Music Industry Survival Manual-Volume 1.6, Tips to Sell More Music Online.

8/8/2019 Music Industry Survival Manual-Volume 1.6, Tips to Sell More Music Online.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...................................................3

TIPS TO SELL MORE MUSIC ONLINE.......................8

THE DO-IT-YOURSELF RECORD COMPANY............19

TUNECORE FACTOIDS..........................................23

MORE RESOURCES..............................................25

TUNECORE MUSIC INDUSTRY SURVIVAL MANUAL

ALL TEXT COPYRIGHT 2010 TUNECOREFREE FOR USE SPREAD IT AROUND

Covering Popular Songs

Recording Holiday Themed Music Searchability iTunes Tips & Tricks Videos Blogs

by Jeff Price, founder of TuneCore

by Donald S. Passman, author of All You Need to

Know About the Music Business


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TUNECORE AD


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album sales are down...and the music industry is

thrivingIn all the doom and gloom discussion o de-

clining CD album sales, the upside has been

completely missed. The majority o music

now being created, distributed, shared,

bought and discovered is happening outside

the traditional music industry. Even better

more revenue is being made by artists and business via the ame

o musicians than ever beore. A band breaking is no longer

singularly based on the Herculean task o selling albums.

This was not always the case. In 1991, the Neilsen-owned Sound-

scan launched and shook up the music industry by electronically

tracking and reporting weekly albums sales

based on inormation reported to

it rom music retail stores across

the country.

The once a week Soundscan

sales reports measured what

bands were breaking by report-

ing how an album sold the previ-

ous week. These reports were

INTRODUCTION BY JEFF PRICE, FOUNDER, TUNECORE


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so accurate in reecting who was popular that labels, managers

and artists used the data to leverage MTV, commercial radio, retail

stores and to justiy additional marketing. Alternatively, they would

use this inormation to determine that a record, and by extension

the artist, was dead.

But technology and the Internet

changed the model. With unlimited

shel space, unlimited on-demand

sel-replicating inventory and access to

sel-distribution, everything can be instock at no detriment to anything else.

In 2009 alone, sel-distributing bands

via TuneCore sold and got paid rom

streams rom over 61 million songs and

albums earning over $32 million in music sales revenue rom iTunes

and other digital download stores. Unsigned artists like Nevershout-never, Boyce Avenue and Kelly sold over 1,250,000 songs each

across their catalogs o releases. Secondhand Serenade, Nickasaur,

Harry & The Potters, Jesus Culture, Colt Ford, Josh Kelley and

thousands more sold hundreds o thousands o songs rom multiple

EPs, ull length albums and singles - none o which

is picked up and/or accurately reported on bySoundscan or other music reporting mechanism.

These unsigned artists now represent one o the

most valuable music catalogs in the world.


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And creative bands continue to change the paradigm. At Hot Topic

stores artists include their music or ree with purchase o a t-shirt.

Other bands sell hundreds o thousand o copies o their music as

game les to download and play on Rock Band. Fame rom social

networking outlets allow some artists to sell large amounts o cellphone wallpaper, get endorsement deals, appear on TV and garner

advertising ofers and licensing opportunities. Still others are

breaking in other parts o the world and get own in, all expenses

paid, to play estivals to tens o thousands o people.

Record labels have picked up on this trend and now do deals thattreat the artist as brand and looking to participate in all the revenue

streams tied into ame, not just rom owning masters and only mak-

ing money when the music sells.

Despite the apparent bad news about

the decline in album and CD sales,the truth is the music industry as we

have known it is in transition, and the

emerging model is incredibly excit-

ing, larger and ar more protable

than it has ever been. Technology has

changed the way people can interact,discover and listen to music. It used

to be just commercial radio, MTV, buying a CD and getting a mix

tape. Now music has been unleashed rom the 5 circular disc and

is everywhere to buy, stream, discover share and listen to. With

these changes more people are listening, discovering, and consum-


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ing music. More music is actually be-

ing bought then ever beore. With this

change, more artist service industries are

emerging and more ame and money are

being generated in more ways and goingto more musicians and businesses than

ever beore.

