Best music distributor/seller

[Volitan]

Which one is the best? It needs to be free and are there any that don't require a credit card...I might try snocap, but they need a credit card # which I don't have, plus, they'll probably charge me somewhere down the line I tihnk.....

[PeterTuneCore]

Which one is the best? It needs to be free and are there any that don't require a credit card...I might try snocap, but they need a credit card # which I don't have, plus, they'll probably charge me somewhere down the line I tihnk.....

Distribution is a very intense and complex service, Volitan. I sincerely doubt anyone's going to give it away for free. Eventually, you'll lose money, and that's only right: it's a very valuable service, and distributors work hard, and take on a lot of risk, they deserve something. They want to succeed too!

Digital distribution, getting your music into places where fans can find it, hear samples of it and, presumably, buy it as a stream or download, are what I know best about, since I co-founded TuneCore. We chose a model we felt was most fair: we ask for a flat, up-front fee, and then, once you start making money, you keep it all. Other places will charge an up-front fee AND take a "back end," a percentage of everything you make, forever and without a cap. If you sell even a small bit of your music, that will translate into a lot of money, so we decided against that model, finding it unfair given the new ways the Internet lets distribution work.

Hope this helps.

--Peter
peter@tunecore.com

[Volitan]

Distribution is a very intense and complex service, Volitan. I sincerely doubt anyone's going to give it away for free. Eventually, you'll lose money, and that's only right: it's a very valuable service, and distributors work hard, and take on a lot of risk, they deserve something. They want to succeed too!

Digital distribution, getting your music into places where fans can find it, hear samples of it and, presumably, buy it as a stream or download, are what I know best about, since I co-founded TuneCore. We chose a model we felt was most fair: we ask for a flat, up-front fee, and then, once you start making money, you keep it all. Other places will charge an up-front fee AND take a "back end," a percentage of everything you make, forever and without a cap. If you sell even a small bit of your music, that will translate into a lot of money, so we decided against that model, finding it unfair given the new ways the Internet lets distribution work.

Hope this helps.

--Peter
peter@tunecore.com

I'm working on that now. So the $20 "per album maintenance and storage (per year)"......Is that a one time charge. Say I release 2 songs (singles) on tunecore now, and then pay the $20, when I put up the whole album up, will I have to pay that $20 again???

[PeterTuneCore]

I'm working on that now. So the $20 "per album maintenance and storage (per year)"......Is that a one time charge. Say I release 2 songs (singles) on tunecore now, and then pay the $20, when I put up the whole album up, will I have to pay that $20 again???

iTunes won't let you change something once it's been sent in. None of the stores do. So if you send in a single, that's it--that's your album (a single is just an album of one song, according to the stores). It's just like a regular record store: if you put a CD single on the shelves, you can't add tracks later, you have to release a whole album.

So everything you put into the stores is its own entity. Many artists release a single, ask us to deliver it to the stores, and later in the year, when their album is complete, they release the whole album, ask us to put it in the stores, and either leave the single up or ask us to take it down. Either way, we've delivered two albums for you, so we do have to charge you for both.

For many, the twenty bucks or so that it costs to put up a single is totally worth it, for the advance buzz and sales it generates. Others prefer ti wait until the whole album is finished before sending it to the stores.

The choice is yours!

--Peter
peter@tunecore.com

[indistr]

Just an FYI Volitan, over here at INDISTR.com, you can add/remove as much or as little music you'd like to your profile, when you like, with no penalty.

YOUR in TOTAL control at INDISTR.

Hope this is helpful.

Kevin Hockin
Kevin@indistr.com

[cactuscool3r]

The library.