Monday, June 15, 2009

Seattle P.I. wrote about our demo club

Local band joins others in simply giving music away The Seattle trio H is for Hellgate has decided to forgo traditional record releases and instead give away their music as they record it. They're part of a growing trend of giving music away.

Check out the full feature here.

In the comments section, there are a lot of people chiming in and asking the questions, "How do these kids expect to pay the bills by giving away their only source of income?" Here are some things to know about H Is for Hellgate that the article may not have pointed out:

1. We are going to continue releasing full-length albums; the demo club is a bonus for our fans because we wish to offer an extra "thank you" to our most dedicated supporters.

2. Although I wish it were otherwise, we've never sold enough CDs to consider quitting our day jobs.

3. We make much more money from shows, t-shirt sales and licencing than from CDs and mp3 downloads. This trend is true for almost every other band at our level in our careers.

4. If you're interested on professional opinions on the future of music, you should include The Future Of Music: Manifesto For The Digital Music Revolution, co-written by the President of Berklee School Of Music, in your research.

5. We do, very much, have day jobs that pay the bills and buy the gear. You'd be surprised at how many of your favorite Seattle bands, even those getting national attention, playing on late-night TV, etc, are checking groceries, serving you food, or behind a desk off the rock clock.

6. At the end of the day, we're not delusional enough to think that some slick lawyer is going to pick us up in a town car, shuffle us down to the local office of whatever major label, and hand over a suitcase of money for what we're doing. We're doing this because we love music and to quote one of my favorites, Gillian Welch, "We're going to do it anyway, even if it doesn't pay."

Hellgate out!

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