We probably shouldn't generalise from our own habits to decide what would do well in a shop, since we are obviously the people who are comfortable with discovering and buying music on the internet. But I wonder how many people would buy a CD of someone they'd never even heard of. I've done it once or twice (even though I rarely go to CD stores), when the CDs were cheap and had amusing song titles, but it's a very small percentage of the music I own (there I go, doing what I said not to do in my first sentence.) I think what I'm saying is the most important thing would be to get his music played a lot on popular radio stations, so that people will know what they're looking at when they see his CD in a shop, or what to ask the people at the shop for. Because I assume that the people who only buy music from record stores are the same people who discover music by listening to the radio.
If brick-and-mortar led to more sales, I think I see it happening two ways:
1) People who've heard and like Jonathan Coulton but never considered buying or never knew you could buy downloads, or maybe just don't like paying for downloads but will pay for a physical product. They exist! 2) People who shop at indie record stores, many of which will let you listen to things before you buy. I've picked up a lot of stuff on impulse because of cool album art or song titles or a recommendation and I wouldn't have risked dropping the money on it on its own, but it was enough to get me to bring it to the counter, give it a listen and buy a copy.
I would add to 1) 'and don't want to pay the postage for the physical product' since they do already exist.
I suppose one way to sell CDs in stores to people who may or may not have heard of Jonathan Coulton or may have only seen his name briefly, without also increasing radio play, would be to have a brightly-coloured sticker on the CD saying,'Includes "Still Alive" from Portal'
Of course, the other factor is that a record deal, and CDs in brick-and-mortar stores, can increase radio play and other publicity. Sure, that's what a PR firm is for, but it's easier to sell "this guy whose CD is in shops on February 10th" than it is to sell "this guy whose music is available for download on the internet" to a radio station (at least at the moment).
JoCo is the only artist whose music I've bought online. For the most part, I buy brick-and-mortar CDs... which I then rip, but I like to have archival copies, and I like to avoid DRM if I can, though that's not always possible even with CDs.
Yesterday's TWiT (http://www.twit.tv/twit) made quite a few mentions of Saturday night's SF concert and ended with the playing of "Mandelbrot Set". Much of the TWiT gang and a lot of other net celebrities were at the show. One of the hosts quoted part of Mandelbrot by heart.
Here's a heads up: JoCo is on the Rick Emerson show Wednesday. Emerson is a local radio geek icon in Portland. And yes, Local Radio Geek Icon is the name of my emo band.
"On Wednesday's show, we'll be joined by Geek songsmith Jonathan Coulton, who will be performing on Saturday the 24th at The Aladdin Theater. He's truly an inspiration and a bona fide grassroots phenomenon, so don't miss it."
ETA: Emerson's show is 4 hours, from 11-3 am, Pacific. God only knows what time JoCo will be on.
Also, here's JoCo's appearance with Emerson from last April. Good interview, and he played a couple of songs, so hopefully he'll do a couple more tomorrow.
the big deal for coulton with a label, i think, would be finagling airplay on the radio. it may not be economical for coulton to go out and buy airtime on dozens of different radio stations, but most labels are already doing that and could just stick him in their lists of requested songs.
of course, then you're stuck with the question of which format you could play him on - adult contemporary? pop hits of the last 30 years? c&w? your best bet is contemporary rock or pop stations and even there the transition would be a bit jarring. but maybe that's a good thing - snap folks out of their highway hypnosis and get them to actually notice.
which is all well and good, but if you're talking exposure, i'm not sure how much good that will do for promotion when compared to the stations people are listening to during their commutes or on their work day.
Funny story, I clicked to this thread roughly 10 minutes ago, just part of my normal checking... and saw that yesterday's post was made 23 hours ago, so thought it'd be about time.
Unfunny story, I clicked on this thread soon after Jmonkee posted, opened the web page, got distracted by other things for a while and just remembered to start listening. I'm too late, aren't I?
Ooh, a caller just mentioned Re: Your Brains and then the host mentioned the video.
Hardly JoCo in the Media, but I wanted to mention this somewhere. I was quoted in an article about a gathering to watch the inauguration. The article appeared the evening of the inauguration, but I just *now* realized that what I said was almost a direct quote from Jonathan's updated President's song. I told the reporter (full disclosure, a friend and neighbor of mine) that "I'm really glad Bush's reign of terror is over."
If you missed the interview on the Rick Emerson show yesterday, it's available now on his archive page.
The one you want to listen to is:
1/23/09 The Rick Emerson Show Recap Recap of Thursday 1/22/09
For some reason the interview was cut out of the archive from yesterday's show.... but it's included in the recap. I don't have the exact time JoCo starts, but it's towards the end. Not a real long interview, but they packed quite a bit of entertainment in there so it's worth the listen.
The YouTube info for Rob's link indicates that it was from the Nyack, NY, concert -- Coulton-only, sans Paul, Storm, and Hodgman. (MitchO and three08, among others, were in attendance, IIRC.)
I think robgonzo was thinking of this version, which is from a Hodgman reading in Seattle. It's a good one, with Hodgman causing trouble, and some bonus cussin' at the end.
And we don't want to forget take two from the SF show last weekend, which is awesome....
Both take one and take two are on youtube, too. Watch JoCo go down in flames, then rise heroically from the ashes like a bearded, bespectacled phoenix...!
