We all know that Tunecore and CD Baby will help you get your music on to iTunes.
Both companies have been doing this for a long time and have this down to a science. They provide things like UPC codes and make sure you meet iTunes formatting and quality standards. It costs money to work with them, but both have large and satisfied customer bases.
But now there is another option. As Digital Music News has reported, you can actually skip dealing with those companies alltogether and go straight to the source, with iTunes connect. The argument that DMN makes is that Tunecore, CD Baby, and similar companies are so cheap and easy that it’s not really worth doing the whole thing yourself.
But in the comments below the story a few people have brought up other interesting benefits to DIY iTunes.
- You have direct access to your original sales data, something which many digital pundits STILL manage to not understand.
- Going direct can be a hassle for sure, however, if you understand the power of data, have the relationships and deliver great content, you are in a position to reap the benefits of a direct relationship with iTunes.
- Using iTunes Connect …works well, and gives a label total, immediate control over their content.
- Support is a pain, but the system is generally intuitive if you pay attention to what you’re doing.
Take Control of Your Music
Voyno
7 Comments
I kept using mondotunes to release my CDs for a while. My pros and cons:
Pros:
-big plethora of outlets where they are selling your work
-unlimited number of releases
-optional extra promotion (these can cost quite a bit, but also should be worth it)
-generally pretty artist friendly
-responsive, solid support
-payment is always in time
-easy to use website interface…
Cons:
-…which still has a few minor bugs with it (some music uploads keep hanging)
-annual fee of around 40 $
-10% provision cut
-no public domain music at all (not even completely revamped arrangements of classical cues)
…just my 0,5 cent.
Frederic
http://fredericbernardmusic.com
Stay in control of all of your work, or else someone else will dictate how you present it, and what you are ultimately paid for it. CD Baby has aggregated two different projects I’ve been involved with, a total of 6 albums, over several years. In my experience the company has changed considerably since Sivers sold it. Growing pains prior, now the aftermath, and it appears they’re in transition again. Here’s the latest experiences: they contacted us offering to return some of our hard copy due to overstocking. (Or else they garbage the albums.) If we chose to have the albums returned, we’d have to pay for the shipping. (Fair enough; if it’s not selling right now, it’s not selling right now. But they contacted us, not the other way around, and asked us to mail in the extra copies.) When we went through the return process, after taking our visa # and being told the transaction was complete, we then received a message that the clear shipping amount we were given was only an estimate, and once they got around to returning our CD’s, they’d let us know how much they’re actually charging us. ?! We’ve never had anyone do business with us in this “oh by the way” after-the-fact manner. (We’re hoping they charge us less than estimated.) Anyway, the email said that they’re getting new submissions daily. Of course, they’re in business to make money so they want the fees generated by those new works. But this added fuel to a few fires that burned us, the one prior being our last release with them, where they refused to let us spell the album title the way it’s actually spelled. (It was a caps issue.) We were told that the large outlets (iTunes, Amazon) have rules on capitalization- which don’t actually apply to artists on major labels btw…think about that- so CDB was merely under their yokes. As an indie (so they proclaim) why not let the art be the art? They need to choose. Are they actually indie? Or one of the big players? While they make their choice, we’re in the process of having complete control of audio sales of our next project/s through our sites, and we’ll wait (forever if we must) while iTunes sorts through to decide whether they’ll take them or not. And we’ll continue to create if they don’t. Honestly, these corporations, large or not as large, mean nothing to your work. Think about why you would place your destiny in their hands.
I’ve used CDBaby in the past.
So far it’s pleasant experience.
But looking at MondoTunes comparison chart, that’s quite interesting services they have there.
We’ve tried both cdbaby and tunecore. We’ve recently released our newest project with http://www.mondotunes.com. check out the comparisons for yourself
http://www.mondotunes.com/mondotunes-vs-tunecore-cdbaby
they’re affiliated with interscope records and reach close to 800 stores (cdbaby and tunecore reach 20-30)
They’re the musicians choice and started by major label artists who actually give a sh** about giving artists a chance. no monthly/yearly fees and bs per store fees. about time someone skips the corporate bs.
check them out for yourself and ask other musicians!
how can i leave tunecore to go to monodtunes and what happens to the songs i already have with them monotones sounds good
Delivery is one aspect of the process. But I’m not teaching anyone anything when I say that the trick is not to get music into iTunes, but to get the music out of iTunes, 7Digital and the others through sales!
Unless you’re a label with a pretty savvy sales and marketing operation, I’d recommend going with people that facilitate your marketing (through the availability of widgets, stats etc).
Most people need all the help they can get, whether that be through a provider with marketing services, your own promo people or TopSpin. I certainly do.
While it is true that any artist may apply to use iTunes Connect to start a direct relationship with iTunes, we must keep in mind that it is exactly that, an application. iTunes does not guarantee that they will accept the application. To quote a comment recently left on the DMN blog article about this topic:
“This article is a bit misleading. It makes it sound like anyone can just head over to iTunes Connect and start the process. Not true at all. You have to fill out a form to be considered for a direct deal. You have to wait for their approval. I filled out the form and got this message from iTunes.
————-
Thank you for submitting your application and label details to the iTunes Store.
We are currently evaluating hundreds of applications, so it may take some time to respond. We will individually review and consider each application and will contact you should you meet the requirements for direct agreement.
Your file will be kept in our records for future reference so there is no need to apply more than once.
Once again, we appreciate your patience in this process.
Yours in music,
The iTunes Music Store Team“
___________________
But there are more things to consider than just access. As DMN alluded to, there are significant time considerations you’ll want to examine and weigh (a lengthy iTunes submission process and the time of managing you own account, sales reports, etc). CD Baby can guarantee delivery of your music to iTunes within 2 business days (given that you’ve correctly completed all the information in our simple signup process and your music/artwork meet partner requirements) and handle all the sales reporting, payment processing, and customer support for you. Plus, you only have to sign your music up with us ONCE. Then we’ll handle the rest, delivering it to iTunes, AmazonMP3, Spotify, eMusic, Rhapsody, etc. You avoid the hassle, headache, and confusion of managing multiple accounts, PLUS get the benefit of selling MP3s and physical CDs, CD-Rs, or vinyl from your artist page at cdbaby.com. And if you’re into actual human conversation, we’ve got a great customer service team who are happy to talk to you about your musical needs.
If anyone has questions about CD Baby’s services, they can check out http://members.cdbaby.com/, send an email to [email protected], or call 1-800-Buy-My-CD.