Did everyone hear how Ashton Kutcher donated $100,000 to fight malaria when he beat CNN to one million followers on Twitter? Ok, here’s what I was thinking…..

I obviously don’t have that kind of money, but I realised I WOULD if I sold 1 million copies of my first CD. Even if ALL of that was from digital sales on iTunes where I only make about $4 per album sold, I could still afford to donate $2,000,000 to charity (even after paying my  taxes). While Mr. Kutcher’s donation was definitely a good deed, let’s be realistic for a moment; $100,000 is a small dent in his bank account. If CNN beat him to a million followers and made the contribution instead, $100,000 would have an even less significant percentage. I’m proposing to commit almost half of my earnings from the sale of this album to the cause.

Why 1 million copies? Isn’t that unrealistic? I think a target of $2,000,000 will be easier to reach than something lower. Here’s why:

You’ll have to admit that the absolute absurdity of my plan is quite intriguing. 2 million copies of a classical trumpet album by an unknown trumpet player from Toronto with no record contract…….during a global recession????? NO one sells a million albums of anything anymore. On top of that, this is music of a genre that is considered one of the least commercially viable. yet here you are, still reading about my plan. I have no small fortune to spend on advertising, nor do I have any existing fame to build this campaign on. All I have is a website, a blog, a 7 track album of surprisingly good classical trumpet music and YOU to help me raise this $2,000,000 for cancer research. Pulling this off will make the “grassrootsness” of Mr. Kutcher’s efforts seem like a corporate affair. I’ll need YOUR help to spread the word. If you’re reading this on my blog, you’re probably tech-savvy enough to buy the album from iTunes and save some money. (the complete album is $6.93 oniTunes, the CD is $10 USD + shipping). When we get to October 23rd and that cheque is handed to the Canadian Cancer Society, we’re all going to feel like we accomplished something pretty special. I’m also convinced that if a just few of the right people in the media get word of this, getting to 1 million will be a walk in the park. With the global economy the way it is now. We’re all looking for a collective victory right now. This is something that can transcend religion, politics, race, and nationality.

Now, to be fair, and continue with my own call to “be realistic”, I’m not going to pretend this isn’t a publicity stunt, because it is. I’m not going to pretend that I’m not doing this to sell my album. I’ll wholeheartedly admit that my main motivation for this is to sell 1 million copies of my first album. At least I’m being upfront about it, right? The very pleasant side effect of my experiment is a $2,000,000 donation to the Canadian Cancer Society. 

So finally, here’s the deal:

If I sell 1 million copies of my 1st album (Physical CDs OR complete album downloads onCDBaby or iTunes) by October 23, 2009, I will donate $2,000,000 to the Canadian Cancer Society.

To everyone who has already purchased the album, don’t worry, I’m not resetting the counter with this announcement. Your purchase just gained the added value of helping of something more important than a young musician’s career because I’m counting all past sales towards the target of 1 million copies. To everyone who doesn’t have the album yet, I’m inclined to recommend that you buy the album from iTunes and save a few dollars. I’d also prefer you buy the album from iTunes for a couple other reasons: 

1. We get the sales recorded by an impartial 3rd party without having to hire an accounting staff.
2. You can trust Apple to report iTunes sales because it’s also in THEIR best interest to report as many sales as possible (helps the value of their stock, etc)
3. We don’t have to worry about shipping anything.
4. You’re saving money, the actual CD costs at least $10 USD
5. Instant gratification: you pay, you download the album in seconds.
6. People with an iPhone or iPod Touch don’t even need a computer to buy the album, they can get directly from their devices.  
7. When we get close to our target, we can approach Apple to see if they’ll match our donation

Some have suggested that I organize concerts and sell other merchandise to help with the cause. I think focusing on iTunes sales alone is far more cost effective.

• All the money we need to spend to make this happen has already been spent.
• We don’t have to manufacture anymore CDs unless there are orders for CDs. 
• We don’t have to hire anyone to keep track of sales because people are already being paid to do that at Apple and my CD manufacturer. 
• We don’t have to spend any money on office space, hiring people to handle the orders. 
• Marketing won’t cost anything either because it will start off with you telling your family and friends until this becomes big enough to get media coverage.

Why the October 23rd deadline? That’s 261 days after the release of the album.

A final word to the skeptics. If everyone who reads this buys the album, convinces 2 people to buy the album and then convinces ANOTHER 2 people to buy it…..It would only take 20 days to reach 1 million. We have till late October. =)

To visit my website and purchase Two Hundred Sixty-One: Vol. 1 from a variety of sources: http://www.whoissuresh.com

Click here to go directly to the iTunes Store page for Two Hundred Sixty-One: Vol. 1

Click here to buy and download the album from CDBaby

Click here for more information about the Canadian Cancer Society

Thank you all for your help =)

              Suresh S.

–iii-<