General Music Chat

Well I was always going to want to get a CD made with indexing, and I've created a DDP file for just that purpose. Thanks for the info, I'll look up those avenues. I suppose one thing that makes CD Baby attractive to me is that they can produce CDs with packaging for not too great a price.

Consumers of electronic music are already familiar with the concept of tracks being cut off at the beginning or end if not listened to in the proper order. Just go ahead and make the meat and potatoes tracks as strong as possible and the intros/outros/ segues will have to suffer to support that decision.

So be it

You might search out Tommy Darker (in London) for someone who keeps up with marketing trends of indies.

Why not manufacture the album as one song with no gaps, but then index where each different song starts for people who aren't going to sit down for an hour to listen?

If you had a fanbase, I'd say Tunecore is the only way to go, but since you don't it doesn't matter. CDBaby will do nothing but give you a place to store files. At least they don't charge a lot for it.

http://blog.sonicbids.com/how-to-be-you ... stribution

Ted - what more does Tunecore offer? I got the impression it was the same type of service, but instead of paying a 1-time fee, you pay a smaller fee PLUS an annual fee to keep your album download available.

Well I was always going to want to get a CD made with indexing, and I've created a DDP file for just that purpose. Thanks for the info, I'll look up those avenues. I suppose one thing that makes CD Baby attractive to me is that they can produce CDs with packaging for not too great a price.

CDBaby doesn't really do CDs themselves, its a partnership with Discmakers. Unless you expect to sell hundreds of CDs, you should look for less expensive options, at least to start out with. Kunaki is under $2 a duplicated CD, including jewel case and artwork, no quantity requirements

I use discmakers. Great service.

The difference in the digital aggregators is what they actually do for you once you've submitted to their Pro Publishing plan.

I got bupkiss from CD Baby, and absolutely horrible customer service. ZERO dollars in a year's time for an album that sells very well at concerts.

But I get about $150 a month from Tunecore since joining them in 2013. They not only put the music in places where it sells but they do some promotion of their own, like YouTube, etc...and collect it all. Yeah, they cost more but it's a net gain instead of a net loss of getting lost in CD Baby universe. They also offer other options constantly like targeted internet radio plays. I'm signed up at all the aggregators to keep up with their educational blogs about trends and such...CDBaby has something to offer there, but TuneCore still gives me more of what I really want/need.

Not sure if selling online works great unless you are out playing a lot, but I'd say it's worth the $75 to find out. Also tried Symphonic, not sure if they are still around but they were better than CD Baby, the worst I've found.

to people who understand the biz, saying you are on CD Baby or Reverberation is screaming "local garage band". There is no shame in that status, but if you're aspiring for something more it's a bad move to advertise that you're there.



.

We disagree (surprise!).

I'll qualify my remarks by saying I think long term. Multiple albums over many years is what a recording artist does for a living. Every new album is an excuse for a new tour where you make money selling whatever is in inventory. I know there are several former major label groups that are doing this well on Tunecore. I can't think of any on CD Baby. Can you?

If you're promoting any website, it should be your own. When you send people anywhere else, you are losing money and customers. The exception might be iTunes/Amazon because so many people are now oriented to buying digital files that way.

Neither CD Baby nor RN is a social media site. Saying you are #1 in Bomfug NH on ReverbNation means nothing to anyone but other local bands. Meanwhile, your band is branded as a local by virtue of being listed on local charts with several amateur bands. How many friends one has locally is the determining factor more than the quality of the music. Who is on ReverbNation national charts? If such a thing exists, has anyone ever seen it? Do you think anyone who matters really cares? Maybe a few local bars watch those local charts. All things being equal, it's always in the framing. National acts aren't booking/promoting themselves like local bands. If you are perceived as hanging out among local bands, you are one.

Any tools RN or CD Baby can offer can be done better with your own site on Bandzoogle, without the RN logo on everything. If a band doesn't plan to sell more than a few CDs to their relatives, CD Baby is cheaper I think? But if they aspire to be professionals they should do what the professionals do. Get your music out everywhere people buy music. Let the pros put it there and then collect for you.

Then drive fans to your website where you can get their data and make a connection cultivating super-fans. Emails/text contacts are the new currency in the music biz. Get 10,000 emails in a list and you won't need a record company to constantly produce new music. Get 10,000 fans on RN and you have only helped them raise their advertising rates.


.

CDBaby also does the youtube thing with all your uploaded music (they use the album 'cover' artwork as the visual). They also collect all youtube streaming $ from your songs that you distribute with them. They put your music on all the other aggregates (iTunes, Spotify, Amazon...) - that is why I don't understand what is different about Tunecore.

RN- for sure, its a site for people who don't want to have to pay for a bandzoogle (or other) website. The only people who even go there are other musicians, or the occasional fan who has bookmarked the band's site.

CDBaby put your music on all the other aggregates (iTunes, Spotify, Amazon...) - that is why I don't understand what is different about Tunecore.

Results! Bling, bling and cha-ching.


I released a 3 part series where I put one on CD Baby, one on Symphonic, and the other on Tunecore. I let them all run for a year to get a measure.

Tunecore consistently did something respectable every month. Symphonic did something also but it was pathetic. CD Baby brought in ZERO for a year.

But worse, whenever I would call them about any problem whatsoever, the person I'd get would misinterpret the problem and try to solve something I didn't ask for. It was amazing and predictable that they would not address my problem....every time I called.



.