INDEPENDENT
ARTIST AID FAQ (many thanks to the askers!!)
01
– Who or what is Independent Artist Aid?
Independent
Artist Aid is the collective banner under which 17 independent music
artists from 7 countries around the world are releasing a compilation
CD to raise money for the Mercy Corps Asian Tsunami Appeal. It’s
a real team effort.
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02 – What is an Independent Artist?
Also sometimes known as unsigned, indie or alternative artists
(in this context describing a way of doing things, rather than a particular
genre of music) – independent artists are musicians who are
not affiliated to a major record company, who release original recorded
material on their own labels and manage their own business affairs.
Independent artists come in all shapes, sizes and styles, and represent
a huge force of musicians who are doing it for themselves, thanks
to a great extent to the increased availability of computer technology.
In many ways today’s independent artists have taken the place
of the underground artists of the sixties and early seventies in terms
of existing successfully alongside the commercial mainstream.
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03 – Aside from the charity donation, what’s
the point in buying this CD?
It contains some really good tunes.
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04 – Is there anyone really famous on the
CD?
No. But there are some really good tunes. We think you’ll
like some of them. We hope you’ll like all of them.
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05 – What is IndieNetunes? I don’t
understand.
IndieNetunes (aka iNt) is a “boutique” Online
Music Distributor, in some ways like i-tunes, but smaller, more selective
and very exclusive. Their catalogue is 100% music by unsigned artists,
with tracks cherrypicked by iNt staff (known as TuneFinders.), who
seek out the best on the net from the multitude of indie music sites.
Like other OMDs iNt offers mp3 downloads for a small price. What makes
iNt different (apart from their low-key, non-corporate approach) is
that they offer listeners the chance to browse through full track
streams and build custom CDs that iNt will produce and mail directly
to the consumer. This CD, however, is a special full album purchase.
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06 – What’s IAA got to do with Garageband.com?
All the contributing artists are members of Garageband.com
(the online music community… not to be confused with the recording
software that bears the same name) and met through the peer reviewing
process and bulletin board community there. Many now collaborate with
each other on a regular basis and record songs together online –
being half a planet away is no longer any sort of barrier to instant
musical co-operation. Although Garageband enabled the participants
to meet, IAA is not an official Garageband project.
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07 – How much of the cover price goes to
charity?
100% of the profits after manufacturing costs have been met.
Of that, the Mercy Corps spend 91% of their total resources on direct
aid.
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08 –How secure is your payment system?
As safe as it gets. As a business, Indienetunes have to satisfy
stringent legal requirements regarding the privacy of anyone buying
from their site. You can be sure that your credit card information
will NOT be disclosed to any individual. All of Indienetunes' Internet
transactions are made using the SSL protocol. SSL is the encryption
method that encodes information transmitted over the Internet. Virtually
all respectable online businesses sell their products using the SSL
encryption to ensure secure and reliable online payment processing.
Indienetunes.com also offer PayPal as an alternative secure payment
option.
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09
- Are you doing this as a desperate attempt to be noticed? Why
dont you all just donate like most people?
It actually
doesn't matter what our reasons are for being involved. Anything that
has the potential to direct cash towards those most badly hit by this
disaster has to be a good thing. We can't change what's happened,
but we can play a part in helping to improve the situation from here.
And there are no rules to say we can't have fun doing it.
The motivation
behind doing this CD was - is - very simple. All the people involved
have donated - and many continue to donate - whatever cash they can
to help the survivors of the Tsunami to put their shattered lives
back together. However not all of the musicians involved are in a
position to give large sums of money. Some are struggling to make
ends meet. Donating a track is an easy and painless way of contributing
towards a venture that may provide an income stream (however small)
that wouldn't otherwise have existed for the survivors. And helping
the survivors is something each and every one of us fellow humans
felt a burning desire to do as soon as we heard the news on Boxing
Day. Not a complex equation, really. We help the way we can.
Do we
want to be noticed? You bet!! People won't buy something if they don't
know it's there.
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10
- Governments are promising billions in aid, and I hear that some
charities have stopped taking donations for Tsunami Relief. Surely
enough money's been raised or pledged already.
It's going to take decades to repair the damage that was
caused on December 26. It really can't be underestimated just how
devastating this disaster will continue to be for the survivors for
many years to come. The Mercy Corps is in for the long haul to assist
those affected, and that's one of the reasons we chose them. There
is so much to be done. Every little helps.
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11 - I
have another question which has not been answered here. Can you help?
Hope so!!
Get in touch via the contact link above and we'll do our best.
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