We are proud to introduce to you the Adopt A Band Network, closer to your music, much closer to you.
And what about the rest of the planet? Apply to become an Adopt A Band local hub here.
Q: What is this site about?
A: The name should make it clear. Adopt A Band. You come, listen to the bands, maybe there’s one that you already know or another that you like. They’ll give to you their music for free, and in exchange you “adopt” them, sending – if you want – how much you want to them. No, you will not find those hot Britney’s songs here. Try somewhere else…
Q: Why is there a need for another mp3 site?
A: This is not an mp3 site. Sorry about that. Songs are in an mp3 format because they are meant to be un-crippled and free. There is no commonality other than that. We care about changing the way you think of music, not of being another place to download free stuff.
Q: How do you make money?
A: We don’t.
Q: Who are you, anyway?
A: Regular folks, with a taste for original music and a lot of distaste for commercial products.
Q: I’ve already downloaded all your files. Why should I pay?
A: You don’t have to. It’s just up to you to decide if you can do something for them to keep doing their work or if you don’t care. Hopefully somebody else will, right?
Q: Can I deduct this money from my taxes?
A: No. We make no profit, and still we are not a non-profit organization. And the money that you send is a gift to the artists, not to us anyway.
Q: What do I get if I pay, then?
A: A shirt? A mug? A postcard? Some bands may be running special promotions, so contact them about it. Or maybe, just the feeling of participation. Don’t ask us that. We are still asking ourselves what we get.
Q: Where does the money go?
A: After a never ending research of what is available today on the market to accept credit cards payments, we have chosen the PayPal service. Your contribution, minus the fees that are imposed by PayPal, will go entirely and directly to the band.
Q: Ok, you convinced me. I like the idea, how else can I help you?
A: Find bands, find people, send us your ideas, a postcard from the Caribbean. We are looking for editors, and you could be one of them, if you care for glory much more than for money. Just apply on the join page, and tell us what you would like to do. Or post an article in the open space section, help people to think. That’s a lot of work.
FOR BANDS
Q: How does this concept work?
A: You already have your fans, you have some connection to them; they are already putting their five bucks in your tip jar at gigs. Make this site your permanent gig, make it as alive, as your performances are. Give your audience a place where they can find you, and you can find them. We give the net. You give the work.
Q: What is this new “showcase” thing?
A: We had to change how we have been thinking the site up to now. What we did was great, but not enough. We need to reach a critical mass to make the change in the music industry that we want to obtain. So we need more people involved in this.
But we simply could not afford anymore to take more bands on the site, contributing to each one of them $50, and then seeing that there was no interest to promote this concept at all. The showcase is a free space where bands can have their exposure and their virtual tip jar, but it helps us verify better who can be part of this community of artists. We still believe that a change in the music industry is needed and possible. We want to work on this together with those who actually believe in it.
Q: What do we gain?
A: A bigger tip jar?
Q: What do we lose?
A: Nothing.
Q: How do you select the bands that will be part of the community?
A: The bands that are featured in the showcase section that prove to be more involved in promoting this concept, who are more present, who loves us more, will…
Q: Do we have to sign a contract or something like that?
A: No. But read the our terms and conditions.
Q: Can we design our own page?
A: There is a standard template for your pages, but yes, if you want to have your own website, then you can use our server. In other words, you can host your pages with us, if you want to, for free.
Q: How can we create our mp3s?
A: There are a lot of programs today, freely available, that allow you to do it.
Go to http://www.download.com and search for mp3 encoders.
If you already have your songs on a CD, it’s just a matter of “ripping” the CD in mp3 format.
Or write to us, if you really feel lost.
Q: How many songs can we upload?
A: The more, the better. You can always enable/disable some of them if you like so.
Q: Can we take our songs off the website whenever we want?
A: Yes.
Q: Do we have any obligation to the site?
A: No. But remember that we are folks who give all of our energies to promote this idea. We are not making a dime out of it, and we don’t run advertisements, or charge fees, or take cuts, like all the other sites do. Please help us promoting this idea, put a link on your site, tell your fans, don’t just drop your songs and run. Think that what you would be doing would benefit you and other independent artists more than us. We don’t even get the tips, for Christ’s sake
Q: Do we have any obligation to whoever “sponsors” us?
A: Not really. But they are doing the right thing by paying. It’s up to you to decide on an ethical response. At least send a thank you email, but maybe you can do more to encourage it.
Q: Do you ask for a licensing agreement?
A: No. We don’t redistribute your music, we don’t use it in any way. It belongs to you, and your listeners.
Q: How do you pay us?
A: You will be paid directly by your supporters, using PayPal. The only thing that we ask is that you signup for a Premiere Account, so that you can take payments directly from the web. PayPal charges a small fee on the contributions that you receive.
We don’t take anything for us. You can give them a checking account number, and transfer money to your bank directly, or simply ask for a check whenever you want.
Q: What can we do to promote our band?
A: You should use this site to nurture a relationship with your audience. You can do whatever you think is appropriate to make them feel that it’s worth it to believe in you. Take them out for dinner.
Q: I already have my songs on MP3.com Can I keep them there and put a link to them?
A: Yes, you can.
Can we come to your gigs and invite your audience to listen to the other band in the next bar?
Q: Can I sell my album online on your site?
A: Yes you can, but we are not going to provide any “pay to download” or shipping mechanism. Ask supporters for a contribution, and then send them the CD. All the money you make is yours. Or just use CDBaby or any other sites that sells your CDs. We think that selling CDs will not be your only way to make a living with your music, but we understand…
COMPUTER/MP3 IMPAIRED
Q: What is an mp3?
A: It’s a file that contains audio. It has become a popular format to encode songs and music because it allows one to shrink the size of the file without losing quality in any perceptible way.
Q: How do I listen to an mp3?
A: You must have some software that can play it, Windows Media Player or QuickTime, for example.
If it is on a web page, all you have to do is to click on the link, and most systems will automatically download and play the file.
You can save it too, and play it later.
Q: Why does it take so long to download?
A: Each file can take between 10 to 20 minutes to download, if you have a regular 56k modem. If you have a cable connection or DSL, downloading takes less time than the actual duration of each song.
Q: How do I make my own CD?
A: When you buy a CD writer/rewriter, it should already come with a program to create audio CD, and it should be able to use mp3 files to build the tracks. Otherwise, you can try to download an evaluation copy of Adaptec CD Creator, Nero Burning Software, or CDRWin. Again, go to http://www.download.com to find it.