used iTunes a lot and never thought about the whole album concept I grew up with, especially when you consider that most are a story or revelation of the artist as a whole. Additionally, that the money doesn’t make it to the artist is also an issue I had not bothered with.
Thank you for coming back as a band as I did not know of you before (just recently breaking another bond from long ago with bad secular music) but boy do I like Undone. I also praise Him that He spoke to you both to make your marriage stronger and reprioritize your life and service. Though often uncomfortable and difficult, I know for me those reprioritizations are always worth the process they take.
Hey Jeromy, I am just entering this discussion and have read/watched the last two blogs. I want to say that I totally agree with you and respect you for what you are doing. And I am saying that as a young musician, iTunes user and a recent college grad! I like your line of thinking that has pushed you away from using iTunes to get a more personal connection with your fans. I think there is a faulty paradigm in our culture that makes it hard for people to value a local farmers market or buying from local businesses because they can just go to walmart and get everything they need for much cheaper. It is a mindset that is short sighted and selfish. It is a mindset that values convenience over investment. … Anyway, I think what you guys are doing is awesome and I think it will pay off! I hope you start a trend that changes the music industry … you’re right, why is iTunes getting paid when musicians did all the work? God bless you guys, and thank you for taking the time to speak with our band when you were in Wisconsin last September!
ANDREW: Let’s put it this way… With bandbox we GET paid, with iTunes we don’t. Artists who are getting tens of thousands of downloads are probably making some money, but, bear in mind they have labels that take most of that money. Itunes also takes at least half off the top, if not more in some cases. We’re not really trying to fight the machine, just find a way around it. Thanks for your support and for continuing to seek us out, means a lot.
These blogs are pretty cool. I can see you smiling Jeromy as you read some of these:) The one thing I see, or the one thing I am not reading from anyone is the fact that the “Wordly Machine” is not in charge of any of this! Our King Jesus Christ is. When his Father God delivers favor, then all this marketing stuff truthfully just falls short. FFH has been given the green light to shine the Glory of God for over a decade. Honestly them being gone for a while is really working to their advantage IME, and IMO. Jeromy and Jennifer and the band are not too worried about getting their names out there. I am pretty sure of that. But they are interested in getting Christ our King to the front, and that is where he belongs. Now that is an A+ for this effort! Bringing back the single purpose for being a part of this great capitalistic country. “One Nation Under God” Not the other way around! God bless you guys, and Gals. The King based on promise is very happy! Be well and Know:)Your long winded friend from CA…..
I’m right behind you about buying the entire album. There are songs I never would have known about from some of my favorite artists if I only bought the songs I heard on the radio, in a store, TV, Movie, etc.. Now those “extra” songs are some of my favorites…even more so than the main promoted track sometimes.
How much do you make from BandBox compared to how much you would make off of iTunes.
And do you know that you would have the ability to make like half of the songs on your iTunes album be available only by choosing to download the entire album? Just a few thoughts.
I don’t buy incomplete albums anyways, I can’t stand it as a listener, I would miss far too many underrated songs that could easily have a greater impact on me than just the popular hits.
I can’t blame you for making the decision, but I can’t even tell you how devastating it will be to getting your name out there. You should at least release Undone as a single so that KLove listeners can download it like crazy and it can make the top 10 a few times, your name starts popping up to other Christian Rock listeners, they hop on google and find your entire new album.
And as a side note, a number of people really just won’t pay more than $0.99 for a single song, especially if they’re just going off the preview. It’s just the way a number of people are these days. This means they may either just avoid your CD entirely, or worse, turn to downloading it illegally which only hurts you more.
More power to you, great to see someone fighting the machine, I won’t ever complain on a personal basis, but I would hate to see your group suffer because of it.
Hey there. I got on this morning to check for updates on the iTunes comments. I am so excited to know I can buy one track at a time. Didn’t know that but yesterday I created an account on your online store anyhow. Confession: I was excited that you responded to my post. Sometimes I feel invisible but that is another subject. Anyway, thanks for the info. I am gonna go shopping for Undone and Coming Home. I love those lyrics. They really hit home with me!!!!
Hi Jeromy,
I think you are right…..Until then be well. My wind is coming so I will just revert and let him do the talking: John 15:12-15
Love you all:)
Mike
Jenna G: We’ve come a long way since Big Fish but we still play it at concerts every now and then. Thanks for sticking with us!
Lynda: I’ll ask about getting something to you for your iPhone.
I am not the most technical of users and I have never had an enjoyable experience with Itunes so I am looking for suggestions of the easiest way to get this album onto my iphone.
I dont and prefer not to have itunes loaded to any of my pc’s. I normally hit itunes straight from my iphone and download what I want straight to the phone.
and… thanks for whatever persistant effort it took to get this album finally out!!!! Yay!!!!!!
“When we were kids we were fans (or listeners) of bands, or artists, not just their songs. When we heard a song on the radio that we loved we bought the record so that we could hear what else the artist had to offer. We didn’t get the choice to chose and we we’re better for it. We played the albums over and over and built a relationship with the music. When that band came to town we went to see the concert and knew all of the songs, not just the ones on the radio.”
YES! I heard “Big Fish” on the radio and loved it! First chance that I got, I went to the store to purchase the album. Ever since then, I purchase an album just because it is FFH. I have not checked this website in quite a while–otherwise, I would have purchased the album May 10! I had no idea that a new one was out. I guess that is just one more thing that I will **have** to add to my budget for the month
On a side note, Christian bands are fabulous! The concerts always have a great vibe. I love the way that the artists always stick around after the concert to meet-n-greet with the fans. When it comes to secular concerts, the artists generally bust out of there ASAP. I have great FFH memories
Be blessed!