Dennis Ellsworth, award-winning and prolific singer-songwriter of Prince Edward Island, is on the edge of a massive triple-album release over the next six months. His Bound by Love “project”, as it might be more accurately referred to, consists of 32 new songs spread across 3 albums and 3 EPs. Rather than the free-for-all bonanza of online streaming that has become the norm of a modern release, Ellsworth is bucking the trend in favour of something he might actually stand to make a living from.
The music industry has been experiencing something of a decline over the last twenty years. To combat rampant piracy we’ve arrived at a system so ubiquitous, so accessible and so inexpensive that the alternative would seem inconvenient. The one major downside: releasing music that has increasingly become dependent on a digital medium has become less of a financially viable career path and more of a misguided marketing tool.
Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, has gone so far as to state that if artists want to make a living from recording and music, it is no longer sufficient to release an album once every 3-4 years. According to Forbes Magazine, Ek is now worth $4.9B. Meanwhile, most artists, who have been all but forced to adopt his business model, are not sharing in that prosperity.
While a broken royalty system seemed to be hurtle that could eventually be overcome, though long overdue, the issue has been brought to the forefront by COVID-19 and a year without live performances.
“These strange days are troubling for those of us who make our living writing and recording music,” said Ellsworth. “With COVID-19, live music revenue has vanished, and with a broken royalty system for streaming, artists are taking a real hit. We’re not coming together and sharing experiences like we used to. Whatever rules we were following before are up for reimagining.”
For Ellsworth, that means returning to a model traditional model. A prolific troubadour, Ellsworth has a wealth of material to draw from, and that in itself has afforded him certain opportunities. Bound by Love’s 32 songs with be available in full via Bandcamp, largely in a physical format, but he’ll be making a sampling available in the form of 3 EPs that will be rolling out over the next 6 months.
“It’s been a very creative time for me, despite how rough the industry has been hit, and I thought, what better time to do something wild,” says Ellsworth. “Bandcamp has gone above and beyond for artists during this precarious time, and as such, the full-length albums will only be available there, in CD, LP, and digital formats.”
For Ellsworth, the upheaval that the year has presented us with isn’t a forecast of doom or a final nail in the coffin, but an opportunity for reinvention. Even if it means having to wait things out for a bit.
“I think at this point, with all the injury artists have sustained, it’s time to kick back or pack it in. And the pandemic has given us the chance to change the rules to our advantage. I guess it was always a possibility, but it seems like 2020 just overfucked with everything and left us all with an enhanced sense of survival,” says Ellsworth.
“My head was already full of thoughts about how ripped off artists were and ideas on how to take some of that back. Instead of a defensive move, I created an offence to try to claw back some money from an industry keen on sucking the artists dry.”
Ellsworth says he expected streaming models have will take a backseat but are likely to still play a huge role. “I think we have to see it as a tool and not the standard or essential to our release.”
Other artists from across Atlantic Canada have adopted the approach for a handful of recent releases, including The Stanfield’s Welcome to the Ball and Dylan Menzie’s holiday album, I Guess I’ll Cancel Christmas, which are only available for purchase aside from single, but it might prove to be a growing trend.
Ellsworth has already released his Flowers In Your Head LP, which he describes as “a meditation on fatherhood,” with the lead single, “Becuz of U” landing on our Top 100 Songs of 2020.