Jango?

Sometimes I don't follow up on emails for a long time. I mean, so-called "professional" emails, not personal ones.

I had a couple of emails regarding Jango; one from CD Baby (who is distributing our first pitiful CD), and another from......somebody. I don't remember.

These two emails have sat patiently in my in-box for a few months. Yes, months. Okay, I don't necessarily follow up on things that require a lot of time and effort (and if I don't think there's a whole lot of reward).

But tonight, since I was really at a loss for something to do, I thought I would clean out my in-box.

The thing is, everybody promises stuff, and experience tells me, none of that stuff actually happens. And does it really make any difference if our songs pop up every couple of weeks on a website, and whoever happens to be listening clicks on the "next" button and just moves on to the next song? And do I even want to know that?

But I'm just barely enough of an optimist to think, well, somebody might like our stuff! I mean, somebody?

I don't really like to diss artist sites, because someone is likely gaining some benefit from each of them. However, I will say this: If you sign up for Hello Music, be advised: Apparently, if you're not considered (by them) to be in their top, top echelon of artists, all they are using you for is to push electronics and equipment (at a very special price!)

You will get almost daily emails from them (until you put a stop to it), advertising their latest deals. I don't want to say that they just solicit artists in order to get their email addresses, but yea, that seems to be what they do.

I was curious, after awhile, to find out why they never seem to advertise any "opportunities". So, I did a search for the company, and found this:

Not every band will be plugged into a potentially revenue-generating slot such as Pump Audio, Zalon said. Some will instead be offered discounts for services that partners offer for a fee. Still, he said, "no matter what [the song] is, we're going to listen to it, and we're going to find opportunities."


If that's what they do, fine. I just think they should state that upfront, when they are soliciting bands. "Hey, if we don't like you, can we still spam you to try to sell you stuff?"

Needless to say, I've crossed Hello Music off my list, as they have crossed us off theirs. And more power to the guys who've gotten deals through the site; good for you. It's just not for us, as has been obviously and subliminally communicated.

Now, Music Xray, so far, I like. Why? Well, yea, they charge you to submit to opportunities, but they don't arbitrarily exclude you. If you pay your money, you get to submit. They don't screen. If one is willing to shell out the fee, then one gets to compete. And they don't spam you, trying to sell you stuff.

Which leads me to Jango. Why sign up? Well, I figure, why not? They give you 100 free credits. We can't get on Pandora, lord knows. So, at least somebody will listen, at least for half a second. And you get feedback, so they say. Feedback can be a soul-killer, but one has to have a thick skin in this biz. I guess I'd rather have one honest person say they don't like my song, than a bunch of songwriters on some music forum giving me disingenuous "atta boys" (or girls). At least I know where I stand.

Basically, the reason I wrote this post is to solicit feedback regarding Jango. Has anyone had experience with the site? And if so, what's your consensus?

It's really neither here nor there if we (meaning, I) wasted my time uploading songs. I'd just like to know if it's something to keep on my radar.

But, if they start trying to sell me stuff, then they're (truly) barking up the wrong tree.