South Bend Tribune
South Bend, IN
April 4, 2004

Ten Mile Tide crests on wave of Internet exposure

The record industry has been experiencing steadily declining CD sales the past three years, and instead of exploring possible causes -- such as high prices and a lack of quality music -- record labels have chosen to blame the Internet.

The Recording Industry Association of America, the main lobbying group of the major music companies, has filed hundreds of lawsuits against people illegally downloading music across the country.

But not everyone in the music industry views the World Wide Web as the enemy. In fact, the San Francisco-based band Ten Mile Tide has embraced it. In partnership with Kazaa, one of the top peer-to-peer file sharing systems, the group has found a creative way to distribute its music. Without a recording contract, the acoustic folk-influenced rock band has achieved international success thanks to Kazaa users downloading more than 10 million songs for free.

"We really just didn't want to wait around for a record deal," Ten Mile Tide guitarist Justin Munning said of their decision to sign up with Kazaa. "We wanted to get out there. We didn't want to have to wait around for someone to tell us that we can go on tour."

Munning co-founded Ten Mile Tide with his twin brother, Jason, (also a guitarist), and violinist Steve Kessler while they were students at Stanford University. Marty Balou (bass) and Adam Weissman (drums) complete the group.

"Right after we graduated, we played in San Francisco for a couple of years without really going anywhere else," Munning said. "Then, we got hooked up with Kazaa."

Munning said they saw "an exponential increase in the number of people downloading our songs" immediately. "The first week we had a couple of thousand," he said. "The next week we had ten thousand. In a month, it was like a million or something."

Conventional wisdom in the industry dictates that artists cannot survive financially when their songs are given away free on the Web. Ten Mile Tide proves the contrary, as the members have been able to quit their day jobs recently and pursue a music career full time. The band makes money from touring and sales of their two albums, "Flow" and the recently released "Midnight Is Early," which are available almost exclusively online and at concerts. The band is currently on their second national tour.

"By giving away our music free on the Internet, it has allowed us to be a touring band," Munning said. "First of all, by getting people out to shows no matter where we go. Secondly, our Internet CD sales have increased by like a hundredfold."

Instead of the why-buy-the-cow-when-you-can-get-the-milk-for-free philosophy, Munning said the band has discovered that its fans are willing to buy the CDs even though they have already downloaded them.

"People like finding a new band," he said. "People come to our shows and tell us they downloaded all of our songs, but they buy the CDs. I think they like supporting us."

The members of Ten Mile Tide are not entirely adverse to signing with a record label, but they have found that they can make a decent living without a record contract.

"We haven't excluded the possibility," Munning said. "If we were to get a record deal, we would want it to be favorable to us and on our terms. Our online CD sales have gone up, and we get all of the money from that. If we were to sign a record deal, it would just be a small percentage."

Plus, Munning sees the record industry's stubborness to embrace online opportunities might lead to bigger problems down the road.

"I think it is important to realize that this is the future," said Munning. The music industry's "inability to adapt to the whole thing is probably going to be a problem for them in the near future."

For Ten Mile Tide, the Internet enables the band to directly reach its audience and grow a fan base through word of mouth.

"We like the grassroots approach," Munning said. Although they are "not making the kind of money that the big acts make on MTV, or anything, we are able to make enough to get by and do what we love doing."

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