Prog News, Press Releases - Spocks' Beard release new album independently

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Spocks' Beard release new album independently

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Topic: Spocks' Beard release new album independently

Posted By: E-Dub
Subject: Spocks' Beard release new album independently
Date Posted: July 23 2009 at 20:23

July 23, 2009

SBX - NEW SPOCK'S BEARD CD PRE-ORDER

Yes, that's right a new CD! Most of the material has already been written and we're ready to go to the next phase of tightening up arrangements, making changes where needed and starting production.

We've decided to go commando on this one... lean, mean and without record label support.

We have been free agents since the release of our last CD and after lots of deliberation have decided to release our next CD independently rather than re-sign with InsideOut or shop other labels.

https://ex1.hosted.etech.us/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://spocksbeard.com/buystuff.html"> Spocks Beard

There have been a lot of great suggestions relating to this topic by the members of our forum, and the one that made a lot of sense to us was to take pre-orders for our not-yet-recorded CD similar to the approach that Marillion has taken in the past.

We will organize a retail store distribution deal at some point in the future, but the initial release will be an independent limited edition offering of only 5,000 CDs.

This pressing will be a one-time only release, with at least one bonus track that will not exist on any subsequent pressing. By pre-ordering, you will receive our next CD one full month before it exists in any other form or is (legally) available in any other way. In other words, it won't be in stores, it won't be on iTunes, it won't be available on Amazon or anywhere else on Earth except directly from us for at least one month after the release date, and the special version that you pre-order will never be reprinted again after those first 5,000 units are gone.

We will also not be sending pre-release copies to the media for CD reviews because frankly we're tired of seeing our new CD available as a "free" bittorent download weeks before release date. Not sending out pre-release copies will stop this leak and guarantee that the people who pre-order our CD will be the very first people to hear it besides the people directly involved in the recording and production process.

Release date depends on how quickly the CD is "financed" by pre-orders, but our initial goal is to have the CD finished and the pre-orders filled by the end of this year or early 2010.

During the pre-production and recording process, we'll keep you up-to-date with the progress here as well as with a video blog on https://ex1.hosted.etech.us/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.youtube.com/Spocksbeard - YouTube (subscribe there if you haven't already).

So... to be the first one on your block to have the next Spock's Beard CD, https://ex1.hosted.etech.us/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://spocksbeard.com/buystuff.html - click here to pre-order !

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Replies:

Posted By: Roland113
Date Posted: July 23 2009 at 21:17

E-Dub,

Thanks for the post and good news, I'm glad there's something new in the works. Unfortunately, the link doesn't work, when I tried, it simply asked me for a user name and password.

If you go to the http://www.spocksbeard.com/ - Spock's Beard web site and use the 'click here' link, it does work there.

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-------someone please tell him to delete this line, he looks like a noob-------

I don't have an unnatural obsession with Disney Princesses, I have a fourteen year old daughter and coping mechanisms.

Posted By: LiquidEternity
Date Posted: July 23 2009 at 22:03

I ordered one! I was pretty bummed by Feel Euphoria (ha!) and Octane, but their self titled is great! I am completely willing to give them another chance here. Plus, now really is the time to start supporting good bands, what with finances being nasty for many...

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Posted By: E-Dub
Date Posted: July 23 2009 at 22:04

http://spocksbeard.com/buystuff.html - http://spocksbeard.com/buystuff.html

The above link should take you to where you need to go to pre-order. I just pre-ordered mine. Embarrassed

E

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Posted By: OzzProg
Date Posted: July 23 2009 at 22:54

I was hoping that they would have got Neal Morse back... since he's doing the whole Transatlantic thing, i figured he might rejoin the BEARD. Oh Zwell.

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http://soundcloud.com/Ozzprog" rel="nofollow - Soundcloud

Posted By: LiquidEternity
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 09:08

Neither artist is quite as good when Neal and the Beard are separate, I agree. But with SB9, the boys proved that they can write some really great music without him. Although, with Lifeline, Neal proved he probably needs to have a consistent band to help regulate the quality of his music...