Jmonkee, helpful or obsessive, you be the judge....
Hey, look what I found from the blog comments. Hodgman and Coulton on Google Talks. (Given 11/11/08, posted 1/29/09.) I haven't finished watching yet, but it looks like their book tour shtick.
Here's an article by JoCo, putting the "contributing" back in "contributing troubadour."
Among other things, we've got confirmation from the man that the DVD/live CD will be called "Best. Concert. Ever", and will be out on February 10 for $20.
Yeah that version of Always the Moon was so good I just had to cut it out and put it on my iPod. If you'd like to put it on yours, you can get it from my mediafire site right here. (this is just the song, not the whole interview).
Thanks Jmonkee, I haven't had a chance to listen to the interview yet but I've listened to the song, and I'm sure I would have wanted to cut it out too, so you saved me the trouble.
It's really interesting to hear the parts where there are usually several voices and it's just lonely little JoCo singing it all by himself (instead of all by himselves as in the original recording.) I like it.
Thanks for the excerpt, Jmonkee! I've seen JoCo play the uke before (he was picking out "Always the Moon" on Hodgman's uke during the book-signing at the MORE book-tour stop in Brookline last October).
Came across this nod to JoCo's "Baby Got Back," along with a few other white-boy rap covers. Am I the last person on earth to hear The Gourds's cover of "Gin and Juice?" That shit's awesome! (I like the little homage to "Walk on the Wild Side.") Also, their tag line is "Unwashed, Well-Read," which is fantastic.
Last week's Sound Opinions on American Public Media (available on iTunes) had a segment on unconventional love songs. This week, at the end of the show, a listener (Alex something from Seattle) called in to mention Skullcrusher Mountain, and they played about 40 seconds from the song.
I have to hand it to the interviewer; he asked interesting questions and got JoCo saying some things I'd never heard him say before. If you've ever wondered what the Super Bowl Halftime Show would look like with Jonathan Coulton in charge, you'll want to read this interview.
Comments
1) People who've heard and like Jonathan Coulton but never considered buying or never knew you could buy downloads, or maybe just don't like paying for downloads but will pay for a physical product. They exist!
2) People who shop at indie record stores, many of which will let you listen to things before you buy. I've picked up a lot of stuff on impulse because of cool album art or song titles or a recommendation and I wouldn't have risked dropping the money on it on its own, but it was enough to get me to bring it to the counter, give it a listen and buy a copy.
I suppose one way to sell CDs in stores to people who may or may not have heard of Jonathan Coulton or may have only seen his name briefly, without also increasing radio play, would be to have a brightly-coloured sticker on the CD saying,'Includes "Still Alive" from Portal'
"On Wednesday's show, we'll be joined by Geek songsmith Jonathan Coulton, who will be performing on Saturday the 24th at The Aladdin Theater. He's truly an inspiration and a bona fide grassroots phenomenon, so don't miss it."
You can stream live or get the archive here.
ETA: Emerson's show is 4 hours, from 11-3 am, Pacific. God only knows what time JoCo will be on.
Also, here's JoCo's appearance with Emerson from last April. Good interview, and he played a couple of songs, so hopefully he'll do a couple more tomorrow.
of course, then you're stuck with the question of which format you could play him on - adult contemporary? pop hits of the last 30 years? c&w? your best bet is contemporary rock or pop stations and even there the transition would be a bit jarring. but maybe that's a good thing - snap folks out of their highway hypnosis and get them to actually notice.
So will it really do him any good?
ETA: Never mind... confusion over the time, so they're doing it tomorrow.
ETA: Never mind, I was ninjeta'd.
And it is!
ETA: Spiff gets a mention on AM radio!
Ooh, a caller just mentioned Re: Your Brains and then the host mentioned the video.
I've had the forum open for an hour but hadn;t checked it as I was doing stuff !!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGO7TpZDX-g
The one you want to listen to is:
1/23/09 The Rick Emerson Show Recap
Recap of Thursday 1/22/09
For some reason the interview was cut out of the archive from yesterday's show.... but it's included in the recap. I don't have the exact time JoCo starts, but it's towards the end. Not a real long interview, but they packed quite a bit of entertainment in there so it's worth the listen.
And we don't want to forget take two from the SF show last weekend, which is awesome....
Both take one and take two are on youtube, too. Watch JoCo go down in flames, then rise heroically from the ashes like a bearded, bespectacled phoenix...!
Jmonkee, helpful or obsessive, you be the judge....
Among other things, we've got confirmation from the man that the DVD/live CD will be called "Best. Concert. Ever", and will be out on February 10 for $20.
Not so cool: DVD date now March 1, not February 10.....
Listening right now. Haven't gotten to the uke yet, but this is one of the best interviews I've heard with him.
Correction: Just now getting to the ukulele part.
ETA: But wow is he good! :-)
It's really interesting to hear the parts where there are usually several voices and it's just lonely little JoCo singing it all by himself (instead of all by himselves as in the original recording.) I like it.
P.S. These covers are so NSFW.
I have to hand it to the interviewer; he asked interesting questions and got JoCo saying some things I'd never heard him say before. If you've ever wondered what the Super Bowl Halftime Show would look like with Jonathan Coulton in charge, you'll want to read this interview.
Discussing favorite childhood TV shows, Big Rock Candy Mountain, and other stuff.
"of Jonathans song Stay Alive from the game Portal. "
;' ))