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Amazon & TuneCore To Cut Out the RIAA Middleman
eldavojohn writes "So you're an aspiring band and you haven't signed with a record label. Maybe you've got a fan base interested in purchasing your stuff but you're not really into accounting? Enter Amazon's partnership with TuneCore, a CD printing and music distribution service. You want to sell a full album on Amazon of you brushing your teeth? $31. And you get about 40% back on sales, so selling nine digital copies of your CD will put you back in the black. There you have it, public availability on one of the largest online commerce sites for $31 — no RIAA involved!" TuneCore's CEO put it this way: "As an artist, you have unlimited physical inventory, made on demand, with no [sic] upfront costs and worldwide distribution to anyone who orders it at Amazon.com."
Similar model. Get into the iTunes store.
I for one wait to see the lawsuit the RIAA is drawing up to bring down upon Amazon for squelching their draconian business practices by violating their 'copyright' on 'distribution of artistic works of an audio based nature'
$31 for pressed CDs? That's pretty darn cheap if you are going to be doing small runs. Granted you can do a lot better than their 60% cut if you get decently popular and sell a lot of discs, but for someone just getting started that's pretty good (and more professional than going the CD-R route).
I know several up-and-coming musicians, and putting out their first couple of CDs is always a financial adventure. If these guys can produce professional-looking packaging on a one-off basis, it could be just what struggling musicians need!
The fact that it shows how irrelevant the big labels are becoming is just icing on the cake.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
"As an artist, you have unlimited physical inventory, made on demand, with no [sic] upfront costs and worldwide distribution to anyone who orders it at Amazon.com."
What's with the [sic]? 'no' isn't mispelled. upfront isn't misspelled.
Lumping in a prepositional phrase with a noun, verb, and a noun is bad grammer, but I didn't think you used '[sic]' to indicate the bad grammer isn't yours....
How on earth do you figure it's 31$ pr album? It's 31$ to get listed. Read the article, how would you ever make it out to be 31$ pr. album when 9 sales is all that's required to get back in the black?
I could legitimately see this as being the beginning of the end for the RIAA, and I've never thought that before. It makes sense that it would take a big media vendor with a well-established user community, combining manufacturing with sales.
This would be fantastic if I were a musician. No inventory. No worrying about manufacturnig. And you get a percentage of revenue that you won't see anywhere else. The general Amazon community will make marketing a *lot* easier than it would be otherwise. All in all, it seems to make the RIAA meaningless. I really think indie bands might be able to make this work. I'm looking forward to shopping for music on this and know the RIAA ain't getting a dime.
No, no, no. You, the artist, pay them $31 to get started and have them take you on. Then they sell the albums at a "normal" price. RTFA... Although, I also blame /. for increasingly bad summaries these days.
The format kind of sounds like Amie Street - but much less efficient, and much more likely to fail.
Reading fail on your part. It's 31$ to list the CD [per year] then they take 60% of each sale.
I didn't read the entire article but that much seemed obvious to me.
It's like Lulu for audio.
It's not cheap at first glance, but it couldn't be more obvious that it is cheap, if you take everything involved into account. I'm just a bit afraid of the response from RIAA. They proved time and time again that they start suits with or even without a solid reason, so I guess it won't take long before they will say that this service should be taken down immediately.
Which would be a shame.
I give massages and reiki treatments (for real!). More info here: http://www.universele-levensenergie.be
There are lots of elements used in the "Music Engine." One of those crucial elements is radio play. Another is wide-spread marketing. And still another is hiring girls to scream during performances. (Didn't you know? Get a handful of girls to scream during a performance causes other females to start screaming and they begin to believe they "love" this music and/or the performers. I know this flies in the face of common sense, but it works.)
It was my understanding that the band paid $31 as sort of a "starting fee". After that initial $31, there is nothing more to pay (that is, if I understood what I read correctly). They're not trying to -sell- the discs for $31 a pop.
