The good folks at Alfred Publishing got a jump start on their end-of-year schedule and surprised me this week with my 2014 sales statements! Every year, they send me a list how many pieces of music I sold in different formats (score and parts, score alone, parts alone, digital downloads, MakeMusic files, etc.) And every year I sort through it and see which are my top sellers of the year. So here are my top five folios of scores and parts from April 2013 through March 2014 (domestic):
1. Dragonfly
2. Across the Wind
3. Gauntlet
4. Gargoyles
5. Avatar
Nice! The two newest pieces came out on top, followed by my two all-time classics. Gauntlet and Gargoyles have consistently been in the top five since they were first released nearly 15 years ago. I'm happy to see so much enthusiasm for Dragonfly and Across the Wind as well! Avatar dropped a little this year, but, shockingly, it remains in the top five - most likely bolstered by people who mistake it for the theme to James Cameron's movie (for the record, my piece was published four years before his movie came out). In my opinion, Cameron can't release Avatar 2 fast enough.
That was sales inside the US - now for the top-selling scores and parts in foreign markets:
1. Dragonfly
2. Gargoyles
3. Beale Street Strut
4. Samba del Sol
5. Across the Wind & Avatar (tie)
Interesting! I can't remember when there's been this much crossover between the two lists. Usually the top foreign sellers are a completely different set of titles, but there are four names in common this year! I'm most surprised to see Beale Street Strut on this list - it's a jazzy piece and I just figured it would be too American to appeal outside our borders.
Here's the list of top-selling scores:
1. Gauntlet
2. Gargoyles
3. Avatar
4. Las Mariposas Exoticas
5. Agincourt
Teachers buy extra scores for the judges when they take their orchestras to contest and all of these pieces are popular contest pieces. I'm most happy that Agincourt getting on more and more lists.
Finally, something relatively new on the sales report is a list of print licensing and mechanical fees. When a group records a piece of music or makes photocopies for extra parts, they're supposed to notify the publisher. So thank you to all the honest directors out there who did what they're supposed to do.
This list also includes the number of digital downloads, so I'd like to remind everyone that you can listen to and download fantastic professional recordings of my works at alfred-music.com.
Showing posts with label Beale Street Strut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beale Street Strut. Show all posts
Monday, September 29, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Sales Statement 2013
I got my annual sales report from Alfred Publishing recently, in which they compile and break down sales of all my music for the year, from April through March, 2013. Unfortunately, sales were down a little bit from last year and the report showed some interesting trends. Here are my top domestic sales of scores and parts in 2013:
1. Maharaja
2. Avatar
3. Gargoyles
4. Gauntlet
5. Agincourt
Avatar has been the top seller for the past few years and was unseated by Maharaja. I'm still surprised at the popularity of Maharaja but that piece was all over YouTube this year. Gargoyles edged ahead of Gauntlet for the first time in a while - both are usually in the top five and are very close, but Gauntlet is normally slightly more popular. In truth, Gargoyles sold one more copy than Gauntlet this year.
It's important to note that this report predates the release of Dragonfly and Across the Wind, my newest pieces. That means that the newest pieces on this report are Harrowland, which would have come in 7th, and Beale Street Strut, which would have come in a distant 8th.
Foreign sales are a different story. Sales abroad are usually much lower, because the system of music education is different outside the U.S. and many countries don't have group music instruction in schools. Here are the top five sellers of scores and parts outside the U.S.:
1. Harrowland
2. Beale Street Strut
3. Samba Del Sol
4. Sneaking Suspicion
5. Avatar, Gargoyles, Gauntlet, Maharaja, Porcupine Pantomime
A complete inverse of the Domestic Sales list! And a five-way tie for 5th place! I honestly don't know what to make of this, other than deducing that foreign orchestras gravitate toward the newer titles. Also, there are more minor-key pieces on the Foreign Sales list than usual. Usually, this list is full of major-key tunes.
