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Thread: Looking for a potential new gimmick to "sell music"...

  1. #1
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    Looking for a potential new gimmick to "sell music"...

    My wife has recently started a business making soaps and lotions using goat milk from our goats. The product is really starting to take off locally. She has been selling at farmers markets and doing really good. She made about 4 grand last year selling the soap and people who buy it come back to get more - I wont go into the benefits of goat milk soap here, but it is something that the older you are, the more you seem to appreciate it.

    I have had her take a handful of CD's with her, and she sets them out on the table and has actually sold a few, telling people her husband is a 70's musician.

    As a result of this little experiment, We have been talking about perhaps bundling her soaps with my music. I would have to repackage my releases - or make new ones (very possible) and give them away with the soap, or give the soap away with the music. Does that sound nuts?

    This sounds a little bizarre, but we figure that people cant copy soap and sent it out on the internet to others for free, while they can and do do that with music. Over the past 10 years I have not released anything, because of that issue. I thought about bundling music with Tshirts - but thats been done to death, and I may wind up with 500 Tshirts in boxes alongside my CD's.

    Oddly enough, her soap company is called "Yodelgoat Soap Company" The name "Yodelgoat" comes from my 15 year old daughter describing my voice to one of her friends - not in a flattering way either, but I appreciated the candor, so there it is. Since we raise goats on our farm, My wife stole the name and named her herd "Yodelgoat".

    Anyway, I think the risk is, that people who like the soap may hate the music and toss it - or give it away(not a problem for me). I do not think we will have the same problem with the soaps or lotions. They are great and deserve to be, and probably will be successful.

    So my question to anyone who cares is, how looney an idea is this? We have to ship soaps, so to slip in a CD is not a problem, shipping some soap or lotion along with the music? that may be Weird, but if I name the Artist "Yodelgoat soap company" or just "Yodelgoat". That may just be kind of a cool marketing ploy. Everyone uses soap - at least once or twice a year.

    What this may do is wind up giving away music, but possibly selling more soap. What do I care? Women LOVE the lotions, but would they possibly come to love my -semi-prog epics?

    I have not shared this idea with anyone except my wife, who seems a bit skeptical. She does not want anything to affect her sales negatively, and who can blame her? but combining music with a physical product seems like a potential opportunity. Sure, people will still pirate the music, but if it has been bundled with a real consumable product, shouldn't that be a potentially big thing?

    My only other alternative is to do nothing with my music - except composing and recording it, which is what I have been doing happily for 10 years.

    Any way for releasing music is better than just handing it to a label to do whatever it is they do with it.

  2. #2
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    You are desperate
    If I understand you, you want to give away your music for free to people who came for soap, but (some of them) might love your music too.
    You are probably right. But whats in it for you?

    Some will like it, some will say huh?, and some will say: What should I do with this strange CD, and why is it there?

    If your wife is okay - try it, and evaluate after a fixed period of time. I hope you have succes with this. Your music is different from what they hear in the radio. You are on a mission

    btw - interesting you have goats! Clever animals (and they taste excellent) - I had one a year in my garden. A friend of mine had the stupid idea to give a goat as a present to a guy who went 60. He (naturally) didn't want a goat, so my friend got i back at once. So he tied it to a tree in his garden which it didn't find very amusing, so it made noises.
    My garden is closed, so I said give it to me, it can eat my lawn. Which goats doesn't do. It ate my bushes, trees etc. and acted in many ways like a dog. Wanted to be family. We walked it and had an interesting year, and realized that it needed a real goat family, and we gave it away to a farmer with many goats.
    Last edited by Zeuhlmate; 02-05-2017 at 04:24 PM.

  3. #3
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    Yes, a single goat is a miserable goat. They are herd creatures and really thrive when you have 2 or more. Our goats are very well behaved - for goats. My wife has trained them (something people say is impossible) but for some reason, they are mostly polite and fun to be around, with remarkable senses of humor. We play with our goats, and other gotherds say we're nuts, but they are absolutely a part of the family, and they seem to know it. I tease them by telling them I am going to grab their tails, and they spread their ears out, and play defense and its as charming and fun as anything. They are smart, but can be very naughty if given the chance, but they do seem respect us. Something I have never seen in other peoples goats - but I dont think others have spent the time with them we have. When other goats visit - we take care of other goats while people are away, and they are terrible, they butt, try to break things, bite, jump up on someone carrying food. Our goats just sit back and seem to say "oh boy, that guy's gonna get it!!!..." we sometimes have to whip the visitors a bit, but our goats know we dont put up with typical goat baloney.

