More Netherscapes, and a Rough Patch

Since the last time I posted, I've put together another "netherscape."

I've done three so far, but I'm thinking about going back and playing with the third one I created earlier this week. My compositional style for these is to try and create a through-composed ambient soundscape as quickly as possible. I basically try to "splatter" sound on to the musical canvas the way action painters splatter paint onto their canvases. Of course, I'm not completely true to the action painting analogy. I do go back and tweak, fading things in and out. The key is I try not to dwell on it (although sometimes I can't help myself). If you're interested, you can click here to check out Netherscape One.

Meanwhile, I'm going through a rough patch in terms of sales. I've been licensing my stock music almost exclusively on Pond5 since I started. In the last year, Pond5 has greatly expanded and seems to be focusing more and more on video clips, which are generally more expensive and therefore produce more profit than audio. As a result, more of my sales come from search on the site than used to be the case. That means unless you jam your titles full of keywords, price at rock bottom, or have had lots of sales before, buyers are less likely to find your work. Frankly, I'm not sure even those things really help anymore. The long and the short of it is I think it's time to take a fresh look at licensing more on other, audio-only sites. I would take a closer look at paid advertising, but am doubtful about the return on investment. April has started out nicely though, and as always (I know I can't possibly say it enough) I am very grateful to everyone who supports my work.