The topic o conversation should not be

about declining album sales but about the new model. The rally cr

o the RIAA should be make more music as every artist can nowchoose to get signed or be their own label and sign themselves.

The music industry is nally growing to its ull potential and this

should be music to all o our ears.


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Youre an artist, composer, perormer, you make music: you used

TuneCore to distribute your music into iTunes and other stores.

Here are some easy ways to get discovered and sell more music.

Cover versions o songs

sell well. Known songs

have a built-in audience

already. People looking

or Let It Be or Amer-

ica the Beautiul know

what they want. I you

cover (record your own original version) o these songs you cre-ate a way to get discovered and make money. And once someone

buys a song o yours they are more inclined to listen to and buy

other songs you have recorded.

Also, naming your song the same name as a more popular song

allows it to surace when people search. With one click to listento a 30 second stream within the digital stores, you can increase

getting heard. However, you do want to be careul as to not make a

potential an angry at you or tricking them into listening.

TIPS TO SELL MORE MUSIC ONLINE

Cover Popular Songs

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Record Holiday-Themed MusicMusic tied into or about a holiday sells well. For example, spooky

Halloween sound eects or scary themed music (i.e. Tubular

Bells, the theme song to the movie the The Exorcist) sells enor-

mously around Halloween. Christmas music sells really well around

the Christmas season. This ties back to covers: a cover o White

Christmas or Jingle Bell Rock can und

you through the rest o the year. Dont

orget other, perhaps neglected holidays

throughout the calendarthere is no

doubt the world needs a great Ground-

hog Day or Columbus Day anthem. Be

sure to name your songs with easily

searchable words.

SearchabilityStores like eMusic, iTunes and AmazonMP3

have millions upon millions o songs in their

stores. Most customers use the search unc-

tion in the store to nd music, so take advan-

tage o it: put words in your album, artist/band

and song titles that will help you show up when people search. Are

you a mariachi band? Put the word mariachi in your name. Is your

album a collection o nature sounds? Consider words like orest

and natural, and so on. This is a gray area: i your music sounds like

Bob Dylan, dont necessarily use his name, but you could use words


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with association, like olk. Its your music, but ask yoursel, what

words can I use in my band name, album name and/or song name

that will cause my music to appear when people search?

iTunesiTunes is the largest seller o music in the world and sells more

music than any other music store (physical or digital) in the world.

Here are some tips on how to get discovered in iTunes.

Create an iMix

An iMix is a playlist that youve chosen to publish and make avail-

able to others in the

iTunes Music Store.

To get your music

to surace and be

discovered more, cre-ate an iMix (or many

many iMixes) with

a ew o your own

songs (say three or so) and other songs (we suggest 9 or so) by

more popular artists in the same genre. These iMixes will surace

at the other artists album iTunes pages as well your own, allowing

a an o the other band to discover you.

In addition, give your iMix an interesting name (as opposed to

Cool Songs I Like), name it something like, Music to Break Up


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To, or Songs that Morrisey Wishes He Could Write. Clever titles

catch peoples attention.

The more iMixes you seed into iTunes, the higher the probability you

will be discovered.

Rate Your iMix

iTunes allows anyone to rate an iMix with between zero and ve

stars. Have as many people as you can rate your iMix with ve stars.

High-rated iMixes get more attention and end up on album pages.

Check out the iMix Notes eld. Takea ew moments to write something

and talk about your play list. A great

description combined with a high rating

will increase the odds someone will

discover and check our your play list.

Album Reviews & Ratings

STATISTIC: Albums in iTunes with

customer reviews sell 33% more than

albums without them. Be sure to rate your own album 5 stars, and

when you review it: thats a great place to describe the album and

the sound. I you happen to have reviews about your music (romblogs or magazines), you can re-type them here.

