Digital distribution sites....who to trust?

[Jaymz]

Theres many of these sites offering to upload your music to amazon, itunes, spotfly and will give you 100% of the royalties and a 1 off payment etc etc all that smutz....

But im interested in knowing of any places you can recommend...any places that some of your guys bands have used before to get your music onto the online market that keep you in the loop and have decent rates.

Thanks!

*Apologies for the double thread*

 

[shred101]

I'd be interested in more info about how to sell stuff online for a profit.

 

[JeffTD]

if your sales are going to justify it, Tunecore is the best IMO.

http://www.tunecore.com/

 

[shred101]

I shall check that bunny

 

[El_Gato]

reverbnation is a bit cheaper than tunecore. Also does spotify (not tunecore).

I didn't try it yet but I'm uploading the new album now. Let's see.

 

[Moonlight_Seeker]

Well, I heard CDbaby was not bad?

 

[arv_foh]

if your sales are going to justify it, Tunecore is the best IMO.

http://www.tunecore.com/

+1

 

[Russtopher]

Tunecore's best for wider distribution - iTunes, Amazon MP3, etc. Rates are good, and being able to pop up in iTunes searches, "users also purchased", etc. is great.

For quickest/easiest turnaround, Bandcamp is fantastic. No waiting period, immediate payments, and customizability are all features you don't get with Tunecore. But the lack of any social media aspect of it is a bummer.

 

[Trevoire520]

I will be keeping a keen eye on this. I can't decide if getting your stuff on Spotify is a good or a bad idea though...

 

[HeadCrusher]

Check this out if you don't know it yet: http://en.rebeat.com/home.html

 

[Jaymz]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Tunecore looks pretty cool, looks like it will be £30 and I can upload an album worth of songs and it will go to 19 stores. Not bad!

 

[updog]

So how many of you guys actually use Tunecore? Looks neat.

How does this withdrawal thing work, is it just as simple as they say? You log in, and withdraw the money you earn on your Paypal account?

Also, this is probably a stupid question but do you think they have anything to say about it if I'd release an album free with like 128kbps mp3's and then would sell high-quality versions via them? Since they don't take any percentage on the music sold, they probably don't care?

I was thinking of giving out free downloads of my band's upcoming album once it's ready, by releasing a 128kbps mp3 version for free and then selling a high quality version for those who like the music or want to support us. This Tunecore site looks great for my purposes.

 

[GoofPig]

Why such a high bitrate for free?
If i was you, i'd offer it for free at maybe 96kbps, and have them enter their email address or something so you can build a mailing list.

yeah its a bit scungy but without support for the artists, the fans can't get their music

 

[HeadCrusher]

Here's another site that looks great: http://bandcamp.com/

 

[updog]

Why such a high bitrate for free?
If i was you, i'd offer it for free at maybe 96kbps, and have them enter their email address or something so you can build a mailing list.

yeah its a bit scungy but without support for the artists, the fans can't get their music

Yeah I hear ya, the original idea was to start giving out the demo for free, and let people donate us if they'll feel the need. While it might work, I doubt we'd ever reach the plus side.

thanks a lot for the idea Hadn't even thought about a mailing list myself.

 

[GoofPig]

Yeah I hear ya, the original idea was to start giving out the demo for free, and let people donate us if they'll feel the need. While it might work, I doubt we'd ever reach the plus side.

thanks a lot for the idea Hadn't even thought about a mailing list myself.

No worries at all.
All part of the self promotion side of things.

 

[ahjteam]

spotfly

it's spotify

 

[aortizjr]

I think CDBaby is better if you are actually releasing a CD. They take a percentage of every sale.

Compared to tunecore.com you have to sell X number of copies to make up for the yearly membership fee and maintenance fee.

But for straight digital distro, tunecore is faster (CDBaby rips the music off a CD you send them) and seemingly a little better.

As far as the giveaway vs. selling, I don't think any of the sites care, since it is really your money in the end.

Whatever you do, don't let both do digital management. Some bands I know do CD Baby for CD's and Tunecore for digital. If you have both do digital, then most places will just kick you off.

 

[DanLights]

Bandcamp seems great, but having your album in Itunes is definitely the best publicity you can get from a digital distribution site. I don´t know the terms/fees for itunes though

 

[HeadCrusher]

If you want your songs on iTunes (and loads of other online stores) I once again suggest you check out this:

Check this out if you don't know it yet: http://en.rebeat.com/home.html