Art Bell

[BellBoy]

Art's a big Lightfoot fan...so am I..but I always found this funny...

https://youtu.be/kZlrrwUIwcE

  SCTV was the best!    Way ahead of the curve.

[starrmtn001]

This has always been one of my favorites by Gordon Lightfoot.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw

[serenity]

This has always been one of my favorites by Gordon Lightfoot.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw

Still one of my favorites!

[chefist]

  SCTV was the best!    Way ahead of the curve.

No doubt! Nothing like it today...creativity over shock....

[Skunk Ape]

This has always been one of my favorites by Gordon Lightfoot.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw

That's the one that gets overplayed here. It was thanks to Arts show that I heard Sundown, which gets stuck in my head every time I hear it.

[BellBoy]

My personal favorite Gordon Lightfoot masterpiece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewhM7I9gD4U

[SciFiAuthor]

Most enlightening, thanks for the taking the time to explain some of the process.  Just a comment and a question. 

The majority of the guys we hear whining on C2C and similar shows about making little money on their books self-publish, so not sure they are beholden to the old school industry.  I think their problem is poor marketing to, at best, a niche market.

You think so? I used to see a lot of them with indie publishers like Visible Ink but I haven't really been paying attention the last few years so maybe they are going self-published. Marketing in a niche is tough for anyone, but it's really about the content. If their story or angle just isn't compelling, or if it's in a field that's already saturated by decades of books, then they're just not in a good position. Funny enough, the exact opposite is the case for fiction. If you think about it, if one wanted to make up a story and sell it as having really happened it would actually be more profitable in today's climate to just write the story as a fictional novel.

The quick $20-40K you said Art could make,  how many actual books sold would that take, assuming a book selling for $19.95?

Well if you sell a POD book at $19.95 and an e-book at $8.99 and you've got a facebook following of 20k, using Amazon's royalty percentages and assuming a conversion rate off FB of 25% after promoting there, which could be shooting low given Art's rather rabid fan base, that would come out to around 31k in one month off of 5000 copies sold.

The really crazy stuff happens when someone like Stephen King uses this method. He wrote an anti-gun essay a while back, stuck it up on Amazon at .99 for the e-book and sold tens of thousands of copies in the first month. The guy had to have made 20k-30k in a month just off a short self-published political diatribe. Talk about laughing all the way to the bank.

[chefist]

That's the one that gets overplayed here. It was thanks to Arts show that I heard Sundown, which gets stuck in my head every time I hear it.

Dude rocked it back in the day!

"Sundown" (1974), "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), all reaching #1,

Amazing!

[Uncle Duke]

One difference between the technical issues before with Dark Matter and the technical issues now is back then they were beyond Art's control at Sirius.  It's got to be a lot less frustrating for him to know that, while annoying, he has the power to address and fix them

Yeah I've seen others make that point here, but is that really a true statement?  It's my understanding all Art/Keith can control really is the signal that leaves Art's home studio, they can do nothing about the drops and buffering that continue to plague TuneIn and other listening sources for some of us.  I get it many listeners do not apparently have these problems, but then I again I never had a single problem with SXM listening to DM.  Then there are the Skype disasters that everyone listening has to suffer through, and the billing issues with PayPal. (Went back and checked email, I too had that message from PayPal about cancelling my TT subscription that Seraphim27 and others mentioned.)   Not sure how any of those, unless it's correcting any user error on Art's part with Skype, are within Art's control.  I do agree with you, it's annoying when the buck stops with you and you are the belly buttom your customers are looking to for corrective action.

[CornyCrow]

Right, that's why 93 percent of the population listens to terrestrial radio. Joe Rogan is your reference? Are you kidding?
The average American listens to about 14 hours of AM or FM radio per week â€" more than the total amount of time spent per week using DVD players, streaming video on mobile devices and the Internet, using game consoles and using the Internet on a traditional computer, according to a survey of media use conducted by the measurement and data concern.  U.S. consumers spend more time only with TV, the study said â€" on the order of 35.1 hours per week.

Noory has a stranglehold on late night audience in every market as his affiliates are typically the strong local and regional
signals. Doesn't matter so much how bad Norry is, if the typical radio user can't A-B the shows.

Art's only opportunity is to build a sizable network of stations. I Heart & Cumulus won't touch the show, but smaller groups and Independents would likely grab it up with a slightly more favorable number of units per hour. The online and mobile aspects of the show are awesome, however the masses still use Terrestrial radio.