    They are contrary critters who love to fight with each other over food - You pour two cups of grain into two vessels and they will start with one and fight each other over it, then go to the next one and fight again. Its funny as long as you accept thats in their nature. We will always have goats. I too am fond of the meat - as long as its not from a buck (un-neutered adult male) that stuff tastes and smells like urine - perhaps worse things. We only keep females and just rent-a-buck to knock the girls up when we need to breed them. Goat milk is excellent for drinking - Only if you dont have any males around. the males funk out the females and make the milk taste like the males smell, which is undrinkable for me. My dad grew up on a farm and hated goat milk until he tried ours. He was blown away. He said I had to drink Goats milk as a kid and if it had tasted like your goats I would have loved it.

    You can see there is a danger in asking me about goats. I am not really desperate to sell music. I have been recording for over a decade and not releasing any of my music (which is a shame, cause its pretty ok stuff) I think of a peice of music like a painting, you dont just paint something, and then put it in a closet. I am just looking for a way to perhaps balance out what my wife has done, and see if the music will help sell more soap, or if its just a way to get music out there. If you could buy a CD, or buy a CD and get some good soap or lotion with it. would that make you more or less inclined to do it? Its a wierd combination, but since we both seem to enjoy what we are doing, is this a way to improve sales? Lets face it music and Tee shirts and hats go together, Tee shirts and Soap? perhaps. My wife is going to sell Tshirts for advertising. Most people who buy the soaps and lotions are return customers. Like I say, we sell mostly at farmers markets. We will be selling online soon as well. I have no idea after a decade if anyone would buy one of my Cd's again, but in the old days, selling cereal by adding toys helped General Mills become the monster it is. Soap and music? = perhaps not, but I have music that I am either going to just give away, or use to my benefit. I prefer the latter. I have had releases in the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and 2000's - I kind of think I would like to release something in the 2010's. I dont expect I'll be doing any of this in the 2020's but who knows?

  4. #4
    I've definitely thought about this packaging idea where to lure people away from downloads and into something physical that isn't a CD but put the CD together with that item. Maybe make the item a shirt or something but get paid before you make the shirts-like a pre-order or even a crowd funding.

  5. #5
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yodelgoat View Post
    Yes, a single goat is a miserable goat.
    Interesting to hear about your goats - do you have them for meat, milk - or soap?
    I have an Islandic Sheepdog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLIgS_HUTyU. An intellingent dog, fun to be with if you have learned its way of thinking and learned to communicate with it. Thats basicly what dog training is about. Its you who gets trained.

    You are doing the same with your goats who are intelligent and thus have potential to have fun with. People who does not train their dogs, or are not really interested in the animals they have, are a bit miserable I think. When you find the common ground with your animals its fun and interesting. (I am biased I know, since I am originally educated as a biologist )
    I live in a city, so having many animals is not possible (we have 2 cats, a pregnant dog, chickens and a fish tank, the goat 'Roberta' was something else), but I have a friend in the countryside who has around 30-40 sheep (an old nordic race). I thought once they were pretty 'stupid', but I have realized that they are not, but I find goats funnier. They are more curious, couragous and playful (and jumps over the fence).

    As a kid my family had 4 cows & their calfs, I think they are pretty stupid, but I wouldn't bet on it.

    Interesting how your 'music & soap' project turns out. I think it also depends on the environment you live in, what kind of people your customers are, etc.
    Perhaps the 'weird combination' could be a trademark, you could invent other weird combinations - people might love it like Kinder Eggs ?

  6. #6
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    I am looking for some kind of tie to the music. People who like the music, and want to support the artist can just buy the soap. But thats a bit of a jump. If you knew, for example that Glass Hammer has their own line of fragrances (OK, thats a stretch) would you buy it just to support them? - I think I would.

    Almost everyone has to buy soap. Lots of people - particularly females, cant get through the day without lotions (you people in dry climates know this) Why not market something useful like that - in lieu of "crowdfunding"? I just dont know if this is even workable, so we may just have to try it to see if it does anything. This is why I think Tshirts are potentially a good thing, you can wear a Tshirt, where music is no longer something necessarily tangible. I love Tshirts, I wear them all the time. But some t-shirts are a little too "flamboyant" for a grumpy old guy like me. I bought some Yes Tshirts at my last Yes Concert, only to discover that I cant wear them in public without getting "looks" from people at the farm store (the tie-dyes are geogeous, but just dont cut it) My daughters love the shirts though. Living in Texas, you have to be mindful about perceptions, while I am sure that Yes shirt would be admired in the cultural district of say San Francisco. (not that there's anything wrong with that) My favorite color tshirt is white = or gray, because in Texas, black or dark colors just attract heat. A dark side of the moon tshirt is out of the question 9 months out of the year here.

