The avenues are endless when it comes to finding affordable distribution for the independent musician. Lets assume you have a produced album or podcast, you own a band website domain, and you want to sell digital copies of your album or podcast for download off of your website. There is a quick way for you to control your own distribution with EasyBe 1-2-3 music store.
Easybe is a php script that you integrate into your website. The cost is $68 for musicians or $168 for labels. If you want them to set up your store then there is an installation service fee, if you choose. Once installed, you now have your own digital storefront on your own artist/band domain. Easybe provides an online demo letting you preview a standard storefront example and the admin interface used for managing and configuring your store.
As an independent musician, you must take advantage of the free promotion arena. Ourstage is a great website that should be added to your music marketing plans.
The sign up process for Ourstage is free and all you have to do is upload your original music. The concept here is unique. Once you submit your music, you categorize it according to your genre. Your song is now placed against another artist and independent fans vote on which song is better. The more fan votes you receive, the quicker you climb up the charts. To keep the integrity of the ranking and judging system, fans must listen to at least 15 seconds of each track to proceed to voting on the next songs.
Tunecore is a music distribution service that offers distribution to online retailers such as iTunes for a flat fee. This arrangement also allows you to keep 100% of the money that you earned.
The cost is $0.99 per store per album, $0.99 per track, and $19.98 per album per year storage and maintenance. This price is awesome. Test the marketability of your tracks and upload your projects. Tunecore this week delivered 468 albums to iTunes and $143,844.34 was earned in music sales.
Songcast has an amazing service. You get to have the same benefits as a major label with this form of distribution. Songcast is a music distribution service that places your music with major online retailers such as iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, eMusic and many more if you choose. The beauty of this service is that you dont have to worry about waiting for independent submission to each retailer, they take care of the dirty work.
To get the process started, you create an account and upload your album. You then choose where you want your music. You have the option of distribution just on iTunes or adding more stores such as Napster, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Puretracks.
To begin you must make sure you have a barcode and album art for submission. Some services offer these at an additional cost. As an independent artist, I needed both and didn’t want to spend more money. Currently till the end of this month, Songcast is offering a FREE UPC Barcode and album cover design.
I would like to thank everyone for stopping by. The purpose of this blog is to discuss issues that are important for independent musicians regarding distribution and music success. My name is Mario Mendoza and am an independent musician as well as partner in an indie label based out of Los Angeles called Fried Roots.
Finding distribution was an obstacle for us initially because we didn’t know where to look. Along with my business partner, Sundy Macalinao, we bounced out several ideas and options on a whiteboard and began the search. I am learning daily from speaking with fellow artists that there are several ways to find affordable distribution and actually earn a living.
