The trials and tribulations of selling prog rock..

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From,

http://www.protosmusic.net/currentnewsblog.htm?blogentryid=978630

Hi there,

Not a day goes by when I'm not learning something new.  Yesterday it was Google's Adwords.  So many places recommend trying out Google's advertising tools that I braved the job of finding out.  Having navigated AdGroups, I then found that I could not do what I wanted to do unless I migrated from a 'Starter' to a 'Standard' account.

So now, I can not only have Ads appear on Google searches, but also on chosen sites.  And I can have 'campaigns' for each different 'product', or even several campaigns for the same product!  What fun?  We'll see.  If only I had a few thousand I would have a ball.  Trouble is that every penny counts at this stage, and I'm still only marginally more confident of being able to pay January's tax bill.  I've had to limit Google to just GBP 1.50 a day.  At current rates, that gives me about 1,000 clicks a month.  I'll keep you posted - if this stuff works we'll be recording the second album before you can say 'hang on a jiffy.....'  The only question that lingers is 'why can't I pay by PayPal?'  Then I remember that Google probably got rich because it didn't pay all those PayPal fees!
As for the CDs, they are beginning to find some interesting homes.  Chatting to people on a prog rock forum has opened doors I did not expect.  Samples are on their way to France and Germany to see whether we can do there what we are already doing in Japan.  By far the most interesting conversation, however, has been with Paul Stump on the trials and tribulations of prog (what is it, after all?) and also the cultural antagonism towards it that exists almost exclusively in the UK.
Do I care?  Well, yes, I do actually.  It's great to be selling in the US and Japan but I'd also like people in the UK to be choosing their own music rather than have it chosen for them by indifferent shop keepers who think people selling music to them must have some sort of underhand agenda!  When I rang around the UK shops last week it was a bit like pulling teeth.  For sure, I realise they must get sales calls from people all the time, but this is good news for them, surely?  Having taken the trouble to call and find exactly who I should send information to, I then sent two e-mails (7 days apart) followed by a letter with a sample CD and order form.  After 20 conversations, I was getting seriously depressed.  Only 3 of the first 20 shops could even remember who we were.  
"I got your name from your colleague," I say.
Laughter.
"Of course you did!" comes the answer, with a knowing sigh that he'll "get" his colleague once the phone conversation finishes for daring to give his name to a music company director!
"Are you actually a prog rock shop?"  I'm about to ask.
"Sorry, doesn't do it for me," comes the reply before I can get the question out.
"We're selling lots of CDs in other countries," I respond.
"Not much call for that round here," I'm afraid.
Something is not right here.  These are shops that were listed in a special 'prog rock' edition of Classic Rock.  Are these shops doing so well that they can afford to ignore new (significant) prog rock re-releases?  No, some are closing down bemoaning the drop in their CD sales.  Some do not have a web-site.  Some do not even have an e-mail address!  Besides, by joining www.progarchives.com I can see for myself that teenagers are seriously into this stuff.  Their problem is that they have to go on-line to find it because the shops are not stocking it.  
Today, someone aged 18 explained - to my amusement - that they typed "wierd music" into Google and got a list of prog rock sites.  They dabbled (okay "surfed"), then found they actually liked the music (this is Pink Floyd we are talking about - really 'wierd', eh?).  But the thing is that there are lots of young people searching for something better.  Something different.  Something musical.  They're finding it, of course, but not in their local shops.  They're finding it on-line, at iTunes, at CD Baby.....
"But Marquee Magazine have called us 'the best prog rock act since England in 1977'", I'm rehearsing in my head.
"Sorry, not much call for your music.  Not what our customers want," is the buyers' response before I can deliver my punch line.
"Have you listened to the CD?" comes out instead.
"Errrrrr".
Says it all, doesn't it?  Wake up, Britain!
Catch y'all soon
Rory the Ridley-Duff
(Forever Protos)
P.S.  Hi, Steve!  Hope you had a stimulating week....

Edited by protos - November 14 2006 at 15:40