IMPORTANT INFORMATION - DISTRIBUTION AND SALES

This is something I found after scouring the web and I believe it will be of use to everybody both as individuals and collectively. Make sure that you read and understand everything and I am sure that you will be interested.

One of the biggest keys to making sales online is to first get your tracks distributed to I-Tunes, Amazon and Napster and some of the up and coming sites as well.
I know that Z has told me that he tried Tunecore in the past and I currently use CD Baby but here is the big question.

How do you get UNLIMITED tracks on these sites for FREE.......and by FREE I mean without parting with any of your own CASH

Hopefully that caught your attention. Imagine having 100 tracks or more all for sale on all of these sites:

eMusic provides a subscription service to its 350,000 customers who buy an average of more than 20 DRM free MP3s per month (seven million tracks in total)from a catalogue spanning every genre, but concentrating on independent artists.


Thumbplay - Thumbplay, Inc. is defining the mobile entertainment experience for U.S. consumers and is the nation's largest and fastest-growing provider of mobile content. Thumbplay.com features licensed music, video and games from some of the world's largest entertainment companies, including: EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Pictures Television, as well as several independent labels and artists and video game companies.


iTunes is Apple's digital music store. Launched in 2001 to complement the success of the iPod, today it is the biggest music retailer in the world. There are localised versions of iTunes in U.S.A., Australia, Japan, the U.K. and Europe

Napster - The pioneer of digital music, offering the ultimate in interactive music experiences, creating better ways to discover, share, acquire and enjoy music – anytime, anywhere. The company’s flagship service, Napster Unlimited, is the ultimate digital music package, combining unlimited on-demand music streaming with downloadable MP3s for one’s permanent collection at a great value price.
Napster’s MP3s are high quality and playable on any MP3 compatible device, including the iPod, iPhone and all MP3 music-enabled mobile phones.



Amazon Mp3, is the download store from Amazon. All music within Amazon Mp3 is completely DRM free and at affordable prices. Amazon Mp3 launched only in the USA, but since has already launched in the UK. Amazon Mp3 is currently the 2nd largest online music store in the world only behind iTunes.


Spotify is an incredibly versatile and increasingly popular music streaming service, providing radio stations, playlist building and sharing across a massive catalogue. Revenue comes from advertising and is shared between artists according to the number of playsthey've had. Build up your profile using the fastest growing music service out there.


Deezer - a French business running agreements with all 4 major labels to stream ad-supported music to their 9 million registered users across 35 different countries. In the three years since its launch, Deezer has been voted the most innovative website of 2007 by readers of 01Net, ahead of both Facebook and Dailymotion.

OK.......So whats the catch and what can I expect to make....and how.

Well rather than me explaining it all to you I will just point you first at the Homepage of the site http://routenote.com/

All the information you need is there and the FREE service is financed by a 10% commission on Sales which is very comparable to the 9% taken by CD baby who will charge you 35$ per album plus 20$ for a barcode or 9$ per single.
This is all FREE !!!!!!!!!

They do offer a Premium Service where you pay a fee and then you will get 100% of what they get back.......and this will make sense if you happen to sell a lot of one particular album or track as there is a breakeven point. They have even calculated this for you in their Blog: http://routenote.com/blog/routenotes-free-vs-premium-model-whats-best-for-you/

Also they have a pdf file which will give lots of promo ideas too
http://routenote.com/blog/images/SelfPromotioneBook.pdf

Is there a downside.....well only the same things that apply to all other distributors:

It takes 45 days to get paid after the end of each current month.....this is because it takes that long before I-Tunes process things.

It takes 4 to 6 weeks sometimes to get tracks appearing.....sometimes less but again this is pretty normal.

They only pay using Paypal and it is in US$.....although it is a UK site.

All little things you can live with. You have to look at this as a long term project.....its not a quick fix.

I have signed up.....I want to get lots of my older tracks online.

You can do singles , EP's, Albums or Double Albums.....Cool. When you make an excellent new track you can upload it as a single !!!!!!!

All the barcodes are supplied FREE.....nothing to pay......and UNLIMITED TRACKS.

I will leave you to check it all out but I am very impressed. These guys are working for the artists and are flying under the radar so they were hard to find.

Oh and they have links with Soundcloud too

Had a quick look at the site Peter, looks excellent! Well found! (I do love the word FREE!!) LOL

Star4mation wrote:Had a quick look at the site Peter, looks excellent! Well found! (I do love the word FREE!!) LOL

I looked long and hard at this and it really is FREE so its a win/win situation......you pay nothing ....you lose nothing.

One very important point: If your album has been distributed already by somebody else like CD Baby or Tunecore then you cannot enter it again. If you do then I-Tunes will remove it altogether as they will not know who the official disributor is .....therefore not know who to pay.

Also check if you can re-use existing barcodes......your Kunaki albums may already have a barcode issued.

None of this affects me as I will use this service for tracks that have never been distributed before and have no existing codes......but it may affect you.

