Music Distribution on the Web: Create Buzz, Sell CDs!
Introduction to Online Music Distribution
CDStreet.com
Review
Review
by David Nevue, The
Music Biz Academy
Author
of How
to Promote Your Music on the
Internet.
Warning:
CDStreet
has NOT been paying its artists
regularly or on time of late.
Don't sign up if you expect
to be paid.
CDStreet.com
offers what are, in my opinion,
some of the most attractive
artist pages available on a
third-party web site. The look
is snazzy, though perhaps a
bit crowded, but is highly energetic
and just plain fun to navigate.
In addition to the fabulous
design, CDStreet boasts some
pretty powerful clients. These
include Chick Corea, Sara Groves,
Prince, Stephen Bishop, the
Mighty Mighty Bosstones and
others.
CDStreet
has some great features to offer
artists. Visitors can rate your
music, post reviews, get news
and information (that you've
posted), and listen to and purchase
your music. In addition, CDStreet
offers Soundscan reporting for
sales, CD warehousing and fulfillment,
and if you want, you can use
them as your ‘credit card' processor
simply by adding a “Buy” button
to your web site. They even
have a program where you can
accept credit cards at gigs
using their remote terminal.
As
with MP3.com,
you can purchase promo ads to
run throughout the CDStreet
web site to promote your product.
These ads appear on genre page
sidebars, at the top of pages,
and even on the CDStreet homepage.
Unlike MP3.com, however, these
are not promo auctions you are
bidding for. You purchase these
ad placements straight-out in
two-month increments, and they
are considerably less expensive
than at MP3.com. Of course,
CDStreet doesn't have the traffic
volume MP3.com does, and therein
lies some of the difference.
Still, for November 2002, CDStreet
logged approximately 6.5 million
page views. That's nothing at
all to sneeze at.
CDStreet
recently overhauled their sign-up
fees into a rather complex payment
system. Your setup fee varies,
ranging from $19.99-$29.99 per
item depending on how many CDs
you have to add to their catalog.
Also, the percentage of your
sale CDStreet keeps for servicing
your CD varies depending upon
the service plan you choose.
For most artists, that will
be “Plan 4”, in which CDStreet
keeps 35%. However, if you expect
to sell a lot of CDs,
you can upgrade to plans wherein
CDStreet takes a smaller percentage,
but charges you an additional
service fee.
My
chief complaint about CDStreet
is their artist page admin
tool which is not at all intuitive.
Also, I've had a difficult time
receiving support of late, with
unanswered emails for weeks. Of course,
in that regard I can only speak
to my own experience. I have
no idea whether this is just
me, or whether everyone is experiencing
that.
Overall,
I recommend CDStreet with caution.
It's a great place to
host your music, but I'm unsure
of the level of support you
can expect to receive.
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