Static Front!

A slight departure for indiecater but a change of direction that will pay dividends for your ears I promise. It all started out as a result of a random conversation but has since sprouted Bolt like powered legs. So in a short while you’ll be able to start buying albums that have been lost to the mists of time. Album’s that deserve to flood the internet byways with their unwavering genius. And as is customary ‘round these parts the presentation will be cheap and cheerful which means that you’ll have a brand new digital copy of a classic indie album on your music player within seconds and all for the slimline price of €3.50. It’s all very exciting for us and if you’ve liked the indiecater compilations thusfar we hope it will be just as smile inducing for you too. Of course all of this is not going to disrupt the main thrust of this adventure and Indiecater Volume 3 will be along as promised in late October. And putting December’s Christmas compilation together in September is making us all feel very seasonal well before even the dastardly shops contemplate that first out of place tarted up tree.

But that’s all you gotta wait until Volume 2 is unveiled. The shackles have come off a bit with this one in that the tracks won’t be confined to unreleased material. The reason being that it is quite a task trying to raid the archives and come back with something quality. I mean why would a band keep its jewels locked away in a dusty cupboard when the world could be trying them on? Choosing this path has inevitably led to more complicated arrangements with labels/bands because except for 1 track all the material has been previously released in some form. Despite the hurdles such was the rush of inspired music that flooded my inbox I already have enough tracks for a third release in October. That clears the way for what I am looking forward to most, namely an indie Christmas album! This will be a free gift to all those who have bought Volume’s 1 to 3 so start snapping up indiecater in an effort to make this December the most festive ever.

Just a quick update on the state of play with Volume 2. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks writing to bands to see if they were interested in getting on board and the response has been brilliant. At this stage I almost have the full complement of 10 tunes and the standard is very high. As there is no restriction on the tracks (in other words they not confined to unreleased material this time) I was able to browse through the hugger archives and pick some of my favourites from the last few years. Again there will be a wide geographical spread in the artists contributing and this time you have may even have heard of some of them! As a bonus for those who bought Volume One there will a discount to reward your alarming blind faith. Expect the compilation to appear around this time next month.

3 days in and the sales and reviews are starting to pour in. The most satisfying thing has been the general thumbs up with which the music has been received. I spent a couple of hours over the weekend making submissions to several online music magazines and newspapers and although this is generally a hit and miss affair I am hopeful that one or two will take notice. If you have a blog or are involved in any online music resource that may be interested in featuring indiecater please give me a shout and I’ll send you on a copy of the album. Given how things are panning out I have decided to start work on its successor (!) which will be released in late August. Once again if you are in a band and would like to be considered for Volume Two please get in touch. This time all submissions will be considered, even previously released tracks, on condition you own the rights to them or have received permission from your label.

Yeah, the first compilation is not even in the can and already my head is drifting onto what will come after it. Time is almost out for Volume One and I think it will be an impressive release. The artwork is coming along well too thanks to Laura’s efforts. Volume Two is looking like a certainty now so if you are in a band and would like to contribute please get in touch. I think the unreleased side of things confused a lot of people so V2 won’t have this restriction. The only condition is that in submitting a song you have the rights to do so. Further down the line I’d like to release an indie Christmas album so if you have something that might fit give me a shout. More on this later.

Yep, strange that I can say that just 1 week on from that 3 a.m. thought that started all this. The songs have been flooding in and in the majority of cases have been truly wonderful. At this stage I am 90% sure about what the final 10 tracks will be but there are still some stragglers so the door won’t be closed until Friday week (27th June). After that submissions will be only be considered for Volume Two (he says confidently and with little idea about how Volume One will work out). I think we are looking at a release date of Monday 7th July. I am currently deciding on a promo track that will be given to bloggers/media who wish to review the album. Promo tracks are useful as they can be used as a free download in conjunction with a review to promote an album, for example Sigur Ros used ‘Gobbledigook’ as a promo track for their newbie. All of mp3’s on indiecater will be encoded at 256kbs which in layman terms means that they should be as good a quality as what you’d hear on a CD.

