Defying iTunes!!!

I've mentioned in previous posts that I have a band called The Yalla Yallas. Anyway we released our debut album in July. It's called 'Act Of Defiance' and was written by yours truly. I'm obviously very proud of this record. The initial release was just a small run of Cd's to sell through our website and at our gigs. It's sold well in my opinion ... I'm happy with the sales sheet. That's all that matters to me, oh that and the fantastic reviews we have received. As a result we have decided on releasing the album through iTunes and Amazon. Admittedly it's not something I'm entirely happy about ... But living in this digital age somewhat forces my hand upon the thought of selling mp3's. I don't know ... I prefer having the whole package. But I guess some people just prefer the digital format.

It does frustrate me a little having to entertain people like iTunes and Amazon though. I'd much rather people buy our music from us. Not that I want to make money. Income for the band is good though so we can afford to make more records. However thinking about it ... iTunes and Amazon are doing absolutely knack all to support us. They don't give us an advertising budget to promote the record. We still have to promote it ourselves. So basically we get a small percentage of album sales coming back to us. While iTunes and Amazon reap in a big percentage and also benefit from a band like The Yalla Yallas telling everybody to go to Amazon and iTunes to buy our music - Free promotion for them. It costs them nothing. They also pass the set up costs onto us too. So what stops us from saying hang on buy our music from us?. Well nothing really. However ... Don't get me wrong ... I don't want to be famous or to sign to a major label, But I do dream of making a living and would like to attract potential investors to fund our cause. We want to do bigger tours etc... release more albums ... it's all got to be paid for. So in order to do that we need our music featured in magazines or on websites, and to do that we need to have an 'Official' 'Chart Eligible' release in order to avoid being placed in the demo section and to be taken more seriously. We need to look like a professional outfit. Tick all the boxes. It's not my ideal situation but I hope you can all appreciate where I'm coming from. I want to keep The Yalla Yallas D.I.Y. I want to keep us in control and to keep our artistic integrity, but I still want to attract people to work with us, booking agents, labels, etc... Obviously they will be vetted. I won't just work with Johnny Anybody because he used to manage Kings of Leon and he can make us famous. That doesn't interest me. I do have plans and ideas and more will come to light at a later date.

Anyway on Monday 16th November 2009 'Act Of Defiance' will virtually hit the online stores. We would love it if you bought it ... We would love it even more if you bought it from us from our website. The CD version will remain cheaper than the digital version that will be sold at those stores. Either way you'll be still supporting The Yalla Yallas and we thankyou very much for that.

Rock n Roll!!!!!