Indie Artists Now Get Paid 100% For Releasing Music for Free on WaTunes
Posted by Karen in Reviews, music, tags: artists, bands, eMusic, indie, iTunes, mp3 songