Music Distribution on the Web: Create Buzz, Sell CDs!
If you haven't already read the introduction to online music distribution
(OMD), please read that, it is highly suggested
you do. Here are our picks for the ten best places to promote, sell, or distribute your music online...
Reviews
compliments of David Nevue of
The
Music Biz Academy
#1) Your Own Web Site - Important!
No matter where you're promoting your music on the Internet, you should first seriously consider setting up your
own web site, with your own unique, easy-to-remember web address. While visitors may initially find you through
some of the online
music distribution points we suggest below, if they become fans, they'll want more detailed information
about you than most music distribution outlets allow. They'll want up-to-date news, performance dates, photos,
background information on your songs, and of course music downloads. With your own web site, you have complete
control over all this information, and can update it to your heart's content. There's
so
much
you can do with your own web
site that will encourage visitors
to purchase your music. Be sure
to read How
to Promote Your Music Successfully
on the Internet for a proven
approach to selling music online.
If
you have no desire to set up and maintain your own web site, but want to get your music on the web quickly, we
recommend you check out
CD Baby (below) first. They'll set up a
web site for you fast, and it will look great!
#2) CD
Baby ( iTunes, Rhapsody,
and Napster included)
CD Baby
was
started in 1997 by Derek Sivers,
a musician just like yourself
who just wanted an efficient
way to sell his music on the
web. Today, just a few years
later, CD Baby is the 2nd largest
seller of independent CDs on
the Internet, 2nd only to Amazon.com!
Boasting over 49,000 artists, CD Baby is the best organized,
most talked about web hosting
solution for musicians. According
to the latest posted stats (as
of this writing), CD Baby has
sold over 633,000 CDs online
to customers and paid $5,058,849.11
to independent musicians! That
alone should be motivation enough
for you to sign up. More...
#3) MP3.com
For
many years, MP3.com
was my #1 choice for online
music distribution. However,
CD
Baby's
digital distribution efforts
truly leaped them past MP3.com
which is, in my view, starting
to get a bit stale. Also, it
was announced in July of 2003
that Vivendi
Universal, who owns MP3.com,
has put the site up for sale.
So the future of MP3.com as
a service remains highly speculative.
Even so, for independent
musicians seeking pure exposure
for their music, MP3.com
is still the place to be. Perform
a search at Google
for “music” and MP3.com is the
#2 site listed. Search for “mp3”
and it's the #1 site listed.
Add to this that MP3.com boasts
over 4.3 million unique visitors
a month (as of July 2003), and
you will be hard pressed to
find a better place to put your
music directly in the path of
cyber-traffic. More...
#4) Amazon.com
Amazon.com
is by far the Internet's biggest
and most popular store, and
they provide a music distribution
outlet for independent musicians
as well. Amazon.com offers what
it calls the “Advantage” program,
allowing independent artists
to sell their own CDs from the
catalog. That means that like
MP3.com,
your music can be found for
sale right alongside commercial,
mainstream acts. More...
#5) SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast
is the hub for a huge network
of Internet radio stations and
broadcasters. Each and every
month, SHOUTcast logs over 22
million broadcast hours - that's
four times more than the next
largest broadcaster consolidation
service, Clear
Channel. The great thing
about SHOUTcast is that at your
fingertips you have immediate
access to some of the most listened
to radio stations on the Internet.
So to promote your music via
SHOUTcast, browse the service
for the most popular stations
in your genre, visit the station
web sites, and research how
and if you can submit your music
for consideration. More...
#6:
Live365.com
According
to Arbitron, whose core business
is measuring radio audiences
across the U.S., Live365.com
is the Internet's largest radio
broadcasting network. Live365.com
logs an average of three million
unique visitors, and 9.7 million
listener hours per month. As
with SHOUTcast,
you can find any number of broadcast
stations, many of which are
set up by individuals, who will
consider your music. The top
Indie Rock station, ModernRock.com,
for example, logged over 33,000
listening hours in July 2003
and will promote unsigned bands
- and that's just one of 627
stations (as of this writing)
which classify themselves at
Live365 as “Indie Rock.” More...
#7) Cornerband
(Includes Kazaa Media Desktop)
If
you've done any file trading
on the Internet, more than likely
you are familiar with Kazaa
Media Desktop, the most
popular desktop file sharing
utility in the world. Over 250
million people (and counting)
have downloaded this software
and use it to search for, trade,
and burn music by countless
popular artists. At any given
time, 3 million people are using
the software. How would you
like to get your music onto
the Kazaa network and use it
as a means to promote, distribute
and sell your music? This
you can do by signing up with
Cornerband.com,
the exclusive provider of
independent music content to
the Kazaa Media Desktop network.
More...
#8) GarageBand
If
you're a member of great band,
and I mean a great band,
GarageBand
might be able to get you some
fantastic exposure. Supported
by such well known producers
as George Martin (The Beatles)
and Jerry Harrison (Talking
Heads), GarageBand puts the
success of member artists (membership
is free) in the hands of music
fans and listeners. GarageBand
invites musicians to submit
their music to the site, where
it will be reviewed and rated
by listeners, loyal users, and
other musicians. The review
process, which involves a “comparative
ranking algorithm,” is designed
to eliminate bias. Songs that
receive the highest ratings
by listeners climb the GarageBand
charts. It's as simple as that.
More...
#9) MusicCity.com
(Morpheus)
MusicCity.com
is a portal site created by
StreamCast
Networks designed to
"level the playing field
for musicians to help them distribute
their content to the world."
This is accomplished through
their peer-to-peer file-sharing
application called Morpheus.
Morpheus works much like the
Kazaa
file sharing network, though
it isn't quite as popular. According
to the latest figures provided
by StreamCast (May 2003), Morpheus serves
1,000,000 simultaneous users
at any given time. More...
Where's
#10?
CDStreet.com
used to be on this list. However,
CDStreet has NOT been paying
its artists regularly or on
time of late, so I removed them.
Don't sign up if you expect
to be paid. I'll be updating
this list once again shortly.
Summary
Time spent promoting your music on these web sites contributes to your overall exposure, and just brings in that
many more CD and music sales. Obviously, getting involved in each and every one will take considerable effort.
Start at the top of the list and work your way down. The most important are listed first.
Want More? Here
are more
sites that didn't quite make our Top Ten...
|