In addition, ask your ans and riends to write reviewsthe more

reviews the better! Reviews add legitimacy and inuence purchases.


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In your review, think about what might make someone curious

aboutyour music. For example, posting a review that says, Dude,

this rocks will have little impact. A review that says, This reminds

me o The Beatles i they had Jimmy Page as their lead guitar and

Chris Martin backing up John Lennon, will cause a lot more inter-est.

Get creative and thoughtul with what you write. Consider what

would cause you to listen to a song. Also note, iTunes lets its user

decide i a review was Useul. I you write an interesting review

and then have your riends, ans and amily indicate the reviewwas useul, the review has a better chance o being the rst one

people see when they reach your page in iTunes.

An Eye Catching Art Design

The nishing touch on your music is the visual design o its pack-

age, whether youre going to be selling online or in physical stores.A great album cover can catch someones eye and get them to

listen. I you cant create your own

design, hire a designer to give your mu-

sic more than just a pretty cover; they

can give your music the visual image

that completes your project and drawspeople in to listen.

Collaborating with a graphic designer

is as easy as talking to them about what


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kind o image or eeling you want people to have when they listen

to your music. Working with original artwork or photos you supply,

theyll give you dierent options to choose rom, and you can work

with them to come up with nal art that youre happy with.

Tell a Friend

You can send album

reviews or playlists or

iMixes to anyone rom

within iTunes via the iTunes Tell A Friend option. Just click on the

Tell A Friend link in the iTunes store (located next to the albumart), enter an email address and iTunes does the rest. This is a great

way to communicate with ans that signed up or your email list that

you have a new album or song out. Its also a great way to get more

people to rate your review and/or iMix and help these to surace

more.

iTunes Afliate Program

With the ree iTunes Afliate Program, you can link and sell your

own music (or anyones else in the iTunes store) via any Web page or

email. With each sale rom iTunes that originates rom your afliate

link, you will earn a 5% commission on all qualiying revenue gener-

ated (IMPORTANT: terms apply, so be sure to check them out). Thismeans that o o each qualiying sale, you will get paid a percentage

o the money paid to iTunes by an iTunes customer, i that customer

came rom your afliate link.

In addition, the iTunes buy button next to your song on your own


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website, blog, etc is recognizable and might add urther legitimiza-

tion to you as an important artist.

The afliate program auto-generates links or you. All you have to do

is place them on any Web page or within an email(s). Its a simple andvery eective way to sell your music. Ater all, most people going to

your home page or receiving your emails are already interested in

your music and band.

To get started, visit this page:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/itmsLink-Maker.

For more inormation on how to become an iTunes afliate or ree

and how to use the program, visit http://www.apple.com/itunes/a-

liates.

Make Easy Weblinks to Your Music

Tunes has recently added a eature that makes it easier or you to

easily create web links directly to your content in the iTunes Store.

You can link directly to any artist/band page using the convention:

http://itunes.com/artistname

and you can also link directly to albums/singles using the convention:

http://itunes.com/artistname/album

Here are a couple examples:

http://itunes.com/rollingstones

http://itunes.com/nineinchnails/theslip


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Video

Make a Video

You, your riend or a relative havean old video camera, probably even

a digital video camera. You can

even rent one or a ew dollars a

day in most areas. Heck, use your

cell phone, but MAKE A VIDEO!

This can be almost anything, andthe look and eel o it can be as

proessional or as amateur as you

can aord or want. Use your imagi-

nation to nd clever ways to let a

minimum budget and tools work to

your advantage. Turn o the video cameras mike and let your musicbe the soundtrack. Use ree tools on your computer do the editing

and synching. Use what you have, at all stages.

Most importantly, get CREATIVE. Make something that others wan

to see think o videos like the Treadmill Dance by OK GO, or St

Wars kid, Mentos and Coke guys, Kellys Shoes video, Chocolate

Rain, Sick Puppies Free Hugs video, Boyce Avenues live acoustic

perormances o popular songs, and more (i you dont know these

videos, just do a quick Google search to see them).


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Post Your Video

Put it on YouTube, use TuneCore to put it on iTunes, put it on every

ree streaming video or torrent site that will take it. Post the links

on a blog, tell your riends, put it on MySpace, and spread the word.

Make sure you have a link to your music on iTunes on your YouTubepage, so people can buy the music ater they watch the video!

Blog

MP3 blogs can cause signicant music andgig ticket sales. There are currently tens o

thousands o MP3 blogs with more spring-

ing up each day. I the MP3 blog community

embraces your band, you could potentially

have thousands o them talking about you and providing MP3s o

your songs to hundreds o thousands o music ans. What better wayto get the word out than by a real grass roots campaign o music ans

talking about you because they love what you do? With the Internet,

they have a vehicle to communicate with the world.

Only you can determine which blogging communities speak best

to your anbase, but remember that no music exists in a vacuum:

all music has a community o artists, supporters, ans, perormers,

composers, historians, enthusiasts and more, all o whom by now

have a Web presence no matter what corner o the world they hail

rom. Use Google to search or MP3 blogs around your music (i.e.

indie rock MP3 blog etc) then go to their webpage, nd the person

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to email and email them.

The best way to reach blogs is to go to their websites and ollow

their submission policies. In many cases, contacting a blog is as

simple as sending an email.

There are literally tens o thousands o music blogs heres a short

list o places it might be worth your time visiting and contacting (or

just visit the blog Gorilla vs. Bear and scroll down to the bottom to

see the list with links: http://gorillavsbear.net)

Gorilla vs. BearMy Old Kentucky BlogYou Aint No PicassoAquarium DrunkardNothing ButGreen LightsSo Much SilenceTransmissionHipster RunofPinglewoodMotel de MokaYeezySkatterbrainSaid the Gramophone20 Jazz Funk Greats

Marathon PacksMuzzle o BeesNEON GOLDRaven Sings the BluesLaundromatineeMystics not WastrelsAbeanoCheap Fast Times

Sex on FireUnderratedUndomondoMusic For RobotsKitsune NoirAttorney StreetLargehearted BoyCirca 45SIRIUS Blog RadioBrooklyn VeganStereogumChromewavesBig StereoArawaBibabidi

Cause=TimeSucka PantsFluxblogThe Rising StormAwesome Tapesrom AricaDiscoteca OceanoBrazilian Nuggets

Tunes ConsumedWe Shot J.R.Central BookingHalz Haz a SayGet Weird Turn ProSasha Frere-JonesPhilip SherburneCannibal CheerleaderA Walking DisasterThe Grizzly LieT-SidesDisco DustIHEARTCOMIXLa Maladie TropicaleBlogs are or DogsDiscobelle

Analog GiantGood Weather ForAirstrikesFuneral PuddingI Guess Im FloatingMusic or Kids WhoCant Read GoodUltra8201

A Partial List o Music Blogs


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Panda ToesDisco DeliciousIndie InterviewsThe Passion o the WeissElitasteThe Anchor Center

The Sound oMarching FeetPasta PrimaveraLullabyesIdolatorRock InsiderSonic ItchSpinnerCultura FinaBig D little dPampelmooseMissing TooThe FuturistNerd LitterThe Hood InternetThe Pharmacy RxArt Decade

Dea Indie Elephants1.618SixEyesAcid GirlsRock & Roll DailyThe Rock SnobDreams O HorsesShake Your FistScissorkickSuspect DrawingsSonic ItchBows + ArrowsThe Rawking Reusesto StopProduct Shop NYCRockoutsDone Waiting

Filter MagazineMoistworksI am Fuel,You Are FriendsNaturalismoMars Needs Guitars

The 3rd Base LineScenestarsRachel and the CityTorrCable and TweedI Heart MusicetheriousityBadical BeatsPalms OutWhat Noisy CatsAre WeWho Needs Radio?SpacelabInormation LeablowerBrooklyn Ski ClubTake Your MedicineIndoor FireworksAudio Decit Disorder

Theme Park ExperienceThe Rich GirlsAre Weeping(Sm)all AgesOut the OtherMusic For ListenersThe Test PilotWomenolkEarvolutionExitareMore CowbellThe Camera As PenThe ListenYeti Dont Dancesongs:illinoisSwedes PleaseAll Things Go

FoeWeelWhere Is Helsinki?sixeyesGul Coast BandsMuzak or CyberneticsVeritas Lux Mea

Can You See The SunsetSome Velvet BlogThoracic Fax Machine15 Minutes To LiveI Rock I RollThe Armchair NovelistThe Torture GardenWhat We All WantThink TankBanana NutramentThe Perm & The SkulletBetween Thought andExpressionCatchdubsHouston So RealCall Me MickeyTou HutPlague o Angels

los amigos de duruttiBerkeley PlaceRegnyouthWork For ItPimps o GoreHey MercedesEach Note SecureThe Big TicketCopy, Right? (cover songBeware O The BlogPitchorkPrexmagInsound

...and many more!

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Historically, record companies held the keys to the kingdom. It

took a large organization to manuacture and ship records to

stores, meaning things like manuacturing plants, warehouses,

sales orces, shipping people, nancial controls, etc. Also, in orderto really sell records, you had to get your music on the radio and

MTV, which took a promotion

sta and a lot o money.

In those days, the record

retailers were so big that theywouldnt bother with small

players. That meant it was

hard to get your product on

their shelves i you didnt come

through a record company.

Also, rankly, the big recordcompanies paid retailers a

lot o money to position their

product prominently in the

stores. So even i an artist

managed to get their records

the do it yoursel record company(And if you act right now, well throw in a knife that slices

tomatoes paper thin).

by Donald S. Passman, author o All You Need to

Know About the Music Business

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into the retail bins, theyd likely get buried in the back. I, some-

how, the records started selling anyway, the retailers would pay

the artist late (i at all), since one little player didnt matter to

them. On top o all this, the artist had to put up the money to

manuacture the records. I thestores didnt sell them, theyd be

returned to the artist, whod lose

the manuacturing costs, plus the

reight costs in both directions.

So it took a big player to absorb

those kind o risks.

Today, things have really changed:

While its still difcult to get your product into stores (now

its because they carry so ew titles), physical retailers are

becoming less signicant as CD sales decline. Conversely,

digital is on the rise, and anyone can get their music distrib-uted digitally.

Radio is still very important or mainstream artists, but its

become a very narrow channel, meaning it plays only a

limited range o music genres, and not a lot o dierent titles.

Because o this, alternative ways or people to discover

music are becoming more important, and the Internet (whichanyone can access) is one o the keys.

A direct relationship with ans is the next generation o mar-

keting, and young artists are proving more saavy in this area

than a lot o established companies.


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On top o all that, when you make a deal with a record company,

you give up control o your recordings (as well as other aspects

o your lie, such as the ability to do music or lms, commer-

cials, concert videos, etc.), and you also give up a chunk o your

income rom both record and non-record areas.

So, why would you want a record com-

pany? Well, i youre a niche artist (or

example, a jam band, backpacker, or indie

rock band), and youre happy staying in

your niche and selling to a small groupo ans, you may not need or want a record deal. Its possible

(through outts like TuneCore) to get your music to iTunes, Ama-

zon, and other digital retailers, and you can make a living doing

gigs, promoting yoursel directly to your ans, and selling your

tracks. Because your genre limits your potential audience, youll

oten make more money by doing it yoursel than you will with arecord company. For a record deal to make sense, the company

has to generate more money or you (ater they take their piece)

than you would get by selling less product on your own. With

niche artists, thats oten questionable.

