Need just a hundred Digipaks? Buy just a hundred Digipaks.

I’m really pleased to announce the  availability – online, 24 hours a day – of CDs and DVDs packaged in Oasis Disc Manufacturing’s famous line of Green Forestry packaging, in quantities as small as 100. Check it out on Oasis Express! Micah Solomon President & Founder Oasis Disc Manufacturing P.S. Please note that Oasis short run orders do not include Micah’s Tools of Promotion. If you’re looking to launch a national campaign, we will still do it for you – and 100% free, with a purchase of as few as 300 replicated discs. Ready to learn more or order discs with a real-live human being? Click here to chat with us live or call 1-866-409-8170 to speak with someone immediately.

State of the Indie CD Business

Listening to recent media chatter, you’d get the impression that most music is downloaded these days. Think again. Compact discs make up a full 80% of U.S. retail music sales (Wall Street Journal Tuesday, April 7, 2009, Page B4) and are the basic calling card and selling tool for every musician.

Why is the CD still dominant? One reason pointed out by Jupiter Research is that music lovers have noticed that compact discs remain “forward compatible” with whatever the latest music file format might be. Buy a CD from your favorite band and not only can you rip the music to your iPod, but you can also keep the disc as an archival backup.

Another reason, often commented on in psychological research, is that humans are gatherers by nature: we get a special thrill from collecting beautiful physical objects –books, magazines, stamps, antique china, paintings… the gorgeous artwork and packaging of a well-designed CD make it collectable, too. (To get a visual sense of how enthusiastic CD collectors can be, search Google images on the keywords “cd collection.”)

At Oasis, we’re constantly working to make our CDs and DVDs as attractive and collectable as possible. If you haven’t yet, please look through our catalog and check out the beautiful options we have to offer. If you don’t see your preferred look pictured, just call (888) 296-2747 and ask for Oasis Custom™. We’ll review dozens of unique packaging options with you, and cook up something that suits you perfectly!

Janis Ian chooses Oasis Green Forestry Digipaks — Now available with 100% recycled trays

When Grammy winning singer and songwriter Janis Ian’s autobiography was due to come out on Penguin Books, she called me up because she wanted to release a companion greatest hits CD collection. And she wanted to go over her best packaging options.

The two of us zeroed in quickly on something other than the plastic jewel cases she had used earlier in her career. “This time around, I really wanted the packaging to be special — it’s not every year you get to release an autobiography and a CD that goes with it! I was also trying to keep it eco-friendly, but still affordable.”

Considering several options, we ended up with a double-CD Digipak. Because, really, what a Digipak says is “premium.” That you have invested in what it takes to give your audience a top-quality product. Janis’ other interest — environmental friendliness — is also addressed in Oasis Digipaks. We have 100% Green Forestry Practices certification for the board stock we use, and use 100% recycled plastic for the trays (up to 100% post-consumer, depending on the tray option you chose).

I hope you’ll let us send you an eco-packaging sample kit (click here or on the link below my signature) if you are planning a CD or DVD project.  Sample kits do not include CDs and are only shippable within the U.S. presently, for which I apologize.  Thanks so much for your interest!

Micah Solomon

President and Founder
Oasis Disc Manufacturing

Are you building your musical tribe?

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a marketing presentation from marketing guru Seth Godin, in conjunction with the launch of his latest bestseller: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (Portfolio, 2008).

In one of those worlds-converging moments, I found that Seth’s surprise musical guest — and musical marketing example — was Oasis client  Jen Chapin (accompanied by her inimitable bassist husband Stephan Crump).  I hope you have had the chance to hear Jen, perhaps at the grand opening of Oasis’ Manhattan office:  If you don’t know her yet, Jen’s a singer and songwriter and an advocate for the charity World Hunger Year, founded by her dad, the late Harry Chapin.

Here is the marketing lesson Seth drew in his talk from Jen’s lineage:

Jen Chapin performs at Seth Godin event, New York Times Center

The world has moved on from the career-building techniques that worked in Harry’s era: in those days you could hinge everything on just one single career-making advocate — in his case, DJ Jim Connors, later immortalized in Harry’s song W*O*L*D.  In Jen’s/our era, you need to build, fan by fan, your own supportive “tribe” for your musical career.

So, in this day of from-the-ground up, democratized musical career building, the question is: What are you doing to build your tribe?

