News: TuneCore

Brooklyn, NY (Feb. 2, 2012) –  TuneCore, the world’s largest distributor of music, today announces a  groundbreaking agreement with simfy, one of the top music services in  Europe, that ensures TuneCore artists and songwriters will be paid for the use of their music.

The deal is groundbreaking as under the agreement, simfy will obtain the  rights to both the recordings and songs (aka the underlying  composition) represented by TuneCore and pay both sets of royalties  directly to TuneCore, as opposed to paying third party collection agencies that take significant percentages of the money and in some  cases years to pay it out. The deal allows TuneCore to pay its artists  and songwriters/publishers more money more quickly with unprecedented  transparency than via any other entity in the world.

Says TuneCore CEO and Founder Jeff Price:

“Simfy is a visionary music service for fans. It is also a music  industry leader that pays all royalties for the music in its service.  Music fans can now choose to use simfy not only for its great experience  with access to over 16 million songs but also because simfy will pay artists and songwriters all their royalties.”

The deal with simfy is one of many direct partnerships that TuneCore’s  Global Songwriter Publishing Administration has forged with the leading  digital music services. With the click of a button, any songwriter can  have songwriter music publishing administration via TuneCore’s Songwriter Service that collects money, registers  copyrights, polices rights globally and issues licenses.

About Simfy

Simfy gives music fans access to  over 16 million songs in the cloud. Users can listen to music, create  playlists, and share them via social networks. A number of service  options are available including free advertising-financed and subscription based premium services. Launched in 2010, simfy has  rapidly grown to become one of the leading music streaming providers in  Europe.

About TuneCore

TuneCore (www.tunecore.com)  is the largest distributor and has one of the highest  revenue-generating music catalogs in the world. In the past two years TuneCore Artists have sold over 500 million units  and generated over $250 million dollars in gross music sales and  songwriter revenue. In fall 2011, TuneCore launched its separate  groundbreaking Global Songwriter Publishing Administration Service, providing any songwriter global songwriter publishing  administration which registers their copyrights, collects money that is  rightfully theirs, protects and polices their copyrights and songs, and  issue licenses.

TuneCore is a low, flat fee service that distributes music to iTunes,  Spotify, eMusic, AmazonMP3, Nokia and many other major download and  streaming sites while taking no rights and no revenue from the sale of  the music. Artists are building careers, selling significant volumes of music and generating revenue through TuneCore.  Since its launch in 2006, TuneCore has more than 700,000 account  holders, including Grammy winners and unsigned artists alike. TuneCore  artists include Drake, Beck, Lil’ Wayne, Jay-Z, Aretha Franklin, Keith Richards, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails, Ricky Skaggs,  Paul Westerberg, The Civil Wars, Willie Nelson, They Might Be Giants,  Donna Summer, MGM Studios, Warren G, Bjork, Moby, High School Musical  cast members, Girl Talk, Brian Eno, Starbucks and hundreds of thousands more.

TuneCore, the world's largest music distributor, and SoundCloud, the online platform that lets artists, bands and content creators share their audio, have teamed up on a feature that allows any SoundCloud user to import his or her music seamlessly from SoundCloud to TuneCore for distribution.

A SoundCloud user can simply log in to TuneCore, connect their account and choose which tracks they'd like to distribute to iTunes, Amazon MP3, Spotify and many others, for a flat fee. See how it works: http://www.tunecore.com/soundcloud?ref=soundcloudpr

Says Jeff Price, president of TuneCore, " SoundCloud is an extremely elegant and cool service. Like TuneCore, it provides complete control to musicians allowing them to distribute their music out to where they want it to go. By working together an artist can extend that distribution channel to digital stores like iTunes."

Alexander Ljung, co-founder of SoundCloud, adds: "SoundCloud prides itself on allowing its users to share their creations across the web with no hassle. This integration allows users to get their music into the best digital music retailers with the same ease and simplicity. It's an exciting proposition."

Visit http://tunecore.com, and http://www.soundcloud.com

Touring tips from TuneCore (routing, advancing, what to bring):

http://blog.tunecore.com/2010/06/touring-logistics-tips-and-advice-by-jake-hartsfield.html

Hiring a mastering engineer tips from Berkleemusic (why mastering is important, when mastering is worth it):

http://erikhawkins.berkleemusicblogs.com/2010/06/09/hiring-a-mastering-engineer/

Berkleemusic is the award-winning online music school affiliated with the renowned Berklee College Of Music in Boston. Online Summer term starts June 28. Classes range from Music Theory 101 and Slap Bass to Online Music Marketing with TopSpin  http://berkleemusic.com

TuneCore is the largest distributor and has one of the highest revenue generating music catalogs in the world - In 2009, TuneCore Artists generated over $35 million in gross music sales from over 65 million paid downloads and streams. TuneCore is a low, flat fee service that distributes music to iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody and many other major download and streaming sites while taking no rights and no revenue from the sale of the music.  http://tunecore.com

TuneCore, the world's largest digital distribution and promotion service, together with MySpace Music, now offers MySpace musicians the ability to tap into their distribution platform for a special discounted rate. Starting today, MSM-registered users will be entitled to a discounted rate for TuneCore digital distribution. Registration with TuneCore will enable artists to now earn royalties on their licensed content and have any of their music and/or ringtones distributed to the iTunes Store, AmazonMP3, eMusic, and many others stores while keeping all of their rights and getting all of the money from the sale and use of their music. In addition, MySpace Music is providing a MyAds credit to market and promote themselves on MySpace as well as all the additional marketing and promotion, sales data, educational, and other services of TuneCore. Furthermore, in the coming months all MySpace artists will be able to log into TuneCore using their MySpace ID providing a more seamless experience. Details are located at: http://www.tunecore.com/myspacemusic

About TuneCore

TuneCore is the largest distributor and has one of the highest revenue-generating music catalogs in the world: In 2009 alone, more 61 million songs were bought for download or paid to stream earning TuneCore Arists over 30 million dollars.