The weak link has been by far the news package. it sounds like a bad imitation of the 80s feature known as Earth News Radio. Good idea but terrible execution. I am a bit uncomfortable with a guest on a cell or land line yet some bumpkin calls in and pile drives directly via a strong Skype connection, of course Skype is inconsistent and at times sounds totally amateur.

I agree with your figures.  My husband and I never knew there was such a thing as internet radio.  Such a thing, at first, seems redundant if you have a computer, but we're finding it very handy.  I have stations from all over the country that I now listen to and enjoy them so much more than my local offerings. 

I think part of the problem is that those who listen to radio are clueless that there is internet radio available that would probably offer their current stations plus a whole lot more. 

If it were not for MITD, I probably would never have purchased mine.

[BellBoy]

No doubt! Nothing like it today...creativity over shock....

The sheer amount of long-term industry talent that came out of that one, crappy, obscure, little Canadian piece of pure fucking imaginative genius...

[starrmtn001]

That's the one that gets overplayed here. It was thanks to Arts show that I heard Sundown, which gets stuck in my head every time I hear it.

There is a good reason for that.

[chefist]

I agree with your figures.  My husband and I never knew there was such a thing as internet radio.  Such a thing, at first, seems redundant if you have a computer, but we're finding it very handy.  I have stations from all over the country that I now listen to and enjoy them so much more than my local offerings. 

I think part of the problem is that those who listen to radio are clueless that there is internet radio available that would probably offer their current stations plus a whole lot more. 

If it were not for MITD, I probably would never have purchased mine.

I feel Art has learned to care more about the show than the # of listeners...quality over quantity...McDonald's is learning that now! 

[chefist]

The sheer amount of long-term industry talent that came out of that one, crappy, obscure, little Canadian piece of pure fucking imaginative genius...

LOL...which is why SCTV made that skit...pure genius...funny folk from the North!

[Uncle Duke]

You think so? I used to see a lot of them with indie publishers like Visible Ink but I haven't really been paying attention the last few years so maybe they are going self-published. Marketing in a niche is tough for anyone, but it's really about the content. If their story or angle just isn't compelling, or if it's in a field that's already saturated by decades of books, then they're just not in a good position. Funny enough, the exact opposite is the case for fiction. If you think about it, if one wanted to make up a story and sell it as having really happened it would actually be more profitable in today's climate to just write the story as a fictional novel.

OK, this may be ignorance on my part regarding terminology.  What's the difference between an indie publisher and self-publishing?  If I totally foot the bill for a x number of copies to be printed by some company, then market them myself, which is that?  Does a company like Visible Ink you mentioned market books they publish or just hand you x number of copies? Is the "self" part of self-publishing paying for the books to be produced or actually personally printing them with a desktop publishing program like Flippingbook (which a friend tried to use once)? 

[chefist]

OK, this maybe be ignorance on my part regarding terminology.  What's the difference between an indie publisher and self-publishing?  If I totally foot the bill for a x number of copies to be printed by some company, then market them myself, which is that?  Does a company like Visible Ink you mentioned market books they publish or just hand you x number of copies? Is the "self" part of self-publishing paying for the books to be produced or actually personally printing them with a desktop publishing program like Flippingbook (which a friend tried to use once)?

It brings up an interesting point...Art and the like have a product you can get for free...yes, you have to listen to commercials, but you can get the content with no cost...I'm in a business where you have to buy my product in order to use it...no option for a "free" solution...

Now, however, the cost of producing and distributing a show is much lower cost than it was in the terrestrial radio day...heck, you can go on MIXLR.COM for free and do an hour a day for free! Mix in music, callers, etc...only $10 a month for 3 hours a day!

Technology has made this a perfectly competitive market like agriculture! So where does that leave us? Guess time will tell...

[Uncle Duke]

It brings up an interesting point...Art and the like have a product you can get for free...yes, you have to listen to commercials, but you can get the content with no cost...I'm in a business where you have to buy my product in order to use it...no option for a "free" solution...

Now, however, the cost of producing and distributing a show is much lower cost than it was in the terrestrial radio day...heck, you can go on MIXLR.COM for free and do an hour a day for free! Mix in music, callers, etc...only $10 a month for 3 hours a day!

Technology has made this a perfectly competitive market like agriculture! So where does that leave us? Guess time will tell...

*laughs*  I remember years ago explaining to my daughter there was a difference between something being free and you not having to pay for it, at least directly.  She never looked at the prize in her CrackerJack the same way again.

[weeberwubber]

Dude rocked it back in the day!

"Sundown" (1974), "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), all reaching #1,

Amazing!