Earn a % of cash back from Newegg, Tiger Direct, Walmart.com, and more: http://www.mrrebates.com?refid=458505
You sir, failed to understand whats the $31 is about. Thats the cost for getting the album there, not the price its sold at.
I don't know. You would have to be pretty committed to music to even know about this service. Committed fans are (I believe) happy to spend more money if they know that a significant percentage is going to the artist.
In some ways it's like being an old-fashioned patron of the arts, where you're paying the band so that they can afford to continue making music you like, rather than paying the RIAA $18 for a CD of songs that the artist has already been paid for. (Assuming it's one of the 95% of albums that never sell enough copies to repay their advance...)
Tunecore will charge just $31 a year in upfront fees to handle a 10-track CD from pressing to delivery, passing all other costs through to the buyer.
And
If one of Amazonâ(TM)s 80 million customers buys your 10-song CD on Amazon for $8.98, youâ(TM)ll receive $3.59
However,
one obvious drawback to this model is that you canâ(TM)t sell an on-demand CD at shows, where enthusiastic fans are most likely to pick one up.
That being said, if anyone here wants to potentially earn some money. Create a mobile (or iphone) app that will allow you to buy the CD from amazon, as well as download the tracks (DRM free) to your mobile device there and then. Perhaps using the barcode apps. This would be the best of both (plus another) worlds.
"Tunecore will charge just $31 a year in upfront fees to handle a 10-track CD from pressing to delivery...If one of Amazonâ(TM)s 80 million customers buys your 10-song CD on Amazon for $8.98, youâ(TM)ll receive $3.59. After selling just nine discs, youâ(TM)re in the black."
It's a $31 per year "hosting fee" for the artist.
From the article:
If one of Amazon's 80 million customers buys your 10-song CD on Amazon for $8.98, you'll receive $3.59. After selling just nine discs, you're in the black.
emphasis mine.
"Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns" -Journal of Political Econom
Japanese amateur (doujin) artists have been self-publishing professional-quality albums for years now. No RIAA, no middlemen: they set up a booth at a convention and sell it. And then, afterwards, they sell extra copies from their website. It seems to work well enough: some single fandoms have produced hundreds if not thousands of albums.
Isn't it amazing what you can do when you prioritize actually making music over trying to get rich?
And don't think that the Japanese have it easier with regard to music copyright enforcement: the problem is actually so great there that file-traders have been forced to use anonymous P2P systems like Share and Winny.
Double Comprehension Fail: It's $31 just to start, not per album
"As an artist, you have unlimited physical inventory, made on demand, with no [sic] upfront costs and worldwide distribution to anyone who orders it at Amazon.com."
What's with the [sic]? What in this phrase is misspelled or unusual? It is a quote, so the noun, verb, prepositional phrase, and noun in a list, though bad grammar doesn't require a [sic].
The phrase "with no upfront costs" modifies everything in the list, not nust the phrase "made on demand", so the comma is justified. It is just bad grammar, and bad grammar doesn't require a [sic] notation....
Who's going to feed all of these underprivileged lawyers once they stop being hired to sue students, 10 year old girls and dead grandmothers? Think of the henchmen! Won't somebody pleeeeeeeeeeease think of the henchmen!
The $31 is per YEAR, basically setting up an account like you would with some of those "work from home" outfits, but for a reasonable price. The TFA states that "all other costs are passed on to the buyer". What those costs work out to I don't know, but if you can sell a stamped CD at $10 and still make a buck or two minimum, then you're not doing bad.
What I want to know is how a major stamping operation can retool so easily between different CD's that they can still do this economically?
Used to be called mp3.com.
Aside from that indies have been around forever.
I've always said that artists who cry about this have options but they're too lazy/too talentless to do it for themselves. Oh well.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Maybe they should hire editors to clean up the summaries, verify links, and check for duplicate stories.
It was my understanding that the band paid $31 as sort of a "starting fee". After that initial $31, there is nothing more to pay (that is, if I understood what I read correctly). They're not trying to -sell- the discs for $31 a pop.