Very cool Info Peter! Thanks!

Z

z wrote:
Very cool Info Peter! Thanks!

Z

This could be a great way to expand AFR online while DACE still takes it out to streets.

Some people still love CD's but equally there are others who want to get music instantly by download. The I-Pod / Mp3 generation is a big market.

Running some figures based on just using the Free option:

Single releases pay you $ 0.576 per track after commission.

EP releases pay you $ 0.596 per track after comm based on a 4 track EP. Or $ 2.385 per EP download.

Album Releases pay you $ 0.6876 per track after comm based on 10 tracks per album.Or $6.786 per album download.

Extended albums (Double CD) pay you $11.385 per Ext Album or $0.569 per track based on 20 tracks.

Singles and EP's can be put together quicker but 10 track albums are the best solution.
Lots of people will only DL the tracks they like so you have to look at what you get per track.

Please bear this in mind though:

If you sign two digital distribution deals with two companies that will both be sending the same album to iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic, Limewire, etc. - this will hurt you, because the retailer will usually remove the album completely until you decide which distributor has the exclusive right to be selling that album through them.

Is there a minimum payout amount?
Yes. Currently there is a minimum payout amount for artists of $50 US Dollars. Once this threshold is met then you are eligable for payment.

What is an ISRC and how do they work?
An ISRC is a code that gets embeded as data into your song, it works as virtual identification and is a bit like a bar code. Without an ISRC your song could played for free in areas which would otherwise entitle you to royalties.

What is a UPC and how does it work?
A UPC is very similar to an ISRC. Whereas an ISRC is a virtually embeded code, a UPC is a physical bar code uses for the whole album/collection of songs. UPCs are found on anything for sale, in shops, supermarkets etc.

OK...........as far as AFR albums are concerned you will already have codes that have been given by Kunaki..........and you will probably be able to use them when you upload.

If any of these albums have been digitally distributed before and are still in the system though you may find problems.

If this happens I have a suggestion. Just re-name the album and give it a new cover and issue it as a new release. Inconvenient but it would work. You could switch some tracks between albums so they are not the same.....kind of like a "Best Of" without calling it that.

Like I said .....I have already registered and my next GT album will be using this. I am going to look at my back catalogue to create albums of some of my older tracks too......remastered of course. None of my material has codes except for the tracks already on I-Tunes so I have lots to choose from.

When things are FREE and you don't have to layout anything except time and promotion then it opens the gates to issuing as much material as you can.

Think......if you have 10 albums thats 100 tracks.

If you sell 20 tracks per week thats $13.75 or $715.00 per year.

Thats a nice new guitar or amp paid for and it only takes 20 people each to buy just one track from a worldwide covered site.

Thats why we really need to work on promotion........there is money to be made here if we can get that right.

And we all deserve it !!!!!!!!!

Sounds great for AFR, for sure.
DACE>

I will check into it! Much better than Tunecore. And none of the AFR stuff has
been released trough Tunecore / iTunes before, so I think we are good on that.

(some of my older stuff has like Radio Hostile)

Z

Steve ...........this is their contact details. They are down in your part of the UK I believe....relatively speaking.

3 West End
Redruth
Cornwall
TR15 2RZ
United Kingdom

Phone:
+44 (0) 1209 219 777

Handy to see them give this info out........the sign of a genuine site.

Some further info..............

An EP can consist of 2 to 6 tracks

An Album can consist of 7 to 18 tracks

An Ext/Double Album is for 18+ tracks.

As I-Tunes has a set price for each track then it makes sense to get as many tracks on the album as possible.
You have to bear in mind though that the listener would rather pay his money for a longer track but if you can squeeze in a mixture and make a 12 or 13 track album then it will add value. The Album will still be at the set price but if people buy individual tracks then the extra tracks you have squeezed in may help.

You could get 14 x 5 minute tracks on an album.

There are a lot of possibilities here

globaltrancemission wrote:Steve ...........this is their contact details. They are down in your part of the UK I believe....relatively speaking.

3 West End
Redruth
Cornwall
TR15 2RZ
United Kingdom

Phone:
+44 (0) 1209 219 777

Handy to see them give this info out........the sign of a genuine site.

Redruth, not too far away from me (about 80 miles)
I was in the Redruth area last august for a few days (St Agnes) Fantastic area if you're interested in Tin, lead and copper mining of the 18th-19th century (which I am)

z wrote:
I will check into it! Much better than Tunecore. And none of the AFR stuff has
been released trough Tunecore / iTunes before, so I think we are good on that.

(some of my older stuff has like Radio Hostile)

Z

Please do Z....We need to get busy getting this music all over the net.
Im try to think of things, and working with what i have going now.
Me being depressed, you busy with so many things, its gona be slow and hard.
But, O well, what is not??
I REALLY want to see ALL our albums sell!!!! Its important at this point for me anyway..All these years, time to see the music sell. NOT out to get rich! just want to see some sales.
This sound like a good idea...Thank you peter.
DACE>

Seems you have to have a copyright??
And pics MUST be 600-600...And i cant get anything to upload???
Help Peter...

