The Roscommon Decision
Adair Roscommon, an Irish singer who played fiddle, mandolin, and guitar, had been called "the Dublin folk scene's hottest up and-comer" by one reviewer. She had begun her musical career as a teenager with the lrish traditional band Fairlea Brigham. and after reading history at Trinity University in Ireland, Roscommon started writing her own songs and touring with other artists in the United Kingdom and the United States Her self-released 2003 album, Swallows Fly, did well she sold 2,500 copies of the album from her van and led to her being voted "Best New Artist of 2004" by the listeners of the influential Boston folk radio station WUMB. That local success caught the attention of Alison Brown. She liked how Roscommon combined the sophisticated, modern folk music of her native Ireland with the soulful strains of bluegrass she had a sharp, accessible sound that was both classic and modern
Retailers gave an album only about 90 days from its release date to generate meaningful consumer demand; if that failed to occur, they exercised their return privilege. Therefore, in order to ensure high demand by an album's release date, sufficient publicity and promotion had to occur months in advance. "From a financial point of view.' Brown said, "that means incurring all your recording , preproduction, and manufacturing costs six months or more before you will ever see any return." To keep an album available in the stores, a record label had to sell at least 50% of the total forecast sales in the first three months after the release date, and perhaps reach 75% in the first year. After that. sales might fall off quickly, with most of the remaining inventory sold the following year