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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 09:11

Why'd you change the name of the thread, Eric?

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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 09:18

SBX - The "Ultra Package"

Includes:

	SBX Autographed LTD. Edition CD
	SBX Tee Shirt
	Special SBX Mystery Grab Bag Swag Package (items TBA)
	Your name listed in the CD liner notes as an "Executive Producer"
	And finally, your name written into the lyrics of a new Spock's Beard song. This track will include a vocal section where your name (or somone you choose) will be sung by the band. This will be a full band, fully-produced song that requires a long list of names be sung as part of the lyric.

This last part is funny. I don't know if anyone else saw it, but on emusic The BareNaked Ladies recorded an eMusic exclusive song called Mike Brennan, which was named after the guy who downloaded the 1 millionth song from emusic (I think it was 1 million). It was actually a fairly good song done in BNL's humorous style.

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Posted By: OzzProg
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 12:16

And finally, your name written into the lyrics of a new Spock's Beard song. This track will include a vocal section where your name (or somone you choose) will be sung by the band. This will be a full band, fully-produced song that requires a long list of names be sung as part of the lyric.

That is terrible, SB has turned their band into a marketing scheme... although it would be cool to hear YOUR name in a song, but not so much the other people's. I can already see people signing up for the Ultra Package, and adding names like http://everything2.com/title/Longest%2520names - THIS

P.S. how much would this Uber Ultra package be?

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Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 12:23

Yes! The gods of modern symphonic prog strike again!

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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 12:27

OzzProg wrote:

It was $199. It might be a cool concept if each CD was personalized so that your name were inserted into the spot but I don't think that I am all that interested in hearing them sing the names of everyone who does the Ultra package. Of course at $199, I don't suspect that they will get too many hits, accept from the most diehard fans.

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Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 12:34

rushfan4 wrote:

OzzProg wrote:

They might get a hit from me...

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Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime

Posted By: E-Dub
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 12:49

stonebeard wrote:

Why'd you change the name of the thread, Eric?

I didn't. When I first logged on to check the respondents, I saw this and thought it was a duplicate thread started by somebody else. Apparently, "Spock's Beard does things Marillion's way" put somebody in a twist and it was changed. Would like an explanation, but not a huge deal. Just didn't see anything...you know...controversial.

Did anyone else?

E

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Posted By: akin
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 13:08

Nice initiative. Hope it works well, so the band can keep their work without worrying about market changes and record company demands.

BTW, I´ve already ordered mine.

Posted By: OzzProg
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 15:11

^
The Ultra edition?

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http://soundcloud.com/Ozzprog" rel="nofollow - Soundcloud

Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 15:15

I am a cheapskate. I don't want to pay $19.95 for a CD plus shipping and handling, when I can generally get it for less at a local brick and mortar store or from buying it on Amazon. You would think that if Amazon can sell the CD for $14.99, that the band would be able to do so as well, and make a bigger profit by cutting out the middle man. Instead, they end up charging more than if they had used the middle man. The economics sounds kind of screwy to me.

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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 15:25

E-Dub wrote:

stonebeard wrote:

Why'd you change the name of the thread, Eric?

And we thought ghost edits were mere legends round these parts. Wink

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http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want!

Posted By: akin
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 15:50

OzzProg wrote:

^
The Ultra edition?

No, ordering the ultra edition in my country would be the same as paying US$650 in US for it. As though as I´m a fan of Spock´s Beard, I would never pay such amount.

Posted By: Roland113
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 20:12

rushfan4 wrote:

I am a cheapskate. I don't want to pay $19.95 for a CD plus shipping and handling, when I can generally get it for less at a local brick and mortar store or from buying it on Amazon. You would think that if Amazon can sell the CD for $14.99, that the band would be able to do so as well, and make a bigger profit by cutting out the middle man. Instead, they end up charging more than if they had used the middle man. The economics sounds kind of screwy to me.

