by Astrid Young
Being an indie musician is not for the faint of heart. Music has steadily been devalued; the only way you can earn a living is on the road, and only a select few actually make money from streaming.
It’s a wonder to me that kids still choose music as a career, but like the rest of us, I suppose it’s what we do and how we are wired… You can’t change your DNA.
And speaking of gigs, what do you do when you’re stuck with hundreds of CDs that nobody buys anymore? Another music medium dies an ugly death. I’ve actually stopped making CDs. And as much as I love vinyl (and I have vinyl), it’s a niche audience.
People want digital these days, but you can’t survive by sending people to the platforms to listen to your music. I’ve made more in a single gig selling physical merch than I have in the last 10 years of streaming put together.
As much as people know how abysmal the pay is for songwriters like me, you have to respect people’s preferences. I want to give the people what they want.
Luckily, I found a way to do it, to bridge the physical and digital musical realms, and replace stuff that doesn’t sell on the merch table.
I now release my music on something called Musical Bead. It’s a multimedia NFC card. I’ve got two albums on Musical Bead, and I’m working on an audiobook for Being Young. It’s pretty nifty. You just tap your phone to the card and the music plays—instantly. I’ve loaded the card with photos, videos, and tons of other stuff, and can even add new content when I feel so inspired. When I do, anyone with the card gets it immediately.
There are a million things I love about this technology, but what’s really exciting (from an audiophile perspective) is that there is no compression layer, no manufacturing layer, so I can deliver my music in the highest resolution possible. You’re hearing the music as I intended, which is important to me. A wise man once said, “Quality, whether you want it or not!”
Unlike a CD or an LP, it’s got all kinds of cool content to flesh out the experience, to take you deep into the concept, the sessions, all that. And… in the case of my latest work-in-progress album, I can share tracks that have not been and will not be released on streaming services, and I can add more as songs get finished. (Ultimately, there will be vinyl, but I need to finish a few more songs before I press, which means I need to play more gigs and sell more merch so I can afford to do that!).
I believe that every indie musician needs this. I’m a believer. And it’s great for the fans too. You can listen how you want, tracks are delivered as I want them to be heard, and neither of us has to bother with *&^tify or any of those criminal organizations.
The record industry and big tech gave us a raw deal with streaming, but there’s no take-backs. This is an alternative I can get behind. And if you want to hear the track I recently did with Neil, for now, this is the only way you’ll find it.
https://www.astridyoung.net/product/NFC-cards