SNOCAP & The Duo

[torph]

hi everyone,

a few months ago i started working for a company called SNOCAP. many of y'all are probably aware of us via our partnership with myspace.

I'm just curious if any of you guys have used the service, and if so, what your experience has been like.

One of the 1st artists I'm working directly with is The Duo. We are selling their 11.19.05 8X10 Club show, which is a really awesome recording. This is the first of several exclusive live releases SNOCAP will making available for download through their myspace page this summer...

http://www.myspace.com/beneventorussoduocom

[harrymcq]

Hadn't heard of the service before and I like the idea but looking at the Duo's page one thing that struck me is that it doesn't clearly say what you are buying. I am assuming it is .mp3 but it doesn't say what bitrate or anything. I am a lossless snob for sure so part of me cringes to spend 99 cents a track for a lossy recording but I know we live in a mp3 world right now. I am however happy that EMI and Apple have been selling higher bitrate songs (for a premium.) I only hope the industry goes more quickly in that direction.

[Phrazz]

Hey Torph,

Congratulations on your gig with SNOCAP -- hopefully they'll take off.

As to having used the service, now it's no, but I will consider buying some shows. I will recount my experience when I try it.

As for online buying, the .99/song idea is really not going to last long. People will still buy CDs, especially if they're under $10. That $10 for 10+ songs is very attractive when you can rip to MP3, SHN, Ogg or your favorite CODEC. Having 192 K MP3s is OK, but some of us rip at 256K or higher since MP3 is not the best sound quality. I'd pay maybe .50 for an MP3, .75 for SHN and 1.00 per song if I have the original on CD (much harder to lose ;-}). I'd also pay $10 at a show, knowing that more of the proceeds go to the band (versus lawyers, execs, etc), and I really don't typically pay more than $12 for any CD. I can wait. I have a lot of CDs already and can't really listen to them all.

As Harry mentioned, the industry is moving in the direction of higher bitrates and overall quality, but there's still a need for the durability of CDs. Hard drives crash and iPods get lost too easily. The other thing is that CDs are a physical medium and people like to touch things. So, the prices really should fit the media.

This has less to do with SNOCAP specifically, but I will sign up and buy a couple shows when I get my new network connection and spec out the speed and convenience factors versus other services. There should always be a SHN/FLAC available, especially for any cripsy SBD or matrix mixes where the quality will shine through. And we should definitely know what we're buying, or we simply won't buy. Truth in advertising goes double for online purchases, because the Internet-savvy tend to err on the side of paranoia when it comes to doubting online vendors.

Good luck with your new "gig" and please let me know the next time White Thighs have an east coast appearance! Thanks for the Camp Harry photos, too. Looks like a stupendous time was had by all, and I will start planning my trip out there next year.

-Rock on,

Phrazz

[torph]

Hey guys, thanks so much for the insight & feedback. harry- your point about not knowing the details of the product up-front is a really good one. keep 'em coming.

I think what makes SNOCAP unique is that ANYONE can join, create a MyStore and sell their tracks through the SNOCAP Digital Registry. It's an easy solution for people looking to cut through all the red-tape of digi-distribution without the support of a label or aggregator. We manage your sales, deposit your earnings directly into your account, and make it easy for you to have full control over what you distribute. And we are DRM-free.

Here's duo's myspace bulletin about the 8X10 club show:

Duo and Snocap Team to Release Live Shows!

We are proud to be offering shows in mp3 format through SNOCAP on our myspace page. We are working closely with the SNOCAP folks to offer full live downloads of a variety of performances, past, present and future and we've decided to start things off with an oft-requested uncirculated performance by the Benevento/Russo Duo at the 8x10 Club in Baltimore on November 19th, 2005.

Y'all have been writing in and requesting for this show for sometime, and while we prep a site that will also offer FLAC files (for the audiophiles out there) we didn't want to delay in the release of some great music. You have the choice of purchasing individual tracks from our Myspace store for $.99 or purchasing the entire show at the discounted cost of $11.98. The mp3 tracks are encoded at 192kbps and this is a soundboard recording.

Head on over to myspace.com/beneventorussoduocom now and start downloading this classic Duo performance that closed out a three-month tour in support of "Best Reason to Buy the Sun" and captured Marco and Joe lighting Baltimore up.

The setlist includes:
1. Best Reason to Buy the Sun
2. Play Pause Stop
3. Sunny's Song
4. Memphis
5. 9x9
6. Welcome Red
7. Becky
8. Soba
9. Scratchitti
10. Bronko's Blues
11. Mephisto
12. Waltz #1
13. Hate Frame
14. Paranoid Android
15. The Three Question Marks
16. My Pet Goat
17. Big Whopper

Enjoy

[torph]

FYI, Nathan's new record is now available through SNOCAP:

http://www.myspace.com/percyboyd

[bear]

I sell my music thru SNOCAP, so far I've made about 8$, sweet.

[harrymcq]

I saw that the Slip have Eisenhower up as well. I could be persuaded to buy some .mp3's of some Slip archival stuff, like say NYE 2004 which isn't available anywhere AFAIK since Rhapsody pulled it. Of course I would rather have the FLAC but if it were something I couldn't get anywhere else... SNOCAP seems pretty cool though for small artists.

[ScS]

hmm...thats weird. i can still listen to 12.31.2004 on rhapsody but it isn't listed under the slip anymore. i wonder if its because i added it to my library. its also not available for purchase anymore.

i love that "more about me" every time i listen to it. sarah's vox are amazing.