Comments on: Do you allow 30 second previews or full song play?

By: Hardplainsdrifter

Hardplainsdrifter — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:22:07 +0000

Not sure how it is for you Oliver, but I have found that people have actually ripped my songs from the extremely low quality myspace player to have/ use in their DJ sets. And I am not even a big name, even in the already infinitesimal world of drum & bass. It could be more of problem in just DNB, but I would assume it is also a problem in more popular genres as well (I.e., people ripping low quality mp3s if the entire song is posted).

Sucks for me haha, as I’ve sold a whopping total of 10 mp3s on Beatport/ itunes/ & Juno downloads. But then again I obviously wouldn’t make drum & bass if I wanted to make money making music.

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:28:35 +0000

I allow full mp3’s to be downloaded.

I made this decision because I felt it was in my interests that directors (I do music for film/tv) have the full track to select pieces from. I work out licensing details later.

I have no idea if I’d get more placements with :30 previews, but I suspect not.

By: d_K

d_K — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:24:07 +0000

If you are doing sub-four-minute radio-friendly tracks where the groove, hook, or feel of the song are obvious within 30 seconds, go for the shorter.

If you are creating music DJs might purchase for clubs and whatnot, for the love of God, allow full song play. I can’t count the number of times I’ve bought a dance track from a 30 second snippet that turned out to be completely different then whatever random section of the song they chose to sample. It just doesn’t work with a small snippet.

By: Document 02

Document 02 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:56:57 +0000

I think 30s is the best way to tease the listener into downloading the full song. At which stage he/she will already have a copy of said track in decent quality and not take the bother to go back to the site and buy it.
With full but lofi preview, at least the potential buy stays on the site to listen and has less hassle to go through if he/sha wants to conclude the transaction.

By: jojo

jojo — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:41:13 +0000

usually when I see something that says “snippet” I’ll leave that site… ;-)

By: Ilja

Ilja — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:19:32 +0000

Make the Preview as long as you want but for gods sake please dont cut it just after the break ends. I buy my Tracks mostly beceause of a long deep break that ends with a slap in your face and you start to fuckin dance…

By: Fitz

Fitz — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:30:44 +0000

It depends greatly on the type of music. Most people decide they like or dislike a pop song in the first 20 seconds so half a minute is more than enough. Longer classical, ambient, instrumental pieces are wholly another matter. For them I’d say at least a minute is needed, perhaps more.

By: Oliver Chesler

Oliver Chesler — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:26:09 +0000

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing it.

By: TheGoogly

TheGoogly — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:06:27 +0000

It drives me nuts that people complain about not getting a full preview of a song. It’s like watching a movie preview and complaining that they should have given you the option of seeing the whole movie for free to decide if you wanted to pay to see it or not. It’s a sad result of our culture expecting music for free now.

Honestly, if your complaining about the listening to the whole thing, I doubt you were going to buy it anyway.

Now which one do I prefer as a consumer. Obviously the one where I get to listen to the whole thing for free. As a DJ I want to hear the intro, middle, and outro to see if I can mix it and see if it works in my sets or not. It’s one of the reasons I still play vinyl because I get the chance to listen to it at the store and figure out if it’s something that fits my style or not. If it’s only a 30 or 60 second clip it dosn’t make me not want to throw down my dollar or two.

I’d say do full songs though, it might attract more fans, who might come out to a show, and might pay a cover charge or buy a t-shirt since there’s no money to be made in actually selling music anymore.

By: Mateo

Mateo — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:39:03 +0000

You might be interested in reading this:

“A report to be published in the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising reveals that longer, higher quality free music samples engage more listeners and reduce the number of free riders.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601102017.htm