(no subject)

["Steve Burt" <steve@pk...com>]

Happy New Year all.

Did anyone read the Doors supplement in the Sunday Times this week, 
especially the Marillion article?

For those who didn't, it ran something like this:

                  The example of pomp rockers Marillion - not the hippest 
of bands - suggests a new business paradigm. Dropped by their record 
company for being unfashionable, the band had to cancel a US tour, until 
Jeff Woods, a fan from Raleigh, North Carolina, took matters into his own 
hands. Woods, who had been to 75 Marillion concerts, raised £37,000 online 
from other fans and the tour went ahead. Realising the power of the 
internet to build a like-minded artistic community, within months 13,000 
fans had each paid Marillion £16 in advance - totalling more than £200,000 
- which allowed the band to record their recent CD Anoraknophobia. 
Suddenly, Marillion had the biggest recording advance of their career and 
no record company to call their tune. 

                  "We were the first band to recognise the potential of 
the internet," said the singer Steve Hogarth. "We have cut out the middle 
men in suits, who have been taking most of our money for the past 20 
years. What is so brilliant about the net is that we can ask 40,000 fans 
at the touch of a button what they think about a proposed release. It 
makes music incredibly democratic." 

                  Having sacked their manager and fired their booking 
agent - fans now book the shows - the band employ a full-time web editor 
to keep www.marillion.com up to date. He sits in the office next to their 
recording studio - a fan could not get much closer without being on stage 
- and band members visit the site's forum twice-weekly to contribute to 
the debate. 

                  "Sure, the net threatens the record industry," Hogarth 
said, "but it doesn't threaten the artist. It frees the artist." 

                   
                 

            You can't say we didn't try with Swagger but an idea worth 
pursuing, maybe.

            Steve B 
           
                 
           
           
                        
           
           
       
                          ALSO IN THIS SECTION  
                       
                          Cover story: Reaching out to music fans 

                       
                           
                          

                       
                           
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