Rick Fines has a question: Vinyl, CD or streaming?
Musician considers song-of-the-month subscription
Musician Rick Fines has a new album coming out and he wants to know how you’d like to get it.
Fines will be releasing his ninth album Dec. 1.
But first, he’d like to know how his listeners get their music these days: On vinyl, streaming, CDs?
Fines plans to ask that question to his fans Friday night during his concert at Market Hall.
His performance will feature songs from his new album, tentatively titled “Solar Powered Too.”
The album is geared toward a “guitar and a voice,” he said.
“That’s the way I tour, so it’s going to work better for me that way because that’s what people expect from me,” Fines said with a chuckle.
This is Fines’ first album in five years. A lot has changed in terms of how people buy their music.
Fifteen years ago, CD sales made up one-third of Fines’ income. Ten years ago, that dipped to a quarter.
“Now you make an album and you hope to break even on it.”
Nowadays, online streaming seems to have taken over. Whether it’s Spotify, Apple Music or Google Play, many people listen to their music online.
With that in mind, Fines plans to start a song-of-the-month club for his work.
For a $5 a month subscription, Fines will send the listener a song a month, with access to videos, as well.
“It’ll be something that may or may not ever be released to Spotify.”
In the meantime, the artist wants to gather feedback from his fans on how he should be packaging his upcoming album.
“I honestly don’t know what to do,” he said.
Since the album is already written and recorded, it’ll be coming out no matter what, Fines said.
That said, the musician is trying to plan ahead so he can keep doing what he loves to do.
“What I’m trying to do is figure out how in the world I’m going to make another album after this.”
After 38 years in the business, Fines hasn’t lost his passion for creating music. He wakes up most days with music in his head.
“I just never have enough time to play music — I just have to figure out how to afford to do it.”
Fines’ concert at Market Hall starts at 8 p.m. General admission is $35 and cabaret table seats are $40.
Tickets are available on the Market Hall website.