Part of my problem was one specific website: epitonic.com. It looked a bit different back then - a lot less web 2.0 (god, how I hate that term) than it does today. On days when I wasn't working, and a lot of days when I ought to have been, I'd go to Epitonic, pick a band I liked and then just spend the day clicking on links they suggested to similar bands and downloading whatever mp3s were offered for free, to burn them to CD and listen to them at my leisure. It was a great way to find new music and all legal and above board, which was nice.
It's highly unlikely that I would have purchased albums by the Fairways, or For Stars, or Lenola had I not been introduced to them via Epitonic, which goes to show that giving stuff away for free can actually be a good business decision. 50 Foot Wave were another, but they're not on Epitonic any more.
50 Foot Wave are a kick-ass rocking power trio fronted by Kristin Hersh, more famously of Throwing Muses. You don't need me to describe them though - here's their single Clara Bow from their eponymous debut mini-album:
You also don't need me to describe them, since everything they've ever recorded is available here - http://50footwave.cashmusic.org/ (click on the More Free Music link and you can download the lot - 50-odd tracks - in a handy zip file) - under a non-commercial Creative Commons license for you to do with as you see fit. Download, listen, and if you enjoy, make a donation.
I have a new hard drive at work which has a headphones socket so I'm knocking myself out with Last.fm and sneaking peeks at your blog - this track has GREAT BOTTOM END!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed the bottom end of my video link. I almost forgot to actually put some 50 Foot Wave in this. I was gearing up for a lengthy rant about the state of the music recording industry, general copyright issues and how awesomely great CASH Music is. But I couldn't raise the bile - it was too sunny.
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