Seven great tracks have made the cut so far (I won’t reveal them yet as I’m not 100%) and I have spent some time ordering and reordering them so that there is a natural flow to the way they play in sequence. I’ve listened to the chosen ones quite a few times and none have become tiresome which is always a good test for a song. Thus far some of the submissions have surprised, some have disappointed and others have been as good as I expected them to be. It is going to be difficult making the final selection and I hope I don’t upset anyone who doesn’t make the cut. If things work out this could be just the start of a series of compilations so it is quite likely that some songs submitted, but not selected, for volume one could pop up down the line. Currently I am waiting on about a dozen other bands to submit their work. These songs will be either brand new recordings or reworked versions of previous releases. With a bit of luck I’ll have the final 10 tracks selected by the end of June with a release date not too long afterwards. All very exciting, my inner nerd is having a field day!

We are up to 15 tracks submitted, with about the same number promised! The quality has been outstanding and there is a nice variation in the tunes so far. The biggest issue now could be to choosing the final 10 songs! If it works out then this could perhaps be the start of a series of releases so those that don’t make it onto volume one could be part of a future collection. I can’t get over the generosity and enthusiasm of the bands, giving their work away to a blogger whom they’ve never met. Hopefully I can repay their faith and indiecater will turn out to be a success. I have been working on the backend over the last day, I wanted a nice clean pay-and-here’s-your-download process and thanks to the help from Simon at SVC I think I have something that will make buying the album a seamless process. You may be wondering how I’ve had so much time to do all this, well having a week off work helps. Music in the morning/afternoon and Euro 2008 in the evening, yep, it’s turning out to be the best week ever!

2 days in and the response have been overwhelming. We’re almost halfway there already with 4 really good tracks lined up. Several high calibre acts are recording new material this weekend especially for the compilation (gulp!), which will mean we will be in a very healthy position by this time next week. Someone asked me earlier what the CD would look like – well, I decided early on that this would be a digital release only. No point in introducing unnecessary delivery and packaging costs when a simple zipped file can do the business for free. The zipped file will include the 10 songs, a playlist (so the songs play in order), track listing, original artwork plus some background information and links about the bands taking part. It will probably sell for €4.50 with the income shared amongst all those taking part. As ever I would welcome any thoughts, ideas, guidance that you may have.

Sometime soon mp3hugger will have in its possession 10 brand new songs from 10 different independent artists. The songs will be packaged together to make a compilation to be titled ‘indiecater: volume one’. The collection will be low priced and sold directly from this site. Each participating artist will receive an equal percentage of the purchase price and so will be guaranteed an income once at least a single copy of the album is purchased.

Submit Your Song

As everyone knows a compilation is not really a compilation without songs so this is where you and your band come in. The only condition for submitting a song is that it is of good quality, hasn’t been released commercially already and will remain exclusive to this compilation. In return you will receive exposure to mp3hugger’s readership (currently 1K a day), receive income from every sale and benefit from any reviews on blogs/other media that the compilation may receive. If you are interested, have questions or would like to submit a song straight away please contact me.

Buying The Compilation

Those who buy the album will receive a zipped file containing 10 high quality mp3s that have been vetted by mp3hugger. This means there will be no filler whatsoever; every track will come with the mp3hugger seal of approval. Take it as read that there will be no compilation unless 10 tracks of high enough quality have been submitted. Also included in the file with be some unique artwork, a track listing as well as information relating to all the participating bands.

What Is Point Of This Exercise?

The number of great bands that receive little or no press whatsoever constantly surprises me. This collection will gather 10 of the best, which should prove to be an attractive proposition for indie music fans. The compilation will be of high quality and budget priced with profits going straight back to the music makers. If Volume One is a success further compilations may then become possible.

Early Days

As you’ve probably guessed I am winging it a bit here but I think that something like this is workable. If you have any suggestions or issues with any of the above please get in touch. I could do with all the help I can get.