You're close, it's $31 a year. Which is why there's no "upfront costs" as the quote says at the bottom of the summary but instead a $31/year. Which is still really really cheap. Interestingly enough, Wired uses "upfront" costs to describe it, from the article:
Tunecore will charge just $31 a year in upfront fees to handle a 10-track CD from pressing to delivery, passing all other costs through to the buyer. In other words, the service promises to remove nearly all of the risks of short-run CD manufacturing, which can cost musicians hundreds or even thousands of dollars for discs that rarely sell enough to cover expenses.
I think people are missing the big picture where you don't have to go to multiple services for your music. You'll be able to buy big names like U2 and Weezer right next to little high school rock bands and indie artists. You make that possible so that the people don't know whether they're buying RIAA or not and who knows? Maybe the musician will decide the RIAA route is not really worth it?
My work here is dung.
31 USD is the set up fee, not the cost of the album.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
If you RTFA you see that the 31 dollars is per-year handling of your disc, you set the prices for your prints and get commision based on that... sheesh guys wake up
For all the morons who seem to be inferring that from the summary. $31 is the flat one-off fee paid by the artist to get listed. The CDs will cost customers typical CD prices.
I find it hard to see much success when you're selling a CD at twice the normal retail price.
From the article: "If one of Amazon's 80 million customers buys your 10-song CD on Amazon for $8.98, you'll receive $3.59."
They are not selling the CDs at twice the normal price. The $31 is the annual fee the artist pays to be included on TuneCore, not the cost of a CD.
I don't see how this is /.'s fault because this dork can't read and process a summary correctly. I got it right out of the gate.
who the hell modded this guy up?
The cd's are going to be $8.99
SO actually, they'll be CHEAPER than most regular retail cd's.
Where do you get twice from?
The $31 startup cost paid by the Artist/Band?
I dont like the record labels but people do seem to forget they do some work of value - like marketing.
I put my bands album out on this website and how is anyone going to know its there?
Sure a couple of bands make it from word of mouth and internet activity, youtube etc but the vast majority dont.
Give me a big marketing budget and some pluggers any day.
I for one wait to see the lawsuit the RIAA is drawing up to bring down upon Amazon for squelching their draconian business practices by violating their 'copyright' on 'distribution of artistic works of an audio based nature'
You're thinking of the National Music Publishers' Association, which controls the rights to record cover versions and licenses them through its Harry Fox Agency. Your "RIAA" guess was close because a lot of labels in the RIAA are under the same management as publishers in the NMPA.
This is America, my friend. It can't be MY fault that I didn't read the article and misunderstood the summary. The article and summary were poorly written and therefore confused me. The writers should be forced to pay me for the time it took me to reply in error and for the public humiliation of being a victim of their poor writing. ;-)
if Apple would do something like this with digital distribution on iTunes, where artists could upload their music and get the same 70/30 split as devs get for iPhone apps. The whole RIAA/ASCAP/BMI paradigm needs a good hard kick in the pants.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
...as opposed to getting about 50 cents to a dollar on each CD, and that's if you're lucky to be Madonna or someone already famous...
I'd say it's a very good deal.
one obvious drawback to this model is that you canÃ(TM)t sell an on-demand CD at shows, where enthusiastic fans are most likely to pick one up.
I don't think there would be anyone stopping the band from buying the CDs from Amazon for $9 and selling them at the concert for $15, with an autograph and some booklet, or for something like $25-50 with a signed t-shirt and booklet.
They'd only lose about 5$ on each CD, but in the end it may still be better than ordering and paying in advance for a 500-1000 batch of discs at a duplication factory.
From the TuneCore-FAQ:
"What format must my artwork be in, in order to upload to TuneCore?
[...] You may not include: email addresses, URLs, any other contact information or any pricing information."
Is this a common (or acceptable) limitation?
sig? Oh, that sig...
