The Best of Both Worlds

[bcgood]

I like the idea of using CD Baby for selling CD's and then Tunecore for selling on iTunes because of the 100% cut that Tunecore has set up. Would it be possible to do something like this?

[PeterTuneCore]

Sure thing, bcgood. We certainly don't mind. TuneCore is non-exclusive, cancel any time, etc.

If you've any questions along the way, drop a line to support@tunecore.com and the support team will be there to help. Great folks!

--Peter
peter@tunecore.com

[Patrick Faucher]

Ok, I know that these blogs are not supposed to be promotional pulpits for us CEO's but I HAVE to chime in on this for the simple reason that it does the artist community a HUGE disservice to create the impression that there are only one or two worthwhile platforms for getting your product to market. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE what Tunecore and CDbaby have done - so much so that I spent the last 4 years developing a direct-to-fan sales platform that incorporates the best of what they do with some added features to make it stupidly simple for any artist to sell any type of product to their fans, from virtually any website.

So, for the record: nimbit provides iTunes distribution and physical CD sales. We take no commission on your iTunes sales, and our commission on your CD is less than $2 on a $10 disc. Furthermore, you can sell MP3 tracks, MP3 albums, T-shirts and merchandise of any kind, AND you can sell tickets to your shows all from the same storefront tool, the Online Merch Table. You can place your storefront on your website, Myspace, Facebook and any other site you have permission to post to. All this is managed from ONE account, not two or three.

I could go on about the marketing tools and other services we wrap around our tools, believe me, but I'll simply suggest that you go to our site at nimbit and compare the options for yourself. It's a free market and the only way artists are going to make informed decisions is if they know what all the choices are.

[joaquin]

I'm sorry if this is a naive question, but... Why is that I can't do all this electronic distribution my self? I mean, what are the fundamental Pros of being part of either of your companies? ...apart from the commodity of the service.
Are there any corporative requirements in order to be able to deal with Itunes or any other stores?
Thank you so much for your time!

[PeterTuneCore]

You can, Joaquin, but you'll almost certainy hit a wall.

iTunes won't put anything into their store (and neither will any other repudible service) unless they first enter into a contract with you, an agreement. iTunes does not want a million little agreements between themselves and artists. So unless you're a superstar or have a couple of hundred releases, it's VERY unlikely iTunes will let you in.

I can't comment on why iTunes has adopted this policy, but I can say that it creates a problem for "the little guy," even small or mid-sized labels. Aggregators don't just make digital distribution easier, simpler and better, but they actually make it possible for the vast bulk of independents, period.

Our experience is that people who try get a "we'll consider you" email from the stores, and then six months later get a polite, "Sorry, not interested." So for those people, it's TuneCore or one of the others or nothing. I hope they choose TuneCore, of course, but I'm biased, I co-founded the company.

--Peter
peter@tunecore.com

[joaquin]

Thank you Peter.
Does your company or the ones alike provide any type of promotion for the Material you carry? Or even for your site? What do I gain with having my CD in I tunes if it's going to be buried in the Matrix? I mean, if someone want to buy my music is because they know the artist...the most basic search thru Google should point you to my website...where I can have the Music for sale. Or even get you to a "my space" page...with additional Info.
I guess if you are already well known and have a solid promotion machine that supports you, people will look for your Music in the big stores...but...
Thank you again for your Time.............Joaquin.

[Derek Sivers]

Originally Posted by joaquin

Does your company or the ones alike provide any type of promotion?

We have a full-time promotion person who helps our retail partners (iTunes etc) call attention to certain albums, especially if they have something specific to hinge it on. (This artist is opening for Norah Jones in her European tour. This artist is in the closing credits to Gray's Anatomy in 3 weeks.)

Any specific info you can give your distributor will help them promote you.

But we've found for the most part that having strong initial sales will make the retailers more likely to promote you. This is the objective way they help decide who's worth promoting. You make the first 1000 sales happen, they'll help make the next 10,000 happen.

It's too vague to just say, "But listen to the melody! How about those harmonies? Great lyrics, right? You should promote this!"

I wish that would work, but because EVERYONE is saying the same thing about their music, instead it's best to use objective facts instead of opinions. Activity. Sales. Events.

Use your own creativity and knowledge of your fan-base to make the first 1000 sales happen. Then use those facts to encourage your partners to take it to the next level.

Final word : beware anyone promising you promotion. I was at a conference once where some guy was moaning to me that he went with this company called the Orchard because they promised him the front page of iTunes. Somebody else standing with me said, "Ohmygod! They promised ME the front page of iTunes, too!" Then I swear I'm not kidding : someone walking by us in the hallway, heard this, and said, "Wait - are you guys talking about the Orchard? They promised me the same thing!"

[bcgood]

Thanks for the info guys. That is interesting information about the sell a thousand first policy. It makes sense but it does highlight the typical catch 22 situation many unknown artists find themselves in where they have to prove that they can sell before they can be promoted to sell. It's sort of a strange cycle. I wonder if John Lennon was born say in 1985 and now at age 22 he was finally trying to get his solo material noticed if anyone would even notice outside of the hugely over saturated indie scene.

[PeterTuneCore]

Originally Posted by joaquin

Thank you Peter.
Does your company or the ones alike provide any type of promotion for the Material you carry?

We do indeed! Right now, we're giving away 7,000,000 albums from iTunes, comprised of 34 tracks, all of whom are TuneCore customers. Some big names, some are just people we thought would go well on it. A "slot" on this promotion was not for sale, but everyone who ever put anything up through TuneCore was eligible. We contacted them, asked if they wanted to be part of it, they signed a release and boom, exposure to 7,000,000 new fans. I love typing "7,000,000."

We put our customers' music into in-store radio play at 207 Guitar Center retail locations around the world. We let master-use license firms search the database for music to license. We have had several folks actually GET on the front of iTunes and be featured on iTunes.

What we don't do is CHARGE you for it, or make false promises. That's the big difference. Some things everyone's going to get, such as "newly delivered this week" mention on our site (that just went live several days ago, check it out if you'd like: http://www.tunecore.com/albums/live_this_week), and more is to come.

We all know exposure, which is what promoting gives you, is valuable: if someone says you get something valuable for free, watch out!

--Peter
peter@tunecore.com

[Derek Sivers]

p.s. My story about the Orchard promising the front page of iTunes was 3 years ago. Haven't heard about it since.