Plus, sometimes he strikes me as if I was looking into the eyes of Walter White, which is profoundly cool. I think I'll see his show the next time he rolls through town.

[chefist]

*laughs*  I remember years ago explaining to my daughter there was a difference between something being free and you not having to pay for it, at least directly.  She never looked at the prize in her CrackerJack the same way again.

LOL..perfect example!  some may argue relationships are the same way! 

[CornyCrow]

Remember that Art said he'd really be a good fit for the East Coast '970 the answer'?  Has anyone else requested that they consider Art's show in their mix?   

[chefist]

Plus, sometimes he strikes me as if I was looking into the eyes of Walter White, which is profoundly cool. I think I'll see his show the next time he rolls through town.

Yea I've been waiting down here in the desert Southwest...hopefully it will happen...he's getting up there in age...don't know how active he is on the touring circuit...either way glad his art is recorded for history's sake! 

Saw BB King a few months before he passed...I feel blessed to have heard that show!

[Skunk Ape]

Plus, sometimes he strikes me as if I was looking into the eyes of Walter White, which is profoundly cool. I think I'll see his show the next time he rolls through town.

My fiancé though it was too when I put the his album up on display. Blew my mind

[Neil]

It may be just me, but a few comments Art has made recently makes me think that he’s itching to go head to head with Dave. If so there’s only one way to do that: on terrestrial radio.

I get the same feeling.  He is a competitive man. 

[albrecht]

That money's gone regardless of what happens going forward. 

They just need to cover current ongoing expenses (including whatever salaries they need from this)

Agreed, though it seems to be human nature to base decisions, at least in some regard, on sunk costs. How about an economics/math guy as a guest some time. But someone who can make it fun and interesting for those not into it. Lots of interesting things could be discussed probability, randomness, rationality (or not,) game theory, and stuff that apply to many areas, arguably even UFO/paranormal- at least in terms of infighting, disclosure, etc.

[gabrielle]

I get the same feeling.  He is a competitive man.

It's the Pirate spirit coming out in Art .....!   I think he may have raised his Jolly Roger flag.

[AppealPlay]

It's the Pirate spirit coming out in Art .....!   I think he may have raised his Jolly Roger flag.

I hope not.  I like happy, content Art doing his radio magic on his own show without corporate overlords.  I just want Art to stay happy and keep making good radio.  I feel like yoking himself up with Corporate America would make it frustrating for him (in light of Premiere and SiriusXM) and I definitely don't want that.

[SciFiAuthor]

OK, this may be ignorance on my part regarding terminology.  What's the difference between an indie publisher and self-publishing?  If I totally foot the bill for a x number of copies to be printed by some company, then market them myself, which is that?  Does a company like Visible Ink you mentioned market books they publish or just hand you x number of copies? Is the "self" part of self-publishing paying for the books to be produced or actually personally printing them with a desktop publishing program like Flippingbook (which a friend tried to use once)?

The two are distinct. The first is a vanity press. This is where you pay for x number of copies and market them yourself. This is self-published.

The second is indie publishing. Same thing as the big publishers, just smaller. Here the company takes the financial risk, edits and prints the book, markets it and then pays the author just like what would happen at Simon & Schuster. Visible Ink is one of these. They're just called indie publishing companies because they are independent companies from the "Big Six" publishing houses. 

The Amazon method is a mix of the two. They print the books on demand as they sell on Amazon and then they pay the author for the sales. The author does not put up any money at all. Amazon has a number of promotional tools for the author, and as the author grows then Amazon begins promoting harder and distributing the books to stores and you sort of transition from initially self-published to published by Amazon. Some of these books are making the NYT best seller list, and Ridley Scott bought the film rights to two of the sci-fi ones.

[b_dubb]

Well I got Skype figured out, a day late. I know people wanted Paranormal stories but in a show with a Jury it's just tough to ask them that BUT I will give it a try.

I like trying new stuff, sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. But if you never try new stuff you just end up doing the same old thing, I will keep experimenting.

Art

I thought it was a lot of fun. Maybe next time have only three judges and devise a scoring system. Truth Vs Trash. Callers Vs Jury. 

Roswells, BellGabs, and Twin Chunks

[RoseGirl]

I thought it was a lot of fun. Maybe next time have only three judges and devise a scoring system. Truth Vs Trash. Callers Vs Jury. 

Roswells, BellGabs, and Twin Chunks

Should have been a prize though....if you could fool the jury, you get a free month of subscription or something. Or a t-shirt or a coffee mug. The phones would have been a-blazing.

[RoseGirl]

lol

And the bumper music should have been 'tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies'.