I youre more mainstream, such as pop, rock, or country, this is amuch tougher question. You can o course set up a killer

MySpace page, build a anbase, and sell directly to them. Since

your music has a wide appeal, i you break through, youll make

ar more money by keeping the record companys share o the

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pie, not to mention keeping all o your non-record income. But

heres the problem: The same way that its easy or you to set all

this up, its easy or everybody to set this up. There are over our

million bands on MySpace, and that number is growing. Hows

anyone going to nd your music?

There are some virtual record companies who can help. These

companies, who were started by talented people who lost record

company jobs when the industry melted down, will do everything

rom sales, marketing, promotion, etc., yet let you keep control

o your destiny. However, they charge pretty heavily or theseservices, which most new artists cant aord. Thus, theyve

mostly been successul with artists whove already released a ew

albums (and thereore have a an base), but are out o their re-

cord deals. For this reason, a lot (maybe even most) mainstream

artists are still looking or record deals.

Having said all that, young artists

today are working the Internet and

new media ar better than the es-

tablished record industry. The uture

o music marketing is to know who

your ans are and to contact themdirectly. In the past, no one had an

idea who went into record stores

and bought the multi-million sellers,

or who was listening to the radio

when they were played millions o


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times. Today, between the Internet and cellphones, its possible

to know exactly who likes your music.

Young artists have gotten very sophisticated about building a

database o their ans. For example, at their shows, many artistsgive away something (pins, stickers, hundred dollar bills, etc) to

everyone who signs their mailing list. The artists then promote

their shows, recordings, and merchandise through email and

mobile phone text messaging. Some artists even do liecasting,

where theyre communicating with ans a number o times each

day. For example, they might iChat on the way to a gig; blast outbackstage updates through Twitter or Kyte; send pictures o

themselves on stage; orward videos o themselves in the bath-

tub with rubber duckies; etc. Even i they only build their an list

with a ew more people at each gig, i they keep at it, they can get

enough to generate a buzz on MySpace and similar sites.

So these days, more than ever beore, its possible to build a

career on your own. Or i not a career, at least a solid base rom

which to launch yoursel and get the attention o a record com-

pany, i you decide to go with a record company.

Now get out there and do it!


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In 2009 TuneCore artists sold or got paid for streams of over61,000,000 albums and songs earning them over$32,000,000

12% of all iTunes users buy music from TuneCoreArtists

More than one song a second sells by a TuneCoreArtist on iTunes

TuneCore Artists music represents one of the Top10 revenue generating digital music catalogs in the world

The rst TuneCore Artist was Frank Black

The best selling TuneCore Artist of all time is Kelly, selling over

2,500,000 copies o his music

Over 1,000 TuneCore Artists have been featured on iTunes,AmazonMP3, Rhapsody, MySpace Music and more

26 TuneCore Artists have been featured as the iTunesree Single O The Week

More music is released via TuneCore in one day than viaa major record label over two years

The best selling single by an unsigned artist was TuneCore Artist Drakeselling over 300,000 copies o one song in 11 days

TUNECORE FACTOIDS


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Get other ree TuneCore Music Industry Survival Manuals athttp://www.tunecore.com/guides

Volume 1.0

How To Market, Promote and Make Money FromYour Music While Keeping Your Rights

Volume 1.1

Music Publishing and Copyright: Cover Songs

Volume 1.2

Mastering

Volume 1.3

Vinyl 101

Volume 1.4

Mixing

Volume 1.5

Copyright

Volume 1.7

Information on Healthcare for Musicians: Band Aid

For More Ideas...

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TIPS AND TRICKS TO HELP HIM MAKE MUSICEXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS AND VIDEOS.


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Music Industry Survival Manual-Volume 1.6, Tips to Sell More Music Online.

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Transcript of Music Industry Survival Manual-Volume 1.6, Tips to Sell More Music Online.