If you're an artiste and/ or composer who is looking to increase your revenue, one of the most important things you have to do is to expand your catalogue quickly so that your fans can buy more of your music. Sounds simple enough? Sure, but some musicians find this even a challenge because they have to juggle so many other jobs in between writing, like marketing, teaching, performing etc.
We hear from Cosmic Ben, one half of a synthpop band, Cosmic Armchair, on the challenges and opportunities he faces as a musician.
Q: Being a synthpop act based in Singapore, how does it make it
any easier or harder to sell or market your music?
The most popular music genres in this
region are the non-English pop ones, so we are definitely a minority interest
in Singapore. So we've been happy that there is a small but growing group of
friends and fans in Singapore that continues to enjoy our music and support our
gigs.
From another point of view, we are
pretty unique because there aren't many synthpop duos in this region. That also
helps us stand out in the international synthpop and electronic pop scene,
which is where our larger audience is.
Q: What are your distribution points, online and offline? Which
of them bring the most revenue to you? Any other income sources?
Most of our
digital sales have come through iTunes US and UK and Bandcamp http://cosmicarmchair.bandcamp.com/,
with a small percentage through Amazon MP3. We have a very small revenue from
streaming on Spotify.
Our
physical CD is available in Singapore only at The Esplanade Store, and sales
were highest when we performed at The Esplanade Concourse for BayBeats. We hope
this will happen again when we perform at the same place on 29 and 31 August.
We also
sell our physical CD through our website www.cosmicarmchair.com, and even shipped
one to a fan in Russia!
Our other
source of revenue is performance fees. At this point in time, we're still in
the start up phase so the proportions of each revenue stream are still
evolving, and we're still open to other opportunities such as providing songs
for TV, film or advertisements. Currently, our largest customers are venue
operators, so performance fees make up the bulk of our income. In fact, the
ratio of performance fees to CD and digital sales is about 10:1. So what we
strive to do is to reach the tipping point where consumers become our bigger
customer base, and that’s when CD and digital sales will make up a higher
percentage of income, and we would also be able to sell other products like
merchandise as an additional revenue stream.
Q: You are a tutor (at the NUS Electronic Music Lab), a band and
you even have your own label (Stratos Entertainment). Share with us what are
some of challenges and synergies of holding several hats in the music industry.
Working
with the Electronic Music Lab has always been a passion for us and we actually
first met at the Lab. That social element is a big synergy because we meet new
and talented electronic musicians every year. Over the years,
we've collaborated with various musicians, producers and engineers that we met
through the Lab.
On the
other hand, teaching at the Lab is also a challenge because it takes time which
could be spent working on Cosmic Armchair songs, so it's a balancing act.
Q: What are some of the future developmental plans you have for
Stratos and for Cosmic Armchair? Do you plan to increase the stable of artists
under your arm?
We want
Cosmic Armchair to reach as wide an audience as possible not just in Singapore
but around the world. Currently, our presence in Youtube is still rather weak; ideally we should be putting out one video per month. Besides our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube outreach, we
aim to play at international music festivals, and we're open to foreign gigs
like the one we played in Nospace Gallery, Bangkok.
Stratos
Entertainment's main artist will continue to be Cosmic Armchair, and we'll grow
organically if we find other artists that we can work with.
Q: What do you think of the future of the music industry in
Singapore and in Asia? How do you think artists like yourselves should look to
increasing your revenue and making their music careers sustainable?
The music
industry in Singapore is not confined to Singapore. Our home is here, our
friends and family are here, but we can also reach the much larger
international audience.
Just these
few years we've seen an increase in the number of US and Canadian independent
bands touring Asia. Even though they're relatively obscure, they can fill
1,000-seat venues in Singapore because their music has reached fans here
through YouTube and other channels. In the same way, we Asian artists should be
able to find our pockets of 1,000 fans in cities all over the world, if we take
our business seriously and promote it actively.
But all the
social media in the world only works if the music is good. There is no magic
bullet to success. If we want our songs to reach wider audiences, increase
revenue, and support sustainable careers, the most important thing we need to
do is to keep on writing, recording and performing good music. Right now, one
of our biggest challenge is to have more material churned out more quickly,
because the more material we have, the more income we can make because there
will be more products for our fans to buy.
About Cosmic Armchair
Cosmic
Armchair is a synthpop / electronic pop duo based in Singapore. Cosmic Jane
(singer / songwriter) and Cosmic Ben (producer / arranger) have been compared
by fans and critics alike to Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode and Chicane. Their CD
"A Second Look" is available at The Esplanade Store and their songs
are available for download on iTunes, Amazon MP3, BandCamp and more. For more
details, photos, video and music, visit www.cosmicarmchair.com
Their next
live performance will be held on 31 August 2012, 715pm at The Esplanade
Concourse.
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