Bassic

November 1, 2001 1:05 PM

Bassic has just finished a new track and I was also pretty impressed with the two quicktime videos on the site, which I hadn't seen before. Know of any other decent/successful artists who promote themselves online, rather than through the recording industry?
posted by walrus (14 comments total)

Bassic [...]
posted by andrew cooke at 1:13 PM on November 1, 2001

Ok, but I searched hard enough for it not to be a double link, and I was more interested in finding other purely online artists than anything else. If it's a crap post I'm sorry.
posted by walrus at 1:19 PM on November 1, 2001

Eh? No criticism implied - I was just correcting the URL (the one in the post doesn't work for me). Although I must admit, from the name, I was expect some d'n'b...
posted by andrew cooke at 1:23 PM on November 1, 2001

Ah ... should have emailed you, like I nearly did ... I was frankly surprised Bassic had never been mentioned here when I searched. Thanks.
posted by walrus at 1:29 PM on November 1, 2001

expect some d'n'b
posted by walrus at 1:52 PM on November 1, 2001

Thanks - not been to peoplesound for ages (I bought a couple of CDs from there way back when they first started). Nice to see they're still going. Looks like they've put a few more people in the "sounds like" database too. And they have a radio station - might give them a listen tomorrow instead of kexp.

I'd be interested to hear of any success stories of people who have "made it" through peoplesound, mp3.com, etc, too...
posted by andrew cooke at 2:13 PM on November 1, 2001

Jarboe, formerly of Swans is now self-producing, and actually keeps a sort of journal on the site, too. An extra little bonus that I've found especially nice is that everything I've ordered has come signed. Who says the days of personal service are over?

Hasn't quite "made it" yet, but someone I know has two projects up at mp3.com, homepage here. Ulcerate has been picked up for two tracks on an upcoming Invisible Records compilation, with a possible record deal contingent upon sales and response to it. A step in the direction.
posted by Su at 2:24 PM on November 1, 2001

Opinion: Bassic sounds like Liberace gone 24 bit. Plus there's no real bass player, it's all racks and keys.

To the point about self-promotion, I think it's about time. I am hoping that the media companies don't find a way to crush this. It should flourish.

Now here's a guy who can play (diatonic, no less).
posted by mmarcos at 2:34 PM on November 1, 2001

Wow, I haven't listened to Bassic in a while. He's doing pretty well for online only promotion.
posted by Darke at 2:35 PM on November 1, 2001

Opinion: Bassic sounds like Liberace gone 24 bit

Another opinion: Actually, more like his love child with Richard Clayderman
(don't even ask! James famously did and nobody answered...)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 2:51 PM on November 1, 2001

Well, there have been a number of artists who have not only gained online recognition but also a few bucks to cover costs. I'm into MC Hawking at the moment. MP3.com used to give artists the opportunity to earn respectable sums of money. But recent changes thanks to the sale to Vivendi have changed all that. The site that makes most sense these days is Ampcast. True, you have to pay a membership fee but they offer decent services and pay six cents a download!
posted by skinsuit at 3:43 PM on November 1, 2001

Gavin Friday has not had a record deal for the past five years since leaving Island Records who released his first three solo albums. His main means of publicity since then has been the website I maintain for him. He's doing quite well for himself.
posted by prolific at 4:56 PM on November 1, 2001

Bassic is good. One of the best ambient/dnb/electronica types that I've heard. However, I was really appalled to see him move most of his songs to streaming only (i.e. you can't download most of them from mp3.com anymore)... I accidentally lost the 10 or 15 of his songs that I had and I now have nowhere to restore them from except gnutella if I ever get around to it.
posted by azazello at 7:42 PM on November 1, 2001

um...or you could buy them?

support indie music. this is as indie as it gets.
posted by jpoulos at 10:39 PM on November 1, 2001