    My son thought up a great idea for a Tshirt:

    Yodelgoat Soap: From our teats to your ears....

    .... we're still working with it....

  7. #7
    Member Wounded Land's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yodelgoat View Post
    Yes, a single goat is a miserable goat. They are herd creatures and really thrive when you have 2 or more. Our goats are very well behaved - for goats. My wife has trained them (something people say is impossible) but for some reason, they are mostly polite and fun to be around, with remarkable senses of humor. We play with our goats, and other gotherds say we're nuts, but they are absolutely a part of the family, and they seem to know it. I tease them by telling them I am going to grab their tails, and they spread their ears out, and play defense and its as charming and fun as anything. They are smart, but can be very naughty if given the chance, but they do seem respect us. Something I have never seen in other peoples goats - but I dont think others have spent the time with them we have. When other goats visit - we take care of other goats while people are away, and they are terrible, they butt, try to break things, bite, jump up on someone carrying food. Our goats just sit back and seem to say "oh boy, that guy's gonna get it!!!..." we sometimes have to whip the visitors a bit, but our goats know we dont put up with typical goat baloney.

    They are contrary critters who love to fight with each other over food - You pour two cups of grain into two vessels and they will start with one and fight each other over it, then go to the next one and fight again. Its funny as long as you accept thats in their nature. We will always have goats. I too am fond of the meat - as long as its not from a buck (un-neutered adult male) that stuff tastes and smells like urine - perhaps worse things. We only keep females and just rent-a-buck to knock the girls up when we need to breed them. Goat milk is excellent for drinking - Only if you dont have any males around. the males funk out the females and make the milk taste like the males smell, which is undrinkable for me. My dad grew up on a farm and hated goat milk until he tried ours. He was blown away. He said I had to drink Goats milk as a kid and if it had tasted like your goats I would have loved it.

    You can see there is a danger in asking me about goats. I am not really desperate to sell music. I have been recording for over a decade and not releasing any of my music (which is a shame, cause its pretty ok stuff) I think of a peice of music like a painting, you dont just paint something, and then put it in a closet. I am just looking for a way to perhaps balance out what my wife has done, and see if the music will help sell more soap, or if its just a way to get music out there. If you could buy a CD, or buy a CD and get some good soap or lotion with it. would that make you more or less inclined to do it? Its a wierd combination, but since we both seem to enjoy what we are doing, is this a way to improve sales? Lets face it music and Tee shirts and hats go together, Tee shirts and Soap? perhaps. My wife is going to sell Tshirts for advertising. Most people who buy the soaps and lotions are return customers. Like I say, we sell mostly at farmers markets. We will be selling online soon as well. I have no idea after a decade if anyone would buy one of my Cd's again, but in the old days, selling cereal by adding toys helped General Mills become the monster it is. Soap and music? = perhaps not, but I have music that I am either going to just give away, or use to my benefit. I prefer the latter. I have had releases in the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and 2000's - I kind of think I would like to release something in the 2010's. I dont expect I'll be doing any of this in the 2020's but who knows?
    This is the most interesting post I have read on this forum in a long time. Seriously.

  8. #8
    Is there any conceptual tie between the soap and the music? Before you laugh, my point is this: if people are buying soaps with fragrances for particular purposes (relaxation, soothing, concentration, etc.) then if the bundled music is seen as a reinforcement of that purpose then there's value added. Listen to the music while you are in the bath to amplify the experience.

    That probably sounds a bit new age, because it is. But, it shifts this from "hey, you bought something for one purpose, let me shove something completely unrelated onto you just because I can" into "there's a reason why these two things are bundled together." The latter will likely increase the chances that buyers won't simply take the CD and toss it out.

    Just my $0.02. Best of luck with your experiment.
    If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
    https://battema.bandcamp.com/

    Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com

  9. #9
    Member Man In The Mountain's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    Is there any conceptual tie between the soap and the music? ..... if people are buying soaps with fragrances for particular purposes (relaxation, soothing, concentration, etc.) then if the bundled music is seen as a reinforcement of that purpose then there's value added. Listen to the music while you are in the bath to amplify the experience.
    This is exactly right.

    Otherwise it makes no sense at all to bundle music with soap products.

  10. #10
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    Nope, not really any ties. Yeah, a few weeks of perspective have made this seem a little silly. Just selling the disks at the farmers markets will probably be just fine

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