TuneCore is a low, flat-fee service that distributes music to iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody and many other major download and streaming sites while taking no rights and no revenue from the sale of the music. Artists are building careers, selling significant volumes of music and generating revenue through TuneCore. Since its launch in 2006, TuneCore has distributed tens of thousands of albums and millions of songs to iTunes and other digital stores by Grammy winners and unsigned artists alike. TuneCore artists include Drake, Beck, Jay-Z, Aretha Franklin, Keith Richards, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails, Ricky Skaggs, Paul Westerberg, MGM Studios, Warren G, Bjork, Moby, High School Musical cast members, Ali Lohan, Cirque Du Soleil, Starbucks, and tens of thousands more.

Jeff Price (TuneCore CEO), George Howard (Carly Simon manager), Mark Isham
(award-winning composer), Liam Sullivan ("Kelly"), William Fitzsimmons (iTunes "Best
Singer/Songwriter") and Alejandro Manzano (Boyce Avenue) to Help Musicians
Understand Independent Success

TuneCore will be presenting a "How to Outsell A Major Without A Label" panel at

ASCAP's "I Create Music" EXPO at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles.

The panel of experts and highly successful independent artists, moderated by TuneCore

founder and CEO Jeff Price, will help musicians understand how they can make the

most of new opportunities in the music business. The artists on the panel have collectively

sold over 4.5 million songs without being signed to a label Kelly with over 2 million songs,

William Fitzsimmons with over 450,000 songs, Boyce Avenue with over 1 million songs.  All
have received an official TuneCore  silver, gold or platinum sales certification award.

The panel takes place on Thursday, April 22 at 3:15 p.m. in Hollywood Ballroom 2 at
The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, 1755 N. Highland Avenue in Hollywood. The
pre-registration pricing for the conference, which runs April 22-24, is $300 for
ASCAP members, $375 for non-members.

"The emerging model in the music industry is far more profitable than it ever has
been," Price says. "Technology has changed the way people can interact, discover and
listen to music. With these changes, more people are listening and consuming music,
more music is actually being bought and more fame and money are being generated in
more ways and going to more musicians than ever before."

The panel members will be:
William Fitzsimmons - Fitzsimmons has sold more than 250,000 songs without a label;
his album 'The Sparrow and The Crow' was iTunes' Best Singer-Songwriter Album in the
US and Australia. 
George Howard  - Howard is advisor to Carly Simon and Mark Isham, VP of Artists
House Foundation, strategic advisor to Wolfgang's Vault, a professor at Loyola
University and Berklee College of Music and the former GM of Rykodisc.
Mark Isham - Composer and recording artist Isham is a Grammy, Emmy, and Clio award
winner, and has also received Academy and Golden Globe nominations and ASCAP's Henry
Mancini award for Lifetime Achievement.
Alejandro Manzano - Manzano is the lead singer of the three-brother Florida-based
band Boyce Avenue, who have sold over 1.2 million songs without a label and are one
of YouTube's top eight artists of all time, with over 90 million views. 
Liam Sullivan - Actor, singer and comedian Sullivan's award-winning viral video
"Shoes" (starring his character "Kelly") has been viewed more than 25 million times;
his comedy album 'Shoes' has sold more than 500,000 downloads.

Jeff Price, moderator: Price founded and launched the music industry changing
delivery and distribution company TuneCore in 2006. Jeff is also co-founder, GM and
president of the independent record label spinART. He has appeared on Nightline,
CNBC, ABC News, CNN and MSNBC, and has been interviewed and quoted in the New York
Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Business Week.

About the ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO
Music legends Quincy Jones and Bill Withers and music superstar John Mayer will lead
the list of speakers at the 5th annual ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO. The three-day
EXPO will take place at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, April 22-24, 2010 in Los
Angeles, CA. The ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO is the premier conference for
songwriters, composers and producers. It covers all genres of music and includes
panels, workshops, master classes, keynotes, One-on-One sessions, song critiquing,
networking events, product displays, state-of-the-art technology demonstrations,
performances, and more. All music creators, producers, publishers and executives -
regardless of their performing rights organization affiliation - will benefit from
this unique creative event, which is designed around personal interaction, education
and networking. For more information, and to register, please visit
www.ascap.com/expo.

• Easier control of your releases and your media widget
• Cleaner and more robust accounting infrastructure
• the ability to upload and publicly display tour dates and a band photo.

• TuneCore is now the largest distributor of music, labels and artists in the world with more music released via TuneCore in one day than via a major over the course of a year.
• In 2009, TuneCore Artists sold more than one song every second at iTunes.
• TuneCore's catalog is the #1 Disc on Demand seller for Amazon.
• In 2009, the TuneCore catalog is projected to earn over $27 million in music sales.
• TuneCore formed a major strategic partnership with Universal Music and Amazon this year.
• TuneCore has grown to 27 employees, hiring nine in the past year alone.