CDMaker, a national CD and DVD duplication studio, announced that it will be providing a free android fan discovery app for its CD artists for new titles starting March 10, 2014 coinciding with the start of the SXSW music festival in Austin, TX this week.
“I do think that eventually we’ll be talking about artists releasing their albums as actual smartphone apps – there was so much hype around Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP app to promote the recording. Even though the current perception that an app costs .99 compared to a full album typically costing 9.99 on iTunes, we’re going to help the independent artist who doesn’t have the financial backing of a record label to be able to market their music like a big dog,” said Carolyn Holzman, CDMaker’s owner and chief visionary.
Lady Gaga’s release of her app “ArtPop” to promote her new album launched in the fall as from most accounts was a success as well as a new way for fans to engage with someone they already love. Mega stars like Lady Gaga are essentially seen as dollars in the bank. If they want to spend $500,000 – million on developing an app, they can get it.
After those artists – and they are very few – there’s an appreciable drop off in what a label is willing to cover until they can recoup the expenses off album sales. “The reality is the average independent album sells 300 – 500 copies. So that artist is better served to focus on those 300 – 500 fans or however many they have – fans that would buy anything they released and be able to reach out and touch their loyal base. But without either a system in place which up to now has been a label, the independent artist is forced to reinvent the wheel over and over with each new release.”
Holzman goes on to explain, “By providing the independent artist with direct access to their fans, they can promote their shows and new releases and thus create traction in their careers. Also, I’m very curious to see if any artists selling downloads on iTunes would want to see if they could sell them directly thus bypassing the iTunes market and earning that full 100% of the revenue from their app. ”
A smartphone app naturally allows for a communication from the developer to the user in much the same way a text message is sent. Every user that has the app on their phone can receive notifications from the app developer to alert them to either new features, other new apps as well as other information. “When it comes to March in Austin, SXSW is its own version of March-madness and perfect excuse to emphasize the independent music artist in a way that challenges the industry and expectations of even the independent artists themselves, who are often targeted by individuals and taken advantage of by virtue of their deep desire to make it big. We want to give them the tools they need to promote themselves and not have to worry about someone else taking a piece of the pie.”
For more information on CDMaker’s Android App development for musicians, visit http://www.cdmaker.com