Lets discuss other "digital" distribution options....

[jrm27]

Hello friends:

 

First, a bit of a disclaimer, the band I am in are TuneCore clients. We've been with them for about a year... maybe a year and a half. We have nothing bad to say. They are a great service, and we have benefited greatly from them. So, this thread is not to take away from their (or similar providers) services.

 

However, I am trying to think of ways that bands can distribute their music in non-traditional formats in live (and often non-live) settings. We sell quite a few cd's at our shows, however, there is a growing number of people who really could care less about cd's. They just want to be able to get the songs on their ipod (or music player of choice) and call it good. So... I've been trying to put together ideas that will help the customers get what they want in easier fashion.

 

One idea I toyed around with was simply loading our albums onto a laptop and allowing people to plug their ipod right in at shows. At which point we could just transfer the files straight over to their music library. Since there is no physical product to pay for, that stands to reason that we could see more profit per sale. At that point we could also bring the price per purchase down to make it more attractive, and still make more on the sale since the unit cost is much lower.

 

Or what about buying up a bulk of small flash drives and loading the songs onto that? Much the same as the laptop download, but it allows the user to experience the music on their own terms, when they want to, wherever they want to (provided there is a digital medium to play it through).

 

Of course, having the physical CD product is always a great thing for the consumer that wants a CD, so I see no reason to stop that. But how about other mediums? What are you trying that works?

 

(another disclaimer.. I'm sure there are plenty of problems with the suggestions above, but this is jsut a brain storming exercise!)

 

-jon

[FireWithin]

what about selling them a data cd containing mp3s?

[indistr]

Hello jrm27, my name is Kevin Hockin and I'm the marketing manager for INDISTR.com. We are an independent digital distribution company that has some very key features as to what you're trying to do. With INDISTR, you can upload all of the music you want (live music or non-live) and set the album price for whichever you'd like for the album as long as it's atleast $2. From there, the customer (fan) goes to your INDISTR profile page and downloads your music at whichever price it was that you set for it, however the minute they purchase the music, you get paid INSTANTLY through Paypal. We pay-out 75% of the revenues to the artists, which is higher than Tune-core (not to talk bad about them, because I think they are great for what they do) and is INSTANT. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have. Kevin@indistr.com.

 

Also, what band are you in? We may be interested in interviewing you for the site, as you'll see if you go to the site we run a INDISTR life blog, which features artist interviews as well as music industry related features.

 

Hope this helps, and we hope to see you soon over at INDISTR.

 

PS. INDISTR is FREE to use, so don't worry, we don't have any hidden charges for using our service.

 

Thanks again,

 

Kevin Hockin

[Standard8]

Tunecore pays out 100% with no commission, I guess what you are referring to is that the stores they sell in (Itunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, etc) take a cut.

 

Sounds like your company might be a useful tool to use in addition to Tunecore. Or perhaps you should set up with tunecore as one of their vendors!

[indistr]

What's up Standard8, you're from Athens? I grew up in Atlanta. Crazy.

 

Back to the topic, Tunecore is simply a means of paying a minimal 1 time fee to have your music put into the majority of the "big" digital distribution retailers.

 

INDISTR, however acts just like an iTunes, however we pay out more of a percentage (75%) and pay the artists instantly. Don't think for a second that when you sell a song on iTunes, through Tunecore for $.99, that you receive 100% of the $.99. When Tunecore says they pay out 100%, they mean they pay out 100% after iTunes takes their cut. From my understanding, Tunecore solely makes their money for the cost it takes to have an account.

 

I hope this clears things up.

 

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Kevin@indistr.com

[PeterTuneCore]

 

Back to the topic, Tunecore is simply a means of paying a minimal 1 time fee to have your music put into the majority of the "big" digital distribution retailers. INDISTR, however acts just like an iTunes, however we pay out more of a percentage (75%) and pay the artists instantly. Don't think for a second that when you sell a song on iTunes, through Tunecore for $.99, that you receive 100% of the $.99. When Tunecore says they pay out 100%, they mean they pay out 100% after iTunes takes their cut. From my understanding, Tunecore solely makes their money for the cost it takes to have an account.

