When I published my review of “Free” by Mike Comfort, I sent him an email letting him know about it. Imagine my surprise when a published artist took the time to write back, almost immediately! I can certainly accept a very small delay in shipping the CD, especially considering such a personal response.
The best thing in the email was the news that Mike is planning to release a new CD next month. The release is scheduled for September 23, to coincide with a show at La Salles in Chico, Calif. There’s a bit of information on La Salles’ calendar app, but I can’t seem to link directly to the show, or even to September–you’ll have to browse the calendar, select “September” on the pull-down list, then click the show link for “Thirst” on September 23rd.
More good news is that Mike is working on getting his CD into stores. I’m happy to support an artist directly–the prices are cheaper because there aren’t any bloodsuckers middlepeople between me and the artist, (except the postal service), hence the artist gets more of the money. However, there are two major problems with direct sales:
- The artist has to spend time doing non-artistic things like producing the CD’s and filling orders. All the time spent on this comes at the expense of the art.
- Nobody can jet down to the record store and pick up the CD right now. For some people, this may be a deciding factor. Other people may not trust PayPal, or whatever online payment system is employed, and avoid ordering via the web.
I think having the CD in stores would help promote the artist. I won’t be happy with the increased price, but you can’t have it all.
