Contra Costa Times Ten Mile Tide reaps rewards of Web music Bay Area acoustic folk-rock band Ten Mile Tide is hardly a household name in the world of rock. But it already has a tribute band in Brazil. That's the reward some bands get for seeing the writing on the technological wall a few years back. Ten Mile Tide's members have already quit their day jobs, a monumental event that used to mean the musicians were on the payroll of a major record label and selling hundreds of thousands of CDs. But fewer bands are able to claim that distinction, thanks to a financially shaky industry that's tightened the purse strings. The business model is changing, and success means using the digital future of music hand-in-hand, ironically, with old-fashioned touring. Ten Mile Tide has championed the Internet to get its music out to those who would otherwise know nothing about them. They use it as a springboard to build audiences as they tour the country. Lead guitarist Jason Munning says they now tour for a living because fans all over --even in South America -- know them by getting their material over the Internet. He talked about how the band has prospered via digital music. Q: How does the approach of offering music for free translate into dollars for you guys? A Really, we make our money by touring. It's not tons of money, but we can do it full time. We just completed a couple of three-month tours with about 60 dates on each. And we need an online presence to do it. Q: How did you figure out to use the Internet to get the music out there? A It started accidentally. A couple years ago, we were playing around San Francisco, and there were all these Internet sites that said "You can put your music here for free." We did as many as we could. Then we found (Internet music sharing service) Kazaa and it started snowballing. Kazaa is big all around the world. We're musicians first and foremost, and it's good to have people hear our music. Money is secondary to us. Q: What was it like to suddenly have your stuff take off? A We're sitting there at our jobs, at our computers, checking the (Kazaa) stats. One week it was 1,000 (downloads). The next it was 10,000. Another week we're into the millions. We didn't know what to make of it. People started e-mailing us from all over, telling us they loved our music. About a year ago, we were up to 10 million. Now we can't keep up with it. Q: How does that translate to touring? A We started forming street teams in different cities. On our Web site, people would say "You come to my town, I'll do everything for you once you get here." They put up posters, they even booked us a couple times. Q: You hear a lot about this being the only way indie bands can make it nowadays. A That's the future of the music industry. Some independent bands will put a couple things on the Internet. We put all our songs on the Internet. If people like the music, they'll go ahead and come to a show or buy a CD. Q: Touring seems to be your main income, but what about CDs ? A We sell about a thousand on the Web site every six months, and maybe another thousand at shows. It may not sound like much, but we reap all the profit. A record label will give you a few cents per copy. This way, we get all the profit. And it's definitely building. Q: How big are the venues you play, considering you book your own shows in a town that only knows you by what they hear of your music on the Internet? A We play 200- to 300-seat places. We get a good response. We've been touring full time a little less than a year. And we're very happy with the draw. Q: Does the grass-roots approach apply to management as well? A We do it all ourselves, though we are looking into it. Our motto is "We're not going to hire a manager or a booking agent until we can find someone who does it better than us." We have all the control. Q: There's a new school of thought that says successful indie bands must go back to basics by doing it themselves, creating a new re-emphasis on playing live, and that -- contrary to what the major labels have been saying -- the Internet will help bands. A That's the model, obviously. There was a study at Harvard that said downloading really never hurt major label artists. People who download music are fans. When they find something they like, they're going to tell friends and come out to shows. Q: Would you sign to a major label, though? A We've been in contact with a few. But we'd have to maintain our integrity. We'd still want to give away our music for free. But we'd work that out. Q: So how was the day you got to quit your day job? A It was great. It's awesome. We were all professionals -- I have my degree from Stanford and was doing biotech research. A couple of the guys were computer programmers, another a teacher. One was a journalist and one was a chef. Q: Sounds like you had a lot to lose. Was it scary? A We had set goals. We were pretty ready once it happened, though we didn't really know what to expect. Now, it's crazy. We have a street team in Brazil, in London, in Australia, in Africa. People in Brazil want to know when we're coming there to play. They sent us photos of this ancient stone amphitheater, saying we could play there. There's actually a Ten Mile Tide cover band in Brazil. That's weird. I haven't heard them, but I'd love to. |