I can't speak for the band in this situation, but I'd guess that it was somewhat financially driven. Let's face it, the world economy is in shambles, SPV just went bankrupt so they feel that have to do it themselves. It's a calculated risk that the same people that would pay fifteen dollars up front would pay twenty dollars up front as well. The sooner they get enough money to press the first release the sooner it can be released and the sooner they can earn some of the money that they're fronting back. I'll pay the extra five dollars.

Being a musician isn't as glamorous as it once was. Last year, I believe Ryo broke his jaw and wasn't able to gig for a few months. He had to resort to donations to survuve until he could play again. I understand your point Rushfan, but I think I understand theirs as well.

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-------someone please tell him to delete this line, he looks like a noob-------

I don't have an unnatural obsession with Disney Princesses, I have a fourteen year old daughter and coping mechanisms.

Posted By: E-Dub
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 21:06

I ordered mine (just the standard edition). A buddy of mine is a little torqued at how they're doing it, but it's a different world nowadays. A niche genre like prog needs to explore other options.

E

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Posted By: natewait
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 23:20

I've preordered the autographed edition. I hope it helps the band! This is my favorite band and I can't wait to hear what their next album sounds like.

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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: July 24 2009 at 23:56

Obviously, I don't know any of the details, but Nick D. released his Lamb Lies Down remake through Prog Rock Records, so he has dealings with a label other that InsideOut/SPV, and I would think that a relationship with Spock's Beard and Prog Rock Records would be viable. Maybe they already discussed something and couldn't work out a deal. Beats me. I definitely understand that the music industry is awfully difficult these days. I wish the Beard all of the best with this new album. I will probably wait the month or so to see if it gets a proper release on Amazon or shows up in the brick and mortar stores. I guess that I would prefer that they went the Radiohead or Marillion route where they allow you to download the CD and pay what you want, or buy it on Amazon at the normal price (which is what I did with Radiohead and Marillion). I realize that I am only talking about 4 or 5 dollars but I spend so much on CDs already in a year, and I try to get the best deals that I can when I can.

On the other hand if they were to show their heads here in the Detroit area I would be sure to show up with my hard earned dollars to pay to see them play. One of these days I will hopefully make a festival run and see them play at a prog festival, but I'd prefer it if they came to see me.

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Posted By: Failcore
Date Posted: July 25 2009 at 02:38

rushfan4 wrote:

SBX - The "Ultra Package"

Includes:

	SBX Autographed LTD. Edition CD
	SBX Tee Shirt
	Special SBX Mystery Grab Bag Swag Package (items TBA)
	Your name listed in the CD liner notes as an "Executive Producer"
	And finally, your name written into the lyrics of a new Spock's Beard song. This track will include a vocal section where your name (or somone you choose) will be sung by the band. This will be a full band, fully-produced song that requires a long list of names be sung as part of the lyric.

That last point there is about the stupidest sh*t I've ever heard of. Which is sad, because Spock's Beard used to be a good band. I've never seen selling out done quite so literally.

Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: July 25 2009 at 03:51

It's an interesting approach. However, I'm sure that on the very day of the release the album will be available as a "free torrent" anyway ...

I think that with a band as popular as SB another approach would be better: Make the album available for free and then ask people to donate. I'd be willing to bet that with the proper promotion they would get at least 5000 people to donate - maybe more.

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Posted By: Xanadu3737
Date Posted: July 26 2009 at 16:38

I'm in the same boat. I want this, and like the general idea, but $20 + shipping for a CD is highway robbery, especially considering that there are no middle men in the equation. I will buy the album one way or another eventually, but I'm not sure if I'll do this special pre-order or not.

Also, I think they are missing out on something Marillion does by not putting the names of the financiers in the booklet, I think that would help move quite a few copies.

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