Haven't been keeping up with this very well but there has been a lot to do here and time is a precious commodity these days.  But with 2009 winding to close it is a good time to have a look back at what has been achieved this year and a blog post is the perfect way to sum this up.
For 5th Estate Music 2009 wasn't so much a first year as it was a first few months.  Even though it went "online" in September, the first real action only started a few weeks before the Nov.2 release of the Fine Print Pariah debut album and the goal since then has been to keep the ball rolling.  Some of the promotional activities that were meant to do this were successful but this is admittedly an area that needs a lot more work in 2010.  However, Fine Print Pariah did get some radio play and podcast play so the effort was not completely for nothing.
The licensing shop was set up and some physical distribution of the CD was arranged with a local record store here in Berlin.  Not bad for a start and now that the infrastructure is set up the process for future releases should be much easier.
The task now for the next week or so before everything shuts down for the holidays is to evaluate all of this and make plans for 2010.  At the moment it looks like there will be a very significant change in strategy that will take things in a very different direction.  Part of the reason for this has been the unexpected difficulty in getting Fine Print Pariah into a form that can perform live and other artistic factors have come into play as well.  The Fine Print Pariah debut album was a fine achievement but things are evolving quickly on the creative side so expect a few surprises in 2010.
All in all 2009 was a great success but there is still a lot of room for improvement.  The "label" was established, the first album was released and - without giving too much away too early - there is plenty more to come very early in 2010 so be on the lookout!
Have a great holiday season and nice "slide" into the new year as they say here!

The big day is finally here and it is a pretty nice feeling to have pulled this off without any significant hitches.  Even with all the preparation it still meant a long day of website updating and linking and emailing and phone calls but in the end it was all worth it.  The Fine Print Pariah debut album officially exists and is not only available in the FPP Shop but also through Amazon and all the big download stores such as iTunes, Emusic, Napster etc.  We'll see how things go in the next couple of months and will be using the experience as a bit of a barometer of how to approach future releases.  As with any first release this was a bit of an experiment and even though there was a lot of time and effort put into research and planning you just can't account for every variable in the equation.
Anyway, so far, so good!  Time to celebrate!

Well, it's been a pretty busy week here putting the finishing touches on the infrastructure that will support the first release.  The FPP Shop is now ready to go and already open for business even though the real "grand opening" isn't until Monday.  The decision to release a free download of the entire album was also finalized but only for a limited time.  Exactly how long is not clear but the idea right now is to keep this offer going until the live lineup is ready to hit the stages.  A bit of motivation can't hurt!

Been a while since the last post but things have been busy here in preparation for the Fine Print Pariah debut release which is also the debut release for 5th Estate Music.  Things have come together nicely with only a few setbacks the major one being that the live lineup is not ready yet and that means the release will happen without a "Release Party", at least not on the actual date.  But who says we can't do it later as a kind of "Album and Band Release Party".  Well, that's the way it will probably happen but due to circumstances beyond our control this will have to wait a while.  It might only be early 2010 before FPP hits the stages but when it does happen, WATCH OUT!!!
A lot of time and effort has been put into promotion but response has been pretty slow.  This was kind of expected, it was a conscience decision to take a "matter of fact" approach to the release rather than a load of "hype" so this has probably left some wondering what it's really all about.  The music, i.e. the album, was put first with a very basic press kit, just the info necessary to put a face to the name.  Bad idea?  Perhaps, but the goal here is to keep it about the music and not the flash and nonsense that is so prevalent in the internet age.
The T Shirts arrived on Friday and were put in the shop today.  The logo is a bit bigger than expected but they still look really good.  The shop will be finished by the end of the week with CDs and downloads so everything is ready for the official release on Monday.  As of Nov.2, 2009 the CD will also be available through Amazon and MP3s through iTunes International, Napster, EMusic and many others.
And what happens after Monday?  LOTS!  Just stay tuned to find out!

Do you ever get that feeling that things were just meant to be?  Well, I had that today when I spent the morning unpacking three separate deliveries from three separate companies ordered on three different dates which all arrived within a few hours of each other today!  The digipaks, posters and packaging machine have all arrived and a bit earlier than expected.  The stars are aligning, things are really coming together, all in all a great week.  Have a good weekend!  I know I will.

The big day has finally arrived!  5th Estate Music is now officially operational and getting ready for the first release - Fine Print Pariah's self-titled debut coming on Nov.2, 2009.  A lot has been done but there is still a lot to do in preparation for the big event.  CDs should be here by the end of the week and reviews are already being solicited.  Exciting times here!
Stay tuned...lots more to come!