If digital distribution paid you instantly after every sale, would you use it?

[fadeproof]

I'm working at INDISTR and I want to know what some of you gearslutz think about this. I tried asking a few questions while the panel was up, however none of them were responded to. What do you guys think of a distribution model set up like this?

INDISTR allows independent artists to distribute their music via the web and get paid 75% of the income, INSTANTLY upon it's purchase at prices they've set themselves. The service is free to use and we place no limits on how much music you can upload. And. of course, the artist stays completely independent as we don't have any contracts.

Does this sound good to anyone out there? I just want some feedback.

[Yosh!]

It depends on volume.

Actually getting paid instantly for every transaction sounds like a book keeping nightmare. Assuming my band was selling music every day, weekly would be more manageable, along with an itemized statement. If your marketing to independents than they're probably not going to have an full time accountant. Would they handle the royalty spilts as well or would the band have to do that work?

It's not really as simple of a question as it might seem on the surface.

-Y!

[1monkey1]

i put a few releases on my small indie up on itunes. before i did it, i asked them why they weren't being the middleman for more music stores. these guys are very reputable jazz distributors, and they said they had tried all the stores, and that only itunes had paid up.

so for me, the issue of receiving honest payment is more important than instantaneous payment.

things might have changed in the couple of years since i had this conversation, but the issue of small artists and labels getting paid has been and will continue to an issue for a while. you get paid more and better when you have leverage.

[Diablo]

Originally Posted by fadeproof

and get paid 75% of the income

Originally Posted by fadeproof

The service is free to use

Please explain the above quotes.

[fadeproof]

So, I'll break this down very simple. The artist receives 75% of the income for what they sell. If they sell 4 songs for $4, they make $3. If they sell a $10 album, they make $7.50. This is unheard of in digital distribution, and as far as we're concerned, it's magic compared to the competition. Look at the SnoCap's(failed) and the blast my music's (wait wait wait for your money), they CAN'T provide the service that we provide, how we provide it. Almost all of the digital distribution companies have a monthly fee, or you have to sell X amount of music until you can get paid, etc. We don't have any of those gimmicky catches to our service. It's simply upload your music, put the embeddable players of your music all over the web, market the fact your music is on INDISTR, and make money. It's super simple!!! No contracts, no maximum on how much music you can put on the site. Want to change your profile to add/edit/delete/or change your music? Go right ahead, your in control!! which is how it should be.

As far as the comment I've made about how it's a free service, that's it! We're a free service. INDISTR NEVER charges the artists money to use the site. The only revenues we make are the 25% we take from your music sales, which actually isn't even 25%, because we have to pay Papal fees.

We will also increasing the percent to 80-20 in about 3 months. Artists take 80%, INDISTR takes 20%(before Paypal fees)


As far as honesty goes, you can track everything down to how many people have listened to the 30 second clip of your music, to how many songs/albums you've sold and how much they've paid out. Remember, this is instant payment, so you can test it on yourself.