Musical screen gems from Screen Archives Entertainment

I’m convinced each and every day that Oasis clients do the best work in our industry.  Of course I’m tickled pink when Oasis clients get signed to major labels or have their music featured on network TV

Ingrid Michaelson • Keep Breathing •  Grey’s Anatomy

but as often as not we’re working in what’s called “the long tail”–in genres, niches that the mainstream may not even have considered. That is often where you’ll find the Oasis family creating great stuff and thriving.

In that spirit, I want to briefly shine a spotlight on a unique Oasis client and the work it does, which just blows me away.

Screen Archives Entertainment (SAE) is one of the largest distributors of soundtracks and movie music in the world. Just as fascinating, SAE produces exhaustively restored film music recordings under its own label, working with major studios, composer estates, and universities to preserve music that would otherwise be lost to deteriorating celluloid.

The seed of the company sprouted when entrepreneur Craig Spaulding opened a retail store with a sideline in eclectic music LPs. Spaulding cultivated soundtrack contacts across the globe and soon became known throughout the U.S. as the place to go for obscure and rare scores.

He sold the store, but kept SAE as a conduit for preserving rare recordings, focusing on pre-1960 Golden Age films with cherished soundtracks. Universities and studios soon came calling for Spaulding expertise in creating restorations that captured the excitement of each project — from the inclusion of the composer’s own personal notes to the finest mastering of the music, to the effective marketing of the final product.

Today SAE has contracts with composers, their estates or heirs, and major record labels to for these lovingly produced soundtracks for collectors, released in limited quantities.

The lure of these recordings is intriguing.  Even if you’re not formally a student or collector of this work, it is transformative to hear these soundtracks as you go about your formerly mundane daily life. Nothing, for example, makes a morning commute more triumphal than hearing one of these classic soundtracks surround you on your ride.  Just don’t be tempted to jump the gap if you see a drawbridge is going up–no matter how the music swells, I still suspect that only works in the movies, folks.

Juno film coup by Oasis client: How it came to pass

Have I got a story for you! It’s about an independent (extremely) musician I’ve worked with forever here at Oasis and how his song “All I Want is You” came to be the centerpiece of the opening sequence of the movie Juno (the extended, hand-animated sequence where she’s walking along and drinking SunnyD).

He’s a singer-songwriter named Barry Louis Polisar. He is a very, very nice guy. More to the point, he’s a great example of someone who doesn’t wait for the world to give him a lucky break in the clichéd “I’m going to be a rock-star someday” style. Instead, he shows up for every gig on time, he tracks down every lead. He self-publishes. He performs at schools and libraries all the way from his hometown (near Washington, DC) to Fairbanks, Alaska. He really, truly, keeps himself open for opportunity to come his way. And it does.

Now, after a lot of years in the business he is suddenly, and on an impressive scale (the Juno soundtrack has sold 600,000 copies in the first 3 months alone) truly an “overnight” success. I call his story:

Be Open to Possibilities

–OR–

How one Oasis client got a killer break because of his great attitude and our Tools of Promotion.

Here’s how it happened:

Barry manufactured several CD titles in the Micah-running-things-out-of-his-basement days of Oasis. For each title he qualified, like all Oasis clients, for our Tools of Promotion program: radio broadcast promotion, Brick & Mortar distribution, and more. But he was such an early client of Oasis, we hadn’t added the iTunes/online component of the program yet.

When we did, and he heard about it, he sent us a nice note asking if he could get certificates for all his titles retroactively – the hand-embossed pieces of paper that, back then, we would have required to get into the online part of our program.

Now a lot of people would just chalk their timing up to bad luck, and assume a company, even Oasis, would leave them in the lurch. But because Barry had faith and wrote us such a nice note, I went to the mailroom

(AKA, my living room), got out the embosser, and hand-made five certificates for Barry and put them in the mail.

Fast-forward 7 years… Jason Reitman, the director of the movie Juno, is trolling through iTunes, where Barry is featured, thanks to those retroactive Oasis Tools of Promotion certificates. Reitman mis-types the title of a song he thinks he wants for the film and hears Barry’s song instead.

He emails Barry and asks if he can use it for the film. One hit movie, 600,000 soundtrack copies, and a flood of worldwide licensing requests later, and there’s your happy ending to this very nifty story.

Micah Solomon
President and Founder
Oasis Disc Manufacturing

P.S. Want to get your music in the Oasis Tools of Promotion? It’s included, at no extra charge, when you manufacture CDs with Oasis! Click here to receive complete information – plus you’ll get ten new tips on thriving in the music business and our brand-new catalog.

