Saratoga Sound Ltd. "Masters of the Mix"
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If you are interested in exploring different ways to move your music on-line and into new channels of distribution, you may want to research some of the e-commerce links listed below. It is through associations such as these that one can develop the necessary network models that best suit the needs of your pursuits. Do your research - this is where the music meets the money! www.indiepromo.com : Companion website for the book "The Complete Guide to Internet Promotion for Artists, Musicians, & Songwriters" by John Dawes & Tim Sweeney. An excellent website for resources needed in developing e - commerce objectives. Drop Shippers: They store a few of your CDs in their warehouse and process orders for you, enabling you to accept credit cards. They range from really small to really large. Many require a UPC bar code. www.cdbaby.com : The most reputable drop shipper catering to independent artists. Start here if you don't have a UPC bar code. They have good turnaround time and are popular overseas. You get a personalized page and the benefit of their customer service dealing with costumers directly. www.amazon.com : Will carry your CD as long as it has a UPC bar code. They take a bigger piece or your sales than CD Baby. However it would be a good idea to place your music with one of the most trusted on-line music and book retailers. Their program is called Amazon Advantage and they pay every month. www.cdnow.com : The first on-line store to be hugely successful. They too require a UPC bar code. However, they are not as well known as Amazon.com. Most customers that visit CD Now are not looking for independent music. Their main focus is on major artists and older music. Meta Sites: are web sites that act as "music portals" or huge on-line song catalogs that allow consumers to buy music on a song-by-song basis, entire CD, or both. www.mp3.com : splits all sales with you 50/50 and lets you set the price of your songs. They offer the benefit of burning your CDs for you (D.A.M. or Digital Audio Music CD) and mailing them off to purchasers. Your contract with them can be canceled anytime by either you or them. All you have to do is provide the MP3 files, a bio, cover art, and a picture for your listing. www.rollingstone.com : Wants independent artist to upload their music in MP3 format. There you can get your music heard by the industry and even reviewed by their staff. You can also get a personalized page there with your lyrics, tour schedule, bio and photos, and even track the number of downloads of your work. www.stompinground.com : A smaller version of MP3.com. Much easier to be found and allows them to offer more personalized service. They also focus their efforts on attracting A&R reps and industry professionals to their site. Artist Directories: Similar to Meta Sites but lean more towards providing services for artists, i.e. free websites, e-mail, and audio file storage. www.iuma.com : Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA) - a Web directory that has over 20,000 music fans everyday looking for independent acts. www.ubl.com : Ultimate Band List is a smaller version or IUMA and is growing fast. It's free and gets lots of traffic. Your listing allows a bio, your existing e-mail address, and a link to your "official" web page. www.indiegroup.com : Known as the Circle of Independence. It is an affiliation between some heavy independent hitters, like TAXI, The Orchard, Band Utopia, MusicPromotion.net, GetSigned.com, and MusicDish, to name a few. They all offer services that empower artists everywhere. Digital Distribution and Affiliates: this is where the big boys are breaking ground for big and small artists alike. For now, there is only one affiliate program of great note: www.liquidmusicnetwork.com : Liquid Platinum: this is a relatively new service that is driven by Liquid Audio's technology. For $99US per year, you can get your music into some 350 (and growing) affiliates. The best part is that you don't have to do anything but make music, get your CD into this system and provide some basic info about you. This is going to be the wave of the future because the affiliates spend a lit of money attracting consumers to their sites. Record Labels: Internet record labels are popping up everywhere. However, just like a traditional label, an Internet record label should be putting additional effort behind your record - i.e. promotion, distribution, etc. Many labels double as on-line music stores where their featured artists' music can be downloaded in MP3 and/or purchased in the more traditional physical formats like CDs and cassettes. www.AMP3.com : Sells downloadable music and pays artists up to 50 cents every time one of their songs is downloaded. Sponsors pay anywhere from 10 to 20 cents per download to place ads at the beginning of songs. Consumers have the option of downloading songs for free or purchasing the songs with the ads removed. This is an example of where the revenue generated from advertising is split with the artist. www.Emusic.com : One of the more well-know on-line record labels/music distributors. Through relationships with artists and license aggrements with leading independent record labels, Emusic.com offers a wide variety of downloadable music in the MP3 format. This on-line resource is also licensed with the major PROs (performing rights organizations, i.e. BMI, ASCAP, etc.). More royalties for the artist! Internet Radio & Podcasting: A great way to get your music heard. Here are some sites to check out: Live365.com Podcasting 101 ShoutCast.com PodSafe Music Network MagnaTune.com IndieFeed
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