Maybe the cottage industry approach to making/ selling/ distributing CDs is the right one then Vic. If most of your product is sold from your own website or at gigs (where in our experience, healthy sales are still very possible) then there is a degree of protection from the strategic changes taking place in the market. You're also very much in charge of your own costs..... and it is still be possible to make a decent quality, profitable CD.


It would be great if the reviewing "bodies" took this approach more seriously though. There does sometimes seem to be a disconnect between the music that "the people" respond to and buy versus what is given the most coverage in print and on-line.

......Dick, I don't think it is closed shop, but there are a number of gatekeepers at different levels who have a huge influence on who gets to play the key gigs or gets heard in the key places. To be fair, pretty much every "network" or "industry" is like this though. Frustrating at times, but all part of the game!