 

 

Absolutely right! We can only pay the pay rate the stores give. It's the wholesale model: doesn't matter what the stores sell it for, they must pay the contractual wholesale amount. So iTunes can sell your song for $0.99, they still pay the pay rate. They could sell it for a penny, they MUST PAY the pay rate. TuneCore always pays you 100%. It's all in our FAQ.

 

Full disclosure, Kevin of INDISTR and I have been talking. He's a great guy! He can tell you more about how INDISTR than I can, of course. But do remember, we're passing along cash, we're not setting any rates. If INDISTR was one of the stores we sent your music to, whatever the agreed-upon wholesale rate wound up being, you'd get it from us when your music sold there, 100%. There's no "better" than TuneCore--"better" is a function not of the distributor (TuneCore) but of the store (iTunes, INDISTR, whomever).

 

We get out of your way. Sell with any store you want, or not, depending on your needs and whether you think there's a good deal in it for you. That's your call--it's all about choice!

 

--Peter

peter@tunecore.com

[indistr]

Ahh, the beauty of choice.

 

The bottom line is, for every artist that exists with full control of their own music, they should be wanting to get their music to their fans/customer base by whichever retailer exist to their liking, ESPECIALLY if you're an independent. I'm not saying whore yourself out and put yourself on the really low quality, non caring for the industry sites, but for the most part you want to be recognized and make that point of purchase to your fanbase.

 

So, this being said, get into the big digital retailers via Tunecore (because they offer the best deal for getting to those sites by paying out 100%) TRUST ME, and also run with an independent distribution outlet that leaves you in total control, such as INDISTR. It's a win-win for everyone.

 

Thanks for the insight Peter, we appreciate it!

[Netvalar]

If the venue you are playing at allows it you can run a live webcast charge nothing for the live aspect and record it the recordings then could be sold as any other recorded material you have. Of course you could disagree with me on the live part and charge for that too.

[Cry Logic]

 

what about selling them a data cd containing mp3s?

 

You're missing the point.

 

CD's are passé.

People don't want their music delivered on a CD.

They want it direct into their player.

 

iPods and MP3 players do not have CD drives.

[jrm27]

live webcast is an interesting idea! Good one.

[uzybear]

 

You're missing the point. CD's are passé. People don't want their music delivered on a CD. They want it direct into their player. iPods and MP3 players do not have CD drives.

 

 

 

really? i just think you're wrong; do you charge $20 for cd's? maybe try $5? if people have ipods they have PC's and if they have that they have a disc drive; you put the disc in, itunes does the work of turning that nice redbook into some overcompressed {censored}ing AAC

 

 

i guess you could sell a password to download from your website, or even flash cards or something

[indistr]

 

really? i just think you're wrong; do you charge $20 for cd's? maybe try $5? if people have ipods they have PC's and if they have that they have a disc drive; you put the disc in, itunes does the work of turning that nice redbook into some overcompressed {censored}ing AAC i guess you could sell a password to download from your website, or even flash cards or something

 

 

If people have ipods they have PC's????

 

I've had an iPod (various models) for the last 5 years, and have yet to own a PC. I've owned a mac for 8 years.

[sabriel9v]

 

You're missing the point. CD's are passé. People don't want their music delivered on a CD. They want it direct into their player. iPods and MP3 players do not have CD drives.

 

 

If someone is so lazy that they can't even rip the cd to their itunes, screw em. They're already not going to use your physical product.

[sabriel9v]

If people have ipods they have PC's???? I've had an iPod (various models) for the last 5 years, and have yet to own a PC. I've owned a mac for 8 years.

 

...He meant people with ipods usually own COMPUTERS

[slight-return]

If people have ipods they have PC's???? .

 

 

I believe uzybear, is using "PC" as "Personal Computer" (as oppsed to a 'frame, a mere terminal, dedicated devices, etc) as opposed to a brand, or even more nebulously, a general market segment that arose from (but is not back compatible with) "PC" branded IBM products.

 

It's not uncommon with ye olde schoole (ugh, I still have ForTran coding sheets) guys, and I'm hearing it out of newer-school guys where there is a bunch interoprability and the HW is larely abstracted

I think it's the middle-school ( wait, that came out wrong) guys that has "PC" married to IBM brand products

 

I haven't owned an IBM PC in years, and my first PC was a ][

[jrm27]

yep, I owned an ipod for years before I had a computer.

