If you’re an independent band or solo artist trying to compete with the majors, it is important that you make your music available on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, and other prominent online retailers; but how do you do that without being signed to record label? Well, that’s exactly what I am going to cover in this article. I will give you step by step instructions on how to get your music into iTunes and other stores.
Cdbaby.com is a service exclusively for unsigned artists and independent record labels. They act as a full service digital distribution company for anyone in the music business. That’s right, anyone can create a CD baby account, and CD baby will provide you with a store to sell your CD’s online, as well as, ship your music to about 40 different online companies. The best part about CD baby, is that it’s free. Yes, it’s free. You only have to pay a one-time service fee of $30 to set up your account. That is to cover their warehouse expenses, but after that there are no other fees. CD baby only keeps 9% of your digital sales, and only $4 per CD sale. So, if you don’t make money, they don’t make money.
Now, let me explain the process. Go to Cdbaby.com and register to open an account. During this process you will provide them with all of your important information, such as the name of your band, what style of music you play, etc. After your account has been created, you will ship them a copy of your CD along with a $30 check or money order. A few weeks later your CD will be encoded and ready to be sold. You should send them a retail-ready copy of your CD. What I mean by that, is make sure you send them a proper jewel case with album artwork, track names, etc. The way your CD looks when you ship it to them, is the way it will look online.
After your CD has been encoded and delivered to iTunes, Rhapsody, etc., it will take about six-weeks before it appears in these services. I know six-weeks sounds like a long time, but everyone in the industry has to wait this long. It will be your responsibility to check these services regularly to see if your music is available. As soon as it is, you can start directing fans to these sites to purchase your music. Every time you sell a song through iTunes or another service, CD baby will report the sale to you. When you’re ready to cash-out on your sales, request a check from CD baby and they will mail it to you.
Make sure that you do a lot of marketing to ensure your music actually sells. CD baby takes care of all of the distribution, but they are not a marketing company. Neither are the stores that will be carrying your music. Most consumers don’t just randomly browse through iTunes buying songs. You have to let your fans know where they can go to purchase your music. Good luck!
