This was 2014!

From Projekt Records’ Sam Rosenthal.

2014 was another productive year for Projekt: the label released 18 CDs, repressed 4 older out-of-stock CDs, and added 10 digital-only titles to the roster. The physical releases were a mix of standard editions and limited editions, choices that made sense with the ongoing devolution of the music industry. Stores hardly stock music anymore, so we’ve lost the “random discovery” that retails stores once provided. Instead, most sales are at Amazon or directly from our webstore; which means it’s only the dedicated and hardcore who are discovering Projekt releases. This leads to limited edition releases, to satisfy those specialized needs. These releases have a finite issue, and will not be repressed when they sell out; you should buy your copy while you can. Bare in mind that some titles are nearly sold out (see red text below). With that in mind, here’s a list of the 18 physical CDs from 2014.

Limited Editions

PRO291 Mercury’s Antennae: A Waking Ghost Inside 85 COPIES LEFT – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO294 Stratosphere With Dirk Serries: In A Place Of Mutual Understanding 13 COPIES LEFT – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO300 All my faith lost…: Redefine my pure faith — Sold Out! 
PRO301 black tape for a blue girl: Remnants of a deeper purity 2-LP Vinyl 100? COPIES LEFT – Buy the Projekt LP
PRO306 Erik Wøllo: Tundra (ep) – Sold Out! 
PRO307 Mirabilis: »Here and the Hereafter« 59 COPIES LEFT – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO308 Unto Ashes: Ghosts Captured 26 COPIES LEFT – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO309 Dirk Serries: The Origin Reversal 16 COPIES LEFT – Buy the Projekt CD

Standard Editions

PRO292 Alio Die + Sylvi Alli: Amidst the Circling Spires – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO296 Paulina Cassidy: Sugar Wingshiver – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO297 Steve Roach / Kelly David: The Long Night – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO298 Erik Wollo: Timelines – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO299 Loren Nerell and Mark Seelig: Tree of Life – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO302 Steve Roach: Structures from Silence (3-CD remastered) – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO303 Byron Metcalf and Mark Seelig: Intention – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO304 Byron Metcalf & Dashmesh Khalsa & Steve Roach: Dream Tracker – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO305 Steve Roach: The Delicate Forever – Buy the Projekt CD
PRO310 Steve Roach & Jorge Reyes: The Ancestor Circle – Buy the Projekt CD

What were your fellow Projekt aficionados purchasing?

2014 Top-10 sellers in the Projekt webstore

#1 PRO305 Steve Roach: The Delicate Forever – Buy the Projekt CD
#2 PRO307 Mirabilis: »Here and the Hereafter« – Buy the Projekt CD
#3 PRO291 Mercury’s Antennae: A Waking Ghost Inside – Buy the Projekt CD
#4 PRO309 Dirk Serries: The Origin Reversal Buy the Projekt CD
#5 PRO306 Erik Wøllo: Tundra (ep) – Sold Out! 
#6 PRO302 Steve Roach: Structures from Silence (3-CD remastered) – Buy the Projekt CD
#7 PRO308 Unto Ashes: Ghosts Captured – Buy the Projekt CD
#8 PRO300 All my faith lost…: Redefine my pure faith — Sold Out! 
#9 PRO297 Steve Roach / Kelly David: The Long Night – Buy the Projekt CD
#10 TIM30 Steve Roach: The Desert Collection (Volume One) – Buy the Timeroom CD

2014 Top-10 sellers in the Projekt Bandcamp Store

#1 PRO302 Steve Roach: Structures from Silence (Deluxe edition) – Buy the download
#2 PRO297 Steve Roach / Kelly David: The Long Night – Buy the download
#3 PRO303 Byron Metcalf and Mark Seelig: Intention – Buy the download
#4 PRO298 Erik Wollo: Timelines – Buy the download
#5 PRO306 Erik Wøllo: Tundra (ep) – Buy the download
#6 PRO310 Steve Roach & Jorge Reyes: The Ancestor Circle – Buy the download
#7 PRO305 Steve Roach: The Delicate Forever – Buy the download
#8 PRO144 Steve Roach: Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces (complete edition) – Buy the download
#9 PRO300 All my faith lost…: Redefine my pure faith – Buy the download
#10 PRO291 Mercury’s Antennae: A Waking Ghost Inside (300) – Buy the download

As somebody who loves data, I look at this and see a number of interesting points:
1) On both charts, 9 of the 10 titles are 2014 releases.
2) The top-6 at the webstore are completely different from the top-6 at Bandcamp. Not a single title on both!
3) Everything on the physical CD chart (except #10) was a Projekt-label release. The big sellers are Projekt’s own titles, as opposed to about 10 years ago, when we had non-Projekt CDs in the charts.
4) However, it’s not just the top-sellers that keep the webstore in business, it’s the overall totals; and that tells a different story.
          2014 Income from the Projekt webstore:
          Projekt CDs = 42%
          Non-Projekt CDs= 40%
          Projekt sale CDs = 18%
You guys still like the variety of music we stock in the store, and enjoy the deals you can get on Projekt sale CDs.
5) That’s a lot of ambient/electronic on these charts. It’s a chicken-and-the-egg question. Does Projekt release more electronic, because that’s what you buy? Or do you buy more electronic, because that’s what Projekt releases? My impression is it’s harder and harder to sell a Darkwave title these days, so I focus on the electronic releases.
6) 4 of the top-10 physical sellers are in the Darkwave genre, including 2nd & 3rd slot; while only 2 of the top-10 Bandcamp are Darkwave, and they are in the 9th & 10th slot. It’s interesting how electronic-focused these download sales are. Not what I expected, when I started using Bandcamp. I thought it would be more for the darkwave side of the label.
7) Look at #2 + #3 on the physical list. Both feature Dru on vocals. (Hi Dru!)
8) I think All My Faith Lost… would have been higher on the chart, if the release hadn’t been limited to 200. That was the first in the limited edition series, and I underestimated your interest in this band.
9) A lot of the electronic focus is the work of Steve Roach, an amazing & prolific artist. I counted recently. 60 of Projekt’s 310 releases are from Steve. If you consider that at least 50 of those 310 are out of print, that means just about 25% of Projekt’s CDs have Steve’s name on the cover! And even more, many of the titles consistant sellers at retail are Steve’s. I love his music, and it’s very rewarding to see that so many of you love it, as well.
10) Buy those limited edition releases before they are all gone!

I could stare at these numbers all day and come up with new observations. But actually, I’ve been not working the last five days, and will continue not working for the next three days. I’ve been in the studio creating new songs. I’ve never taken a staycation to work on music. It’s a lot of fun, though the days all seem to blur into each other, and day and night flashes by, kind of like that scene in The Time Machine. Harley yowls at me from the living room, and storms into the studio demanding pets… and new music comes from non-existence into existence!

Well… That’s a statistical wrap-up for 2014. Thanks for your ongoing support.

I hope your holidays have been wonderful, and that you enjoy a great New Years Eve with people you love.

Sam