So here's my philosophy on giving away my music for free (and when I say "free" I mean that in a strictly monetary sense. By listening to my music, you are investing your time, which is a much more important and valuable asset, in my opinion, than your money):
Most of y'all have never heard of me, and don't really know my music. Maybe you found me on YouTube covering one of your favorite songs, or maybe one of your friends told you to check out my music. Whatever the case, I'm not all that well-known right now, so why do you want to spend $5-10 buying one of my albums? You probably don't. BUT, if I give you my music for free and let you "test-drive" it, maybe you'll like it. Maybe you won't. If you dig it, hopefully you'll jump on the "Zach-train" and support my music career. Haha (can't believe I said "Zach-train"). Here are just a few ways which you can hop on the "Zach-train" (said it again):
- Come out to one of my shows when I play in your area! And bring all of your friends! The more, the merrier...My live show is the best way to experience my music.
- Buy merchandise at shows (physical CD's, shot glasses, pint glasses, bracelets, pictures, etc...)
- Join my "Street Team." What does being on the "Street Team" entail, you ask? Well, first, go to the "Street Team" tab and type in your e-mail where it says "E-Team." Then whenever I am playing a show in your area, help me spread the word! Tell all your friends. Print off posters and hang them up at cool places in your town. Also, I usually try to hook up Street Team members with free tix, merch, etc... for all of the hard work.
- Come to one of my shows and buy me a beer. I like beer.
- Let me stay with you after a show...Seriously. Not in a weird way. Hotel rooms cost money, and I'm not exactly rolling in the Benjamins right now, so if I don't have to spend money on a hotel room that's great! I have an air mattress, so all I need is a little floor space and I'm good to go.
- Follow me on Twitter and then tweet about me to all of your friends and Twitter followers.
- "Like" me on Facebook and then tag me in posts...For example, you could write: "Zach DuBois is not a bad singer and/or songwriter. You should check him out." (maybe you can come up with an even more flattering and eloquent variation of a similar message).
- And, if none of the above appeals to you, you can simply go buy my music on iTunes...And maybe you could write a killer review saying how cool I am.
If you don't like my music, you wouldn't have paid money for it anyways, so I don't really lose out on anything. Who knows, if you end up downloading some of my songs and hate them, maybe you'll forget to delete them from your iTunes library. Then, one day, one of your friends could stumble across one of my songs and think that I'm the best thing since sliced bread...
So yeah, that's my take on this free music thing. Download my songs. Enjoy them. Share them with your friends. Give them to your friends for free, and tell them all of the different ways that they can be an advocate for my music.
The only way I'm going to make a career of my music is with your support. So if you like my music, please join me on my musical journey. This is a very tough road to travel, and I can't do it alone; I need all the help I can get! Your support is what allows me to keep creating and sharing my songs. So thank you so much for all of your past, present, and future support. Truly, I am forever indebted to you. THANK YOU! I can't say it enough.
-Zach