Finally, I'll include a list of the top five selling scores. This is important because orchestras buy extra scores for the judges when they take a piece to contest. And when a piece is included on contest lists, that speaks to its long-term popularity and quality.
1. Gauntlet
2. Avatar, Gargoyles
4. Las Mariposas Exoticas
5. Agincourt
Gauntlet is the runaway winner in this race, selling more than Avatar and Gargoyles combined. All are popular, time-tested pieces (Agincourt being the newest), which makes sense on this list. I'd be shocked if something from the last three years showed up here, but I expect that Maharaja will work its way up this list in a few years.
I'd also like to give a shout-out to the handful of honest folks who went through the proper channels and paid licensing fees to copy, record, and re-arrange my music.
So sales were down in general, but I got some good data from the report. Hopefully, things will turn around next year with five new pieces in the works. Look for March of the Wood Elves, Winstride, Zuma Breakers, Pioneer Sky, and Woodpecker Cha Cha later this year. Also, my next report should include Dragonfly and Across the Wind, which I suspect will make a major impact.
1. Maharaja
2. Avatar
3. Gargoyles
4. Gauntlet
5. Agincourt
Avatar has been the top seller for the past few years and was unseated by Maharaja. I'm still surprised at the popularity of Maharaja but that piece was all over YouTube this year. Gargoyles edged ahead of Gauntlet for the first time in a while - both are usually in the top five and are very close, but Gauntlet is normally slightly more popular. In truth, Gargoyles sold one more copy than Gauntlet this year.
It's important to note that this report predates the release of Dragonfly and Across the Wind, my newest pieces. That means that the newest pieces on this report are Harrowland, which would have come in 7th, and Beale Street Strut, which would have come in a distant 8th.
Foreign sales are a different story. Sales abroad are usually much lower, because the system of music education is different outside the U.S. and many countries don't have group music instruction in schools. Here are the top five sellers of scores and parts outside the U.S.:
1. Harrowland
2. Beale Street Strut
3. Samba Del Sol
4. Sneaking Suspicion
5. Avatar, Gargoyles, Gauntlet, Maharaja, Porcupine Pantomime
A complete inverse of the Domestic Sales list! And a five-way tie for 5th place! I honestly don't know what to make of this, other than deducing that foreign orchestras gravitate toward the newer titles. Also, there are more minor-key pieces on the Foreign Sales list than usual. Usually, this list is full of major-key tunes.
Finally, I'll include a list of the top five selling scores. This is important because orchestras buy extra scores for the judges when they take a piece to contest. And when a piece is included on contest lists, that speaks to its long-term popularity and quality.
1. Gauntlet
2. Avatar, Gargoyles
4. Las Mariposas Exoticas
5. Agincourt
Gauntlet is the runaway winner in this race, selling more than Avatar and Gargoyles combined. All are popular, time-tested pieces (Agincourt being the newest), which makes sense on this list. I'd be shocked if something from the last three years showed up here, but I expect that Maharaja will work its way up this list in a few years.
I'd also like to give a shout-out to the handful of honest folks who went through the proper channels and paid licensing fees to copy, record, and re-arrange my music.
So sales were down in general, but I got some good data from the report. Hopefully, things will turn around next year with five new pieces in the works. Look for March of the Wood Elves, Winstride, Zuma Breakers, Pioneer Sky, and Woodpecker Cha Cha later this year. Also, my next report should include Dragonfly and Across the Wind, which I suspect will make a major impact.
Friday, April 13, 2012
MP3 Downloads 2012
One of my absolute favorite things about working with Alfred Publishing is hearing their promotional recordings of my music. The studio orchestra does a great job every year and I always look forward to their professional interpretations. This year's recordings are no exception.
The links below are to Alfred's music download website, Alfred-music.com, and my three new pieces for 2012-2013. You can listen via Flash or download each piece for only $.99 USD. You can search for my name or for any of my pieces and you can download those as well. For example, Gauntlet, Gargoyles, Agincourt, and Maharaja. Enjoy!
