Fans of independent music now have a new way to support indie artists and gain access to exclusive content from a small but rapidly growing roster of emerging indie rock, pop, dreampop, electronic, bedroom pop and alt folk artists with the launch of a new audio magazine from Dance Cry Dance Records.
Motivated by creativity and experimentation, the Dance Cry Dance release format finds harmony between how music is created, and how it is shared. Beginning February 18, 2022, DCD will release all of their artists’ new music via The Dance Cry Dance Break, an audio magazine that will be available on Substack, tapping into a distribution platform not yet used in such a manner. Some episodes of “The Break” will be exclusive content available only to paid subscribers at a rate of $7 per month with the discounted option to pay annually.
In the spirit of Substack’s mission statement, Dance Cry Dance embraces the subscription model to reach audiences that believe in the inherent value of art, and who are willing to pay the artist directly. Taking it one step further, Dance Cry Dance fosters a community of artistic cross-pollination by inviting its audience to experience a unique collaboration between musician and listener, writer and reader.
Each episode of the magazine will pair a DCD artist with a writer who will create a short story or essay inspired by the music. The 2022 release cycle kicks off with a public mini-episode featuring the new EP from south-central Kentucky’s Tiny Tiny alongside the short story “The Wait” written by DCD owner and founder Natalie Bayne.
Written and recorded by Tiny Tiny's Boone Williams at home during lockdown, with his stepdaughter Lilly sitting in on percussion and vocals; the resulting five-song EP, Softly, to the Night, is a quiet, contemplative record of life at home and the meaning of community. Led by the single “Good Times Are Hard to Fake,” angular riffs lock into the hypnotic rhythm section with subtle precision, showcasing Tiny Tiny’s penchant for weaving acoustic and immersive soundscapes.
Of the project, Boone says, “As a fairly shy, obsessive person that has been sending up musical flares from rural Somerset, Kentucky for the better part of a decade…it can be alienating. I kind of feel like a mad scientist and the villagers are very suspicious of me.”
“As artists, we’re navigating the double-edged sword of how to share music in our current world. Learning of Dance Cry Dance, and hearing Natalie’s ideas about new ways to release music really resonated with me. I’m interested in exploring other avenues to connect with people. At the very least I have some weird music to show for it.”
Forthcoming full-length episodes of The Break featuring exclusive material will also include an interview and conversation between the show’s host, the writer, and the artist, with the conversational aspect serving to foster a deeper, more intimate understanding of the music.
The first exclusive episode is set for release March 15, 2022, and will feature the new album by 17-year-old American singer/songwriter/producer Sarabean, who is paired with another singular voice – iHola Papi!advice columnist and book author John Paul Brammer.
Operating under the ethos that music is art and not “content,” the DCD business model was established to enable artists to make a living and build a community without relying on the traditional, carbon-heavy earning modalities of touring and sale of merchandise. “Musicians deserve a platform where they can share their art in a way that benefits both the artist and the listener,” explains Bayne. “With this collective kind of model, our artists can reclaim the time and space to create new music, while the audience remains engaged and entertained via a steady stream of fresh releases throughout the year.”
As a collective, DCD artists are saved the work of building their individual distribution platform from scratch; they avoid the burnout from the endless churn of “content creation” while sharing and staying on the radar of an audience that believes creators should be paid fairly for their art. To that end, DCD operates as a profit-sharing model, wherein all the artists, writers, contributors receive ownership points on all net profits.
By inviting the listener into a community of creatively released exclusive material, the inherent value in the art and the artist is uplifted, while giving the consumer a uniquely rewarding experience.
The 2022 Dance Cry Dance Break rollout features a steady stream of writer-paired material including exclusive releases from indie acts including quand il pleut, Elhel, and Lindsay Liebro and public releases from the likes of Night Hikes, Cherish DeGraaf, Denver Williams, Amber Oakes, MariGo, and more, alongside a slate of emerging and established writers.