[Flovern]

You could sell an Artist Card. Check out DiscRevolt.com. I've used them for my cards. You upload a band or cd image that will appear on the front of the cards, upload your music to their site (MP3s) then you sell the cards at shows and people can go to your site and upload the tunes they want. The card has a code that they type in (like a prepaid music card) and off your go.

[Cry Logic]

 

"....you put the disc in, itunes does the work of turning that nice redbook into some overcompressed {censored}ing AAC..."

 

 

A few clicks on a web page is a lot easier than stuffing

around with discs.

 

Discs are already passé.

They are slow and cumbersome.

The latest wave of camcorders and audio recorders

are all solid state memory and/or using cards.

MacBook Air has solid state drive option.

 

We will soon be looking back on discs as relics of the past.

[sabriel9v]

 

You could sell an Artist Card. Check out DiscRevolt.com. I've used them for my cards. You upload a band or cd image that will appear on the front of the cards, upload your music to their site (MP3s) then you sell the cards at shows and people can go to your site and upload the tunes they want. The card has a code that they type in (like a prepaid music card) and off your go.

 

 

I think DiscRevolt is a rip off. You could just as easily forward fans to your myspace and they could see a snocap store set up or you could forward them to your tunecore account. Bands pay for DiscRevolt cards only to find out it just provides a link to something they could have shown anybody for free.

[Dean Roddey]

Actually many people do like CDs still. I'm one of them. I'm one of the most technical people on the planet, but I really don't want to have to worry about constantly backing up my whole music collection so as to avoid losing it if I have a disc failure. Most people aren't going to run a RAID configuration on their work-a-day machines, and even that doesn't guarrantee anything. iTunes is a quite buggy application and it screws people on a pretty regular basis, even without hardware problems.

[richardmac]

 

Actually many people do like CDs still. I'm one of them. I'm one of the most technical people on the planet, but I really don't want to have to worry about constantly backing up my whole music collection so as to avoid losing it if I have a disc failure. Most people aren't going to run a RAID configuration on their work-a-day machines, and even that doesn't guarrantee anything. iTunes is a quite buggy application and it screws people on a pretty regular basis, even without hardware problems.

 

 

I agree that many people do still like CD's. I also think it's probably silly to assume that someone's not going to buy one because they'd rather have the mp3's magically transported to their iPods. If they're not buying the CD, it's because they don't want the music.

 

But iTunes being buggy? No. I manage hundreds of Macs (have for years) and iTunes is extremely stable compared to other apps such as Microsoft Entourage, for example. But I can't speak for the Windows version.

[Dean Roddey]

 

But iTunes being buggy? No. I manage hundreds of Macs (have for years) and iTunes is extremely stable compared to other apps such as Microsoft Entourage, for example. But I can't speak for the Windows version.

 

 

I was speaking about the Windows version, but given that 90+ percent of all PC users are Windows users, that would basically make the Windows version the far and away dominant version of the product. S if it's buggy, then iTunes is defacto buggy for the bulk of its users.

 

 

I also think it's probably silly to assume that someone's not going to buy one because they'd rather have the mp3's magically transported to their iPods. If they're not buying the CD, it's because they don't want the music.

 

 

Or the do want it, and just got it for free more likley these days.

[strathound]

 

yep, I owned an ipod for years before I had a computer.

 

 

Damn, I'm getting old.

[strathound]

If I want to listen to music these days, I typically do it via my iRiver Clix and Napster. But I still buy CDs from bands at gigs. I like the physical product. If it's a band I really like, I'll bring a Sharpee and get it autographed. I love that. If I showed up with your show and you had nothing to autograph, I'd be seriously pissed.

[indistr]

i don't see the distribution of physical CD's going away any time soon, however as we've already seen, the sales of them will definitely continue to slow down. CD's will have more of a sentimental "value" in my opinion. Also, as the record industry continues to freak out over losses in sales and bull{censored} royalty stakes, the Majors are just going to be turning more and more into management companies. I'd bet they are really trying to work more and more into royalty contracts on touring, only because that is where a lot of the revenues are today.

 

The times are changing. I can't believe it's 2008, and this whole industry is not even close to being figured out. You'd think after 1999 or whatever year it was the napster killed music, that everything would be figured out within the next decade, but apparently I'm mistaken.