The links below are to Alfred's music download website, Alfred-music.com, and my three new pieces for 2012-2013. You can listen via Flash or download each piece for only $.99 USD. You can search for my name or for any of my pieces and you can download those as well. For example, Gauntlet, Gargoyles, Agincourt, and Maharaja. Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Proofing
Three of the publishing schedule's landmarks wend by in quick succession recently. About a week ago, I got my copies of this year's new music, a few days ago I got my contract addendum from Alfred Publishing, and yesterday I got the proofs for next year's music.
When I get proofs, they send the score that I submitted, marked up in red pen with all sorts of corrections and editions and then I check that against the engravings of the score and parts to make sure there are no errors. When I say "marked up in red pen" it sounds bad, like they're correcting my homework or re-writing my music, but it's not like that at all. My editors like to be a lot more specific with bowings than I am, adding upbow, downbow, and lift marks. They like to be very precise about placing dynamics and articulations and they don't share my enthusiasm for double bar lines. But I'm all for being as specific as possible, so their changes are good ones. The only corrections I found were two wrong notes in the Viola part of Beale Street Strut.
Funny story about getting my copies of this year's finished music: I usually have about three pieces published each year and they send me two copies of each in a small box. This year I found a giant, heavy box on my doorstep. I opened it up and discovered someone had mixed up their Douglas E's - I had received the shipment intended for Alfred/Belwin composer Douglas E. Wagner. I checked the shipping label and, sure enough: his name, my address. I contacted Alfred and we sorted it out. No word if Mr. Wagner got my music by accident.
When I get proofs, they send the score that I submitted, marked up in red pen with all sorts of corrections and editions and then I check that against the engravings of the score and parts to make sure there are no errors. When I say "marked up in red pen" it sounds bad, like they're correcting my homework or re-writing my music, but it's not like that at all. My editors like to be a lot more specific with bowings than I am, adding upbow, downbow, and lift marks. They like to be very precise about placing dynamics and articulations and they don't share my enthusiasm for double bar lines. But I'm all for being as specific as possible, so their changes are good ones. The only corrections I found were two wrong notes in the Viola part of Beale Street Strut.
Funny story about getting my copies of this year's finished music: I usually have about three pieces published each year and they send me two copies of each in a small box. This year I found a giant, heavy box on my doorstep. I opened it up and discovered someone had mixed up their Douglas E's - I had received the shipment intended for Alfred/Belwin composer Douglas E. Wagner. I checked the shipping label and, sure enough: his name, my address. I contacted Alfred and we sorted it out. No word if Mr. Wagner got my music by accident.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
New Music Selected: Beale Street Strut
I recently heard from my editor and I'm thrilled to announce that Alfred Publishing will release three of my new pieces in their 2012-2013 String Orchestra catalog! They're ahead of schedule this year, as I usually hear from them in late July or early August.
The first new piece to look forward to is Beale Street Strut, a major-key, intermediate-level piece. For those of you outside the United States (which, I understand to my delight, is a growing number), Beale Street is a stretch of road in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, famous for having a lot of jazz and blues clubs and it is considered the epicenter of Southern jazz.
As you might expect, the piece has a jazzy style and features some "blue" notes. Specifically, F-F# and C-C# chromatics. The basses and 'cellos get to play some classic bass lines as well as some broad-shouldered melodies. As usual, there's lots for the violas to do as well.
I think this is one that students will be humming in the hallways of their schools and that audiences will remember after the curtain goes down.
The first new piece to look forward to is Beale Street Strut, a major-key, intermediate-level piece. For those of you outside the United States (which, I understand to my delight, is a growing number), Beale Street is a stretch of road in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, famous for having a lot of jazz and blues clubs and it is considered the epicenter of Southern jazz.
As you might expect, the piece has a jazzy style and features some "blue" notes. Specifically, F-F# and C-C# chromatics. The basses and 'cellos get to play some classic bass lines as well as some broad-shouldered melodies. As usual, there's lots for the violas to do as well.
I think this is one that students will be humming in the hallways of their schools and that audiences will remember after the curtain goes down.
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