DACE>

No worries Dace.
I'm ALWAYS busy. But there is still time.
Going to do less recording this month, so I can do some writing and promoting AFR as well.

Studio is still a mess, but I will organize it slowly.

Z

Understood Z.
Not having much luck emailing your tracks..
Have you even got any artwork from me yet?

You dont really have the time or need to spend it on me. Im looking into how i can do all this for myself, but im not finding anything Free-Sites wise yet. This one is, but having probs with it.

I will get it together and take a load off you soonest bro.

DACE>

DACE wrote:Understood Z.
Not having much luck emailing your tracks..
Have you even got any artwork from me yet?

You dont really have the time or need to spend it on me. Im looking into how i can do all this for myself, but im not finding anything Free-Sites wise yet. This one is, but having probs with it.

I will get it together and take a load off you soonest bro.

DACE>

Got the front cover and back cover so far. No tracks yet.
Maybe try YouSendit?

No hurry unloading me bro. It doesn't take much time to master and upload.
Sleep is overrated

You've already got 15 tracks done for Zero Return?
Wow! Amazing!

Z

z wrote:

DACE wrote:Understood Z.
Not having much luck emailing your tracks..
Have you even got any artwork from me yet?

You dont really have the time or need to spend it on me. Im looking into how i can do all this for myself, but im not finding anything Free-Sites wise yet. This one is, but having probs with it.

I will get it together and take a load off you soonest bro.

DACE>

Got the front cover and back cover so far. No tracks yet.
Maybe try YouSendit?

No hurry unloading me bro. It doesn't take much time to master and upload.
Sleep is overrated

You've already got 15 tracks done for Zero Return?
Wow! Amazing!

Z

Yes 15 tracks..sending T-1 now...But theres 2 Albums bro...We will TRY and get ZERO RETURN first.....Yousendit wont let me use it....All mixed up over the years i guess, cant start a new acc...I will try that one Peter used.
DACE>

cool. I'll let you know as I receive them.

Z

z wrote:
cool. I'll let you know as I receive them.

Z

Theres a post here somewhere on the Albums..
ZERO RETURN-15 tunes.
FUTURE WINGS-10 tunes.
(inverted Artwork) Different Titles, Different Albums.
As QUEEN did.
DACE>

DACE wrote:Seems you have to have a copyright??
And pics MUST be 600-600...And i cant get anything to upload???
Help Peter...

DACE>

To register a copyright on your music, art, lyrics, web pages etc go to MyFreeCopyright http://myfreecopyright.com/
It's totally FREE!!!
Steve:)

Star4mation wrote:

DACE wrote:Seems you have to have a copyright??
And pics MUST be 600-600...And i cant get anything to upload???
Help Peter...

DACE>

To register a copyright on your music, art, lyrics, web pages etc go to MyFreeCopyright http://myfreecopyright.com/
It's totally FREE!!!
Steve:)

K thanks steve...

DACE>

DACE.........Sorry I couldn't answer......I've had some problems with my computer today.....it runs slow like a dead dog !!!!

I haven't uploaded to that site yet so until I have been through the process I know less than you do

Should be uploading soon......I have been creating a new album from existing tracks and I will post something when I have managed to do that.

Hope you got your answer from Steve.......I have bookmarked that free copyright site....very useful.

globaltrancemission wrote:DACE.........Sorry I couldn't answer......I've had some problems with my computer today.....it runs slow like a dead dog !!!!

I haven't uploaded to that site yet so until I have been through the process I know less than you do

Should be uploading soon......I have been creating a new album from existing tracks and I will post something when I have managed to do that.

Hope you got your answer from Steve.......I have bookmarked that free copyright site....very useful.

No prob Peter..We will figure it out soon..

Great news on your Album..

DACE>

AFR is signed up on ROUTENOTE!

Thanks for the heads up Peter!

There is definitely a lot of good info in their promo document:

http://routenote.com/blog/images/SelfPromotioneBook.pdf

well worth a read.

Z

Has anyone managed to upload anything to Routenote yet?
I tried today to upload Goblins and Galaxies. Got as far as the upload screen but the add new track button didn't work
No idea if I did something wrong or weather the site was having troubles.

Star4mation wrote:Has anyone managed to upload anything to Routenote yet?
I tried today to upload Goblins and Galaxies. Got as far as the upload screen but the add new track button didn't work
No idea if I did something wrong or weather the site was having troubles.

I uploaded Everything Is Now about 3 weeks ago. I think it will show up on iTunes in another couple weeks.
The web site did act a little funny, but I got it to work.

The screen needs to load the whole way before you start. And it should have spots for the first 10 or so tracks already on the screen.
You only need to use the "add new track" button when you have more than 10 (or maybe it was 8 or 9?).

Z