Christine Lavin’s XM Radio show shines spotlight on Oasis Sampler

FILE UNDER: OASIS CLIENTS HELPING OASIS CLIENTS

Christine Lavin – folk pioneer, founding Bitchin’ Babe,

and an Oasis CD client herself – hosts the XM Satellite Radio program Slipped Disc with producer Bill Kates. She was kind enough to send us a note recently saying that she’d be airing a generous chunk of the latest OasisAcoustic sampler CD on her show; the segment will air four times.

Tracks featured included “I Should Go” by Levi Kreis, “Ain’t So Green” by Carsie Blanton, and “The Starbucks of County Down” by long-time Oasis client Greg Trafidlo.

They also featured work by other long-time Oasis clients and friends such as Janis Ian and Grace Griffith.

Christine and Bill also discussed on the air Oasis as a manufacturer who “goes the extra mile” for independent music clients.

Thanks Chris!

–Micah

Micah Solomon

President, Oasis Disc Manufacturing

An Astounded Jenny Reynolds “wins” Oasis prize in Austin

At the poolside party in Austin where the grand prize Oasis Disc Manufacturing drawing was held, the winner was none other than incredible Arts supporter Vic Heyman, who — with no personal plans to start a recording career — later that night transferred his winning entry to local Austin songbird Jenny Reynolds. (Jenny is pictured above, astounded and claiming unworthiness for Vic’s gift.)

Jenny has two upcoming CDs (studio and live) and will be applying the Oasis prize to them.

See more re. the exciting Southwest Regional Folk Alliance conference (SWRFA) and other Oasis goings-on in Austin here.

Musicians: Should you quit your day job?

…I can’t give you a blanket answer for that question, obviously. But I will tell you what’s important: day job or no day job, be sure to not treat your music career as just a hobby.

A career in the music business is in some ways similar to any other bootstrapping, entrepreneurial activity. It’s acceptable, even arguably smart, to start on a small scale backed by whatever type of conventional employment you can stomach.

Yeah, yeah, I know: working your day gig can take some spring out of your step, but it may also bring you key benefits like health insurance (don’t hit the road without that one, folks!)

Still, supplemental employment is no reason to treat your music as just a hobby. To succeed in the music business on your own terms, you’ll need to run your career like a real business – beginning now. Run your part-time business just as professionally as a full-timer would.

My friend Charlie Hunter, legendary manager emeritus of Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, et. al and current proprietor of The Roots on the Rails Music Train tells this story about a recent “overnight success”:

“If you caught the heart-tugging story on Oprah (Faith Hill recently recorded a whole album of folksinger Lori McKenna’s songs), you would think that Lori was a ‘stay at home mom’ who had only played a couple local clubs before her big, big break. In reality, Lori toured for years, released several CDs that were nationally distributed, and had serious music-business connections. She never, ever treated music as just a hobby.”

I’ve written more on this subject and others in my Insider’s Guide: How to Thrive in the Music Business: Ten ideas from Micah Solomon. If you’d like a free copy (it would be my pleasure!) as well as other goodies, please click here.

–Micah

Micah Solomon

President

Oasis Disc Manufacturing

http://oasisCD.com

Standing Room Only at Puck’s

Sometimes, it’s best to maintain your independence. Especially now, especially in the music industry.

At a time when certain focus-grouped, demographics-driven major label artists have trouble filling events unless their record company begs, pays, or cajoles enough people to fill the seats, independent music has a real opportunity to shine.

Especially if you’re the kind of independent artist who doesn’t mind doing some good hard legwork.

I was pointedly reminded of this the other night at Puck in Doylestown PA, a hopping little music venue in this postcard-perfect town where Oasis clients Lisabeth and Maggie were having their CD release concert.

Here’s one measure of how healthy an independent act can be when it gets its one-to-one marketing right: the handful of industry invitees on the guest list couldn’t get in to the show until the club had seated all the paying customers. (Which was possible only just barely, and belatedly — the show was so popular.) The house wasn’t faux-sold-out in Hollywood “Special Industry Event” style; it was door-to-door filled with paying customers.

Are Lisabeth and Maggie nationally known? Not to my knowledge. But it was clear from that night at Puck’s that what they may lack in breadth of market they more than make up for in depth. They are favorites in their community, are involved in their community, and their community comes out to support them — and to hear their lovely music.

– Micah

Micah Solomon
President, Oasis Disc Manufacturing