Ten bucks isn't twice the normal retail price. RTFA.
"Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns" -Journal of Political Econom
Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Goodbye.
Sure, but why bother with physical media at all ?
Concerts, as LordKronos pointed out. Also dial-up users, especially if you record in a genre that's popular outside urban areas.
While I'm not myself, a good number of my friends are activly producing music.
This actually looks brilliant, I will definintly recommending.
You feel sleepy. Close your eyes. The opinions stated above are yours. You cannot imagine why you ever felt otherwise.
Ok, here the fixed cost is $31 and you get 40% of the sales. :).
What are these values when using RIAA middle man? If there it's also 40% or less of the sales, they got pretty much owned. If you get more % of the sales, then there's a point where it's more profitable to use RIAA than Amazon
what basis does the RIAA have to sue, anyway? if an artist is unsigned, and not part of the industry, the RIAA does not 'represent' them
Unpaid royalties for a cover version. The National Music Publishers' Association collects royalties for cover versions through its Harry Fox Agency, and a lot of publishers in the NMPA are under the same management as labels in the RIAA. Even if you set out not to record cover versions, you could be writing one and not even know it. Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music, 420 F. Supp. 177 (S.D.N.Y. 1976).
I don't get the point of pressing a CD. Who has a CD player anyways nowadays? I mean, I can buy a in-car-stereo with a USB connector for 100! It home, most people have their computers hooked to some amplifier or active speakers anyways. And I don't know if anyone even owns a portable CD player anymore.
I should start making band sites, that work like this:
- A basic site and page structure, including tour dates, a "blog", a gallery, a discography, a biography and artist infos, and contact / fan page / forumm.
- A wonderful individual design. Alternatively they could use their own friend- or fan-made design. Doesn't matter. No licensing crap! They have own the whole site.
- A very simple on-site shop with all songs, bundles of songs as EPs or albums, and paypal to buy and directly download the files from the site. In MP3, AAC, OGG, WAV, FLAC, APE, BIN/CUE, etc. With all metadata (even lyrics), cover images, and some bonus stuff too.
- A admin area for the artist, to upload songs (as wav, or an albums in bin/cue), assign cover images, metadata, bonus-stuff-zips, and so on.
- An optional automatic insertion into every music shop on the net.
I would only have to program it once. Then an artist would only have to pay the design, plus a small fee for setup and a tiny part of the initial programming. I bet I could do this for $1100 with design, and $100 without.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
I wonder how this will work out for established artists? I could see a lot of big name artists wanting to get out of their contracts and run on this service. They are already know, so the exposure and some sales are in the bag. But this way the music is cheaper, they get a bigger cut, and keep the rights. I am sure that established artists can pay for their own recording studio and techs, so I don't see the quality of this going down either.
Am I missing anything here, or is this going to be the future of the music industry?
Cue baseless RIAA lawsuits.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1122770/ save The Middleman his middlecar and his cute sidekick
Your'e all thinking it, I just said it for you
Committed fans are (I believe) happy to spend more money if they know that a significant percentage is going to the artist.
Committed fans pay for live music and share the other stuff.
mmmm...forbidden donut
1. No one listens to radio anymore for music.
I forgot about the traffic, sports, and political commentary, but if even the most poor and uneducated use MP3 players to listen to music these days.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
Unless there's some evil clause in the contract prohibiting reselling, it seems like it would work.
At the very worst a musician could buy their own cd at retail and sell that at the show. They'll get a discount when they get 'payed' for the sale. But I'd be surprised if the service doesn't offer some way to order cd's directly - much like Hulu does for authors. This is pretty much the exact same model - except for whatever reason it's much cheaper. (I'm comparing this to the cost of selling a book on Amazon via hulu with an isbn, etc.)
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
I think people are missing the big picture where you don't have to go to multiple services for your music.
Not only does this put indie bands next to U2, but it even opens the doors for a whole new level of artist "below" the indie artist, because you no longer have to drop a couple grand to press a thousand CDs.
Currently, if you want to sell a professionally made CD (ie. not a CD-R), you pretty much have to order at least 1000 of them. But what about bands who know they're not going to sell that many? Sure, CDBaby will take as few as 5 discs into their inventory if that's all you think you're going to sell, but what do you do with the other 995 you had to manufacture in order to be able to manufacture any at all?
With this service, if 5 is all you're going to sell, then 5 is all that will be produced, and the total cost to you is only $31 -- which, to most artists, is worth it even if they don't make that money back in sales.
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
WTF - are you new here? :D
That would be too much like work and we're here to avoid THAT!
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. Emo Philips
Some committed fans are too old to go out to live shows very often. (Although I took my 9-year old to see Chris Duarte, and he wants to do it again.)
As far as sharing, the best fans buy the CDs (if the money goes to the artist) and then shares the music to help make more fans.
Actually, the BEST fan would just send wheelbarrows of cash and hookers, but that type of fan is all-too-rare.
In law school, a bunch of us formed "The Learned Hands" and laid down some tracks. I had seen an ad for TuneCore somewhere on the web, so we uploaded our album for distribution. Sadly, having graduated school, the band no longer exists, but it's cool to say that our original music has been heard in Germany and the UK (Someone streamed "Ten Point Buck" and "Sleepy Hollow").
My experience with TuneCore was great! The initial costs were very low - I think it's like a dollar per track, and a dollar per online music store. And what do you know, our music is available on iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, eMusic, all over the world! Depending on the vendor, you get one or two cents every time the song is streamed, and for downloads, it's usually 65% or 70% of the purchase price. Uploaded the tracks in FLAC format too, actually, and everything turned out swell.
This is the type of innovation that is changing the music industry, and I don't think the RIAA knows how to, or even can, keep up.
1. Record your album in your garage/basement
2. Upload your tracks to TuneCore for distribution
3. ???
4. Profit!
The problem for my band has been step three, since we no longer officially exist (Singers are in CO and Philly, bassist in VT, and I'm moving to BFE), but we did sell 3 copies on AmazonMP3 and a few tracks on iTunes, plus about $0.76 worth of streaming on Napster and Rhapsody.
In conclusion, TuneCore allows Joe Sixpack to (sort of) achieve his rockstar dreams, at least in terms of getting the music out there and making it available.
Isn't it interesting how you come to recognize posters based solely on their sigs???
Or an "OFFICIAL" bootleg with an extra track of the artists saying "hello to my fans" - that you make on your computer and the roadies sell at the back of the club... heheheheh.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. Emo Philips
There's nothing stopping you from buying tons of your own CDs from Amazon, with what's essentially a 40% discount and selling them at your gig at the appropriate markup to make whatever profit you're looking into.
The beauty of the free market. You'd be speculating in your own band/concert!
Better do a lot of stage dives and that thing that guy who played guitar for The Who did too. ;-)
Send your spendthrift head of state this
Yes, but then they would have to hire editors to clean up the summaries, verify links, and check for duplicate stories.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This is not entirely true in Europe, where licenses are still restricted by the artist copyright agencies. I've got my music distributed through Tunecore, which is an aggregrator and still I am missing a lot of income because my artist rights are not fully defended through exclusive contracts via a private company...
This is managed by Sabam, our RIAA in Belgium, which demands exclusive contracts like many others in Europe. They demand everything or nothing; which will limit the artist to promote and distribute his music without paying blood money.
Without our artist agencies backing up true royalty rights of the common artist; Tunecore (or any aggregrator); on-line store or physical sales and sales agreements will limit the artist for full coverage. Billboards, radio rights, artist representation, cd pressing and copyrights are being repressed from the common people as we speak. Children are being limited with their creative ideas because Sabam deletes their creations! It has to stop somewhere ....
By loosening up the copyrights a bit, the artist can choose his own distribution model and domains, while still getting royalty incomes from radio, television and cd-sales; also new artists will have a lot more chance to get on the bandwagon of the media industry. Maybe that's why they are so afraid of it, accepting such model; I don't know...
I've been writing about this extensively in previous linkings and: Music Industry, Wake up call for alternative licensing!. A very good read about this from Jam Young, this article (in dutch!) and many more available through google how they operate ...
In the meantime, I'm still forbidden of using Sabam because I don't want to sign away exclusivity contracts without end or real support towards the artist except limitations ...
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
TuneCore's CEO put it this way: "As an artist, you have unlimited physical inventory, made on demand, with no [sic] upfront costs and worldwide distribution to anyone who orders it at Amazon.com."
'no' was spelled correctly.
Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
While this looks good for low quantities, a lot of people don't like burned CD-Rs which these will probably be (but I'll hold off judgement on that until the service is launched).
If you are selling 1000CDs, the deal isn't so great. If you go direct to a pressing plant you can get 1000 CDs made for $999. If you match Amazon's $8.98 price, your profit will be $7,899 minus postage costs, which will be zero if you sell at your live gigs, or at most $4,000 if you sell them all through a distributor like CD Baby.
In comparison the Amazon deal would give you just $3590 profit (with postage paid), but you won't have any stock to sell at gigs or mail out for promotion unless you buy it at retail, you're limited to just the packaging they support (no gatefolds, digipacks, free postcards, signed copies, 2CD sets etc.), and unlike mailing them yourselves, you don't get to build up a mailing list of fan's addresses, which can be invaluable later in your carreer.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
one obvious drawback to this model is that you can't sell an on-demand CD at shows, where enthusiastic fans are most likely to pick one up.
I could see bands buying their own CDs from Amazon (getting a 40% discount, round-about) and taking those albums to shows.
Why would you do that? It's likely far cheaper to get them stamped at a local shop or just burn copies yourself and let people know they're burned copies... sell them for $5 or whatever or even give them away with a note that they can buy a stamped copy at Amazon.
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
I don't think there would be anyone stopping the band from buying the CDs from Amazon for $9 and selling them at the concert for $15...
...or buying the CDs from Amazon for $9 and selling them at the concert for $9, since they're getting $3.59 back from Amazon anyway. Maybe round it up to $10 since it's easier to deal with 10-dollar bills at the merchandise table.
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
In that scenario the artist won't make any money from fans like me who often prefer the clean, well-produced recorded versions to the live versions - although it depends on the band really. Some are great live, most are.. meh. Plus when I have to resort to getting music from P2P networks I have no guarantee that it will be at a decent quality. I've had to torrent the Bleach soundtrack and a couple of Android Lust albums as I can't find them easily on CD or MP3 download here in the UK (okay so one of the Android lust albums was available from a 3rd party seller on amazon, but at about 9 times the cost of buying any other normal album), and they're both only 128kbps MP3s.
which is totally what she said
That's not even the worst of it- My band name (and potentially, our upcoming album's name too) is a URL!
Everywhere I go, I run into this problem. I'm going to have to take my business elsewhere, but I'm starting to think that goatse.cx just wasn't meant to be released upon the world just yet.
Amazon's advertising will kick in for every one of these new bands.
That is the big deal and it is likely more effective than anything except a big-label marketing budget.
...when getting a 40% cut is made to sound like a good deal. Sounds just as bad as Handango's cut of mobile app sales.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
I would love to hear RIAA's view on Amazon's MP3 store. After all, MP3 files do not have copy-rigght protection and it is next impossible for RIAA to track, if you just get it from friends instead of downloading. (RIAA uses "borrowing from friends to make a copy" as an example in its argument against DVD backup software.).
Now, Amazon has an awesome MP3 store that is DRM-free with a large selection and often good prices. I am sure they have an agreement with the record lable companies, but it is a big contradictory in the logic comparing to what RIAA is saying about DVD backup software.
On a related note about Amazon, I recently came across, through PC World magazine, an interesting table that details the discounts on Amazon at
http://www.uberi.com
I imagine that's pretty useful for some people.
The latter is something that an agent or a marketing company or a PR firm can do. Really, this is what a record company will eventually evolve to.
I agree, your post is spot-on.
The first thing that has to happen though is to get the record companies to not be so damn dangerous. Pull their fangs.
They killed internet radio because of ideas like this, you know. They still have enough power to get insane laws like this one passed (you actually have to pay the RIAA to broadcast your own unlicensed non-RIAA member music if you can imagine that!) And they'll do anything they can to remain relevant.
Free money and piles of it - who wouldn't fight for that?
So good job Amazon (never thought I'd say that) and keep chipping away at these jerks. Eventually they'll go the way of the dodo.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
The RIAA has not had a reason to exist since the internet come of age. I will use this service in the future since it gives the artists 40% instead of the 10-14% from major labels, and prefer to purchase physical media and rip myself.
It is the way things are done, you get an agent, a record label and advances. That you pay for everything yourself is in the details and lets face it, musicians ain't the brightest people around.
Also, don't forget the appeal of advances. Sure, you would pay them back if succesful but it is money. Right now, not after you sold copies.
This new scheme is for people who believe in their own music, create their own music and are seeing it is as a job, a career. Not a get rick quick scheme.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
You seem to think that the costs of a pressing 1000 CD's is $999 that therefor this is the entire cost of selling these CD's.
What about shipping? Getting the CD's from the plant to your home. Storing them safely as you won't sell them all at once. Setting up a website to sell them. Getting a system to accept payments, which costs money to subscribe to. Shipping to the customers, not just postage but the labor involved in handling the packages. Making the packages. Buying the packages. Handling returns, lost shipments, complaints in general. Keeping track of all your costs for your books.
Can you do all that for 31 dollars? Doubt it. Do you really think you can get better margins then Amazon?
And why can't you make your own CD's as well? This contract ain't exclusive.
No, some larger bands who have a lot of business savy may want to control it all themselves, but if you just want to offer your CD online then this is a very good deal with an extremely payout.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
no "downsides"? Things would be "upended". While we would retain backsides, we would be deprived of foreheads (and more people of foreskins).
Life would be downgraded, and some would feel sideswiped, by underhanded, overbearing people who cannot be aboveboard. But, at least we might not have the problem of innocent bystanders.
But, with computers, we would be deprived of throughput... or output.... LOL!
(I think i'll go outside to get some fresh air...)
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who
has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He
will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the
worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend
more than you can earn ) and reliable strategies (adults, not children,
are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended
from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for
reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the
job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental
consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could
not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an
abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses;
and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a
burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in
her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by
his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
THIS is what the record labels should fear the most.
Many of us really only have a handful of interesting songs to sing. The rest of it is recycled over and over again.
A model like this, if adopted widely, would destroy the career musician path for all but an exceptional few. One-hit-wonders would be the expectation, and a wonderful variety of good music would be consumed.
I hope their in house Photoshop skills are better than those demonstrated in the screenshots of the template page in Wired's article. Someone should inform TuneCore that reflections do not make the objects being reflected translucent, and that design notes ("Black") in the default font should be deleted from the final image.
There are 1.1... kinds of people.
Read the summary twice to make sure....wtf is going to pay $31 for a fucking cd?!?
Ooooh, right, the summary is bullshit. The service itself looks to be fantastic, tho.
Hell, at that price, if I were the band I'd just BUY 50 of the CD's from Amazon at the $8.98 price (and the 'profit' of 3.59 would just come back to me anyway), and sell THOSE at whatever place I'm playing for $10 each or something. People still get the same quality CD as they would from Amazon, and you're still raking in profit. Sure, you lose a bit... but that's strictly costs for manufacturing. It'd make the most sense to do it that way in my mind anyway.
