Techdirt Music Club

We regularly use the music industry as a great example of a "leading indicator" industry that is dealing with the issues we talk about way before many other industries will do so. And while it was painful for some in the industry for many years, we're seeing more and more artists breakthrough by embracing new business model opportunities and finding tremendous success in doing so. See Mike's recent presentation about success stories on the music commerce frontier.

Since we so often write about artists who are succeeding by embracing these models, and we've learned so much about Connecting with Fans (CwF) and giving them a Reason to Buy (RtB) from them, we thought what better way to show our gratitude than to offer up a Techdirt Music Club tier in our own offering -- highlighting a group of musicians who have all embraced this model in one way or another. All of the musicians here have agreed to take part in this offering, recognizing the importance of the CwF + RtB model. Even better is that all of them have agreed to do something special that you can't find elsewhere! True scarcities!

The music may not all be the same style, but we're hoping you'll join us in supporting these artists who really are at the forefront of reinventing the music business. If you don't want to get all the goodies in this package yourself, why not buy it for a friend... or your local elected official (or, hell, we'll send it to a major record label to show them how it's done!). Just tell us who you want to send it to. We'll send it along with a note explaining how these business models are reinventing the music industry, such that we don't need a massive change or expansion in copyright laws.

What you get from each artists is described in the list above, but I did want to discuss why each offering is cool and worthy of being included in this package.

Jill Sobule is an artist we've written about and spoken about at length, for her experiment with Jill's Next Record, a project to fan-fund her latest album, by connecting with her fans and giving them different tiered support options. The tiers ranged from just getting early access to tracks all the way up to getting a house concert from Jill or even appearing on the album itself as a singer (the weapons-grade plutonium level), which someone purchased (and, yes, that woman does appear on the album!). The eventual product, the fantastic album California Years, was released in April. Jill is offering up a signed copy of the CD, but also wanted to offer up something truly unique for the supporters here -- so, along with the CD, you'll get a special notebook, where Jill will write out, by hand, lyrics to one or two of her songs and include a few doodles. The rest of the notebook is yours to use as you see fit -- but the first few pages will be created just for you!

We've written about Amanda Palmer and her various experiments on Techdirt a few times. She's a musician who epitomizes really doing whatever she can to connect with fans, while also giving them a reason to buy -- whether it's Twitter flash concerts or having her fans help her design a t-shirt, she's really embraced these models to the fullest extent. As part of her latest album, she's also come out with a book, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, which has pictures of Palmer along with short stories by famed author Neil Gaiman. Both Amanda and Neil have agreed to offer up signed copies of the book as a part of this package. Plus, you'll get Amanda's CD.

Moto Boy is an up-and-coming pop singer from Sweden, who not only has embraced his fans, but has supported efforts like The Pirate Bay, recognizing that it can help promote his music. He's done cool experiments such as putting together a full "YouTube concert" of fan-shot cameraphone videos that were found on YouTube. Compare that to record labels trying to force such videos off YouTube. Also, he's worked hard to give fans new and unique reasons to buy, including offering up the music box that's included in this package here. It's a great little piece of machinery, playing a great song. On top of that, you'll get Moto Boy's For Martha EP with a special inscription from Moto Boy to Techdirt readers!

Finally, we have a signed CD with special unreleased content, just for you, from Joe Pug. Last year, Pug and his manager ran a really unique experiment for connecting with fans and differentiating Pug. They agreed to send out totally free CDs to fans who requested them, setting up a high speed process to burn and package the CDs. This way he's been able to build up a strong and loyal fan base. For this package, you'll be getting a signed copy of the Nation of Heat EP... but it includes some extra previously unreleased tracks released only for this particular offering!

Given the logistics of getting this all together, please allow 8 to 12 weeks for delivery.

We know it's a long time, but you'd be amazed at all we've learned in the last couple weeks putting this together about logistics. Still, order now, because we only have a limited number of these packages available.

Now Shipping Internationally: We are now shipping to international addresses as well, but please note that you may be on the hook for additional customs or duties.