The most challenging aspect of any musician’s job is not making the music but getting people to listen to it. Getting your tracks known by as many individuals as possible is essential to do as an artist. Fortunately, distribution has gotten a lot easier with the internet at hand. There are several services available that allow you to distribute your music and earn money from it efficiently. These services differ in terms of how simple they are to use, how large their customer base is, how much storage space they have, and if they sell your music directly or indirectly (through other artists).
Tips To Distribute Your Music
Making music is a fun and rewarding experience, but getting it out to the world can be difficult. It is now easier than ever to distribute your music with the internet. This article will explain how you can do so cheaply and effectively with different services. Here’s a look at services that work well:
Spotify
This free service allows listeners to stream your music and share it on social media sites. You first need to create an account and upload your music to get started. Spotify will let you know if there are any copyright issues after it’s been uploaded, so make sure the songs aren’t copyright protected before putting them up. Moreover, you can distribute your music to Spotify and collect royalties in the easiest and fastest way using indiefy, a digital distribution company. The company takes less than 24 hours to get accepted by Spotify, which gives you direct access to Spotify for Artists.
Spotify offers two plans: Free and Premium. The significant difference between the two is that the premium version lets users play songs offline and remove advertisements from all of their devices. Premium typically costs $9.99 per month, but if you’re worried about getting listeners, this might be right for you; you can sign up for six months and pay only $5.99.
Bandcamp
When it comes to ease of use, few services beat Bandcamp. To sign up, all you have to do is provide an email address and password. That’s it. This simplicity comes from its design as a web service rather than a site with separate front and back ends like many other services (iTunes, Amazon MP3). After this step, upload your music files to Bandcamp, and they will appear online shortly after.
You can choose whether or not to make individual songs available for purchase; you can also allow downloads for free if you wish (you decide on a price point, and Bandcamp keeps 20% of sales). You can also create a page for your artist profile with links to your music, photos, bio, and more. The site is well designed and easy to use, making it perfect for independent artists. Bandcamp has a built-in audience of music fans specifically interested in new and independent artists. Because of this, it’s a great place to start marketing your music.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a social networking site for musicians to share their tracks with other users. It’s free to create an account and upload your music. You can also embed SoundCloud players on your website or blog. SoundCloud has a large user base of music fans and is excellent for promoting your music. The downside is that its design isn’t as polished as iTunes or Amazon MP3. This can make finding your music challenging and turn off some potential customers.
iTunes
iTunes is the most popular service for buying music online. It offers a simple way to distribute your music (via the iTunes Store) and reach many customers. You create an account, upload your music files and set your price. iTunes takes a 30% commission on sales. One downside to using iTunes is that it is designed to purchase music, not listen to it. This means that your music will be hidden away in a “downloads” section of the store and won’t be as visible as it would be on other services like Bandcamp. It also means that people looking to purchase music might not find your tracks.
Amazon MP3
If you want to reach the most people possible, Amazon MP3 is a good option. The service offers a store similar to iTunes and sells music in digital and physical formats. You can upload your music files and set your price like on iTunes, but Amazon has a 50% commission on sales.
The main downside to Amazon MP3 is that it’s not as well-designed as iTunes. The store can be challenging to navigate, and the layout isn’t intuitive. This might cause some customers to give up before finding your music.
Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon MP3, and SoundCloud are all great options for distributing your music. Each service has its advantages and disadvantages, so choose the best suits your needs. Whichever service you choose, make sure to upload your music and start marketing it to potential listeners.