Shipping, storing and setting up a website for a thousand cd's is not that of a big deal; there are plentoria of services around, ready available for the artist. Package handling and all that jazz is possible using open source software. Nobody told music is a career which starts from the first CD or did we?
It depends all in how far you want to go; since; Amazon is looking to this in a very commercial way for those who like to pay up for it; although those knowing the ropes will be rather selecting the real thing with all links attached instead of hanging with an Amazon solution... Maybe you are one of those people who sticks with Google tools only till something bad happens ;)
Also, Amazon does not offer which a custom e-shop can offer, a custom website, defined towards the artist, integration and all that; which is not that expensive either these times!... Still, Amazon or a custom solution doesn't guarantee your cd will be either succes from the first beginning ...
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
It's like all those printshops around; small amounts will get you nice prints in return but when you want something printed in large amounts, you will pay less for it with a professional and get often better materials in return; unless they are having their own printing facilities.
When the investment is not known, you can still see how much you really WANT to invest in getting your product on the market. With the physical product local stores and bars could be reached too while this would be out-of-reach with the Amazon solution; unless paying more to Amazon for that; with the Internet product you will get only coverage of those on the Internet. The middle way needs to be set by those who are running the band / the artist / those knowing how wanted they are on cd or on stage...
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
Personally, I can't even begin to imagine the RIAA ignoring this. They are bound to whine and cry "Foul play" in... 4... 3... 2... 1...
An effective "democracy" creates the illusion the people have a say in their government.
The arrangement between TuneCore and Amazon is certainly an improvement over the current situation, but it doesn't cut out the middleman — it replaces him. Record companies could dictate terms to artists and consumers because they parlayed their control over the distribution of the physical product into a comprehensive racket. This development merely confirms that there is a new distribution channel for music... and that it is dominated by the likes of Apple and Amazon. Jeff Price may have struck this deal because he's a decent fellow who just wants to help music makers and music lovers meet; but I'm pretty sure Jeff Bezos only agreed because he wants to be Caliph instead of the Caliph and, in this space, the RIAA is clearly the Caliph.
What's the RIAA's job again? I thought the headline meant that Amazon would just the listeners directly...
Or you could, you know, buy the CDs from Amazon and sell them to your fans at the show. Sure, you pay full price, but you'll get a 40% kickback, but you can sell them for less than Amazon and still make a profit, and it will be cheaper than doing a small press run.
Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
There's so many responses here I literally don't know where to begin. So I'll just say, we're all totally psyched up for this and the initiatives happening now. If anyone has questions, just write me. Thanks for the lively debate! --Peter peter@tunecore.com
We used TuneCore to distribute the album that I engineered and produced, it worked out really well. I'm just waiting for TuneCore to get their widget back up and running and their service will be perfect. Amazon previously used a different on-demand CD manufacturing service which would have left us with almost nothing in the way of royalties and looked like questionable quality, plus we wanted to press Vinyl so we handled all the physical stuff ourselves. I can confirm that both TuneCore and Amazon's CD services (at least as of two months ago) were doing burned CDRs with dye-sub printed surfaces. For about $1,000 you can actually press CDs instead of burn them, so if you can sell any kind of quantity it is totally worth it.
Still, the Amazon Advantage (advantage.amazon.com) program let us get our vinyl onto their site without any issues. We only did a limited run of promo CDs (mixonic) and have pretty much skipped the CD - digital satisfies most people and Vinyl is great for collectors who want the physical item, artwork, etc. Vinyl was pressed locally, which was extremely price-competitive even compared to eastern-european pressing plants.
Full disclosure and shameless plug: http://www.jackwithoneeye.com/ and Vinyl link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PQN7VM
Natural != (nontoxic || beneficial)
Get the music analysts at Pandora to include the songs in their music genome database and I'll bet they might even sell some CDs.
The internet will end the reign of the majors. Indy music is selling better and better every year and fans are tired of the same old junk being thrown at them over the radio and MTV. As a musician/songwriter myself, I see this as a good thing.