Billy Darnells Blog

Hi everyone,

I hope this finds you all well and happy.

Well the good news is we moved up to #24 on Joyce Ramgaties Top 200 world wide playlist for country music artists. Kind of funny when you look down the list and see George Strait right behind you at #25..lol. Sort of puts that list into perspective I do believe. Still, I think it says that the efforts that have been made to get my name out there on the internet were certainly not wasted. When you consider this is all country artists played on the internet #24 is pretty darn good. I’d like to thank all of you that requested my music and have helped spread the word at sites, and all the great Dj’s out there for the support they have given my music. It has been truly amazing that a CD recorded with just a bare 4 piece, and given little money for advertising, has managed to get as much play as this one has.

I also received an inquirey from a small Nashville Label last week. They asked me to send my CD to their A & R department so I did. I haven’t heard anything back from them yet and its been a week, but at any label, the wheels of progress grind kind of slow sometimes. If anything comes of it I will be sure to let you know.

I managed to hook up with several sites this week that should allow me to really enhance the next generation of my music. Thay have fiddle , steel , and harmonica players which I intend to include on my next project. I am commited to doing one more CD just to see if the production were more full blown, how the response would improve.

The bad news, well, sales did not improve this month, even with all the great numbers we are seeing. Infact they went down, which is pretty hard to believe when they have been almost non existent to begin with. I was a little surprised because of how many people told me they would be purchasing the CD this month. Of course that happens on a daily basis. At least twice a day someone tells me they ordered it , and at least 28 out of 30 days this month nobody has. I have been forced to look at all that kind of stuff with a ” I will believe it when I see it.” kind of attitude. Seems on the internet, you can not only be whatever you want to be, but you can say whatever you think anyone wants to hear. I guess they  may not realize that when anyone buys a CD, I know exactly who they are, when they purchased it, and which one they purchased immediately. Oh well thats the internet it seems.

If misery truly loves company, the good news is, I am not alone. I have talked to several other artists who are producing quality music on the internet, have been for a lot longer than I have, and the general consensus is too many people are giving their music away, and that users on the internet are just looking for something for nothing. They tell me there is no such thing on the internet as fan loyalty, and that my best bet is to get out to the real world and start doing gigs on a consistant basis. I will not only build a bigger fan base , but that I will sell a lot more CDs. Hard to believe I haven’t really sold  many CDs at all, and yet I have out sold all of them put together the last few months. They probably are right.

I have read every piece of literature available as to how to market successfully on the internet, have applied all those theorys to my website, along with a few of my own, and still sales are negligible.

I keep telling myself it’s only been 3 months, with the numbers we are seeing things will eventually get better, but some how I can’t help feeling at times, that I am only fooling myself. So, at this point I am going to try one or two more things on the website to  try and enhance sales, and start getting back into the studio to work on new material. I am commited to doing one more CD at the very least, though this time the release of material will be a little different. I will release two or three singles over the next several months, and then complete the CD.

I am also going to put the band together and start doing shows locally to drive the CD sales. That unfortunately means I can spend less time focusing on the internet, but as in any business, one has to market to the people that are willing to support them and purchase their product. I have become aquainted with a lot of good people on here, so I wont abandon it completely, but I think it may be many years down the road before an artist can market their product successfully on this medium. Though there are millions of people on the internet, there is still a stigma about trust, and many other issues, that are just too great to overcome at this point I guess.

Anyways, the new singles should start within the next month or so, and we will see how that goes.

One improvement I think we are going to make at the website is a paypal customer page. It is an option not given at Cdfreedom, and I am hoping it will make purchases easier for those who have paypal accounts, and generate another medium of payment. At this point it can’t hurt, and its worth a shot.

Until next isssue I hope you all stay healthy and good things come to you and yours.

Your friend ,

Billy Darnell

P.S.

By the way, CDs make great inexpensive christmas gifts, and give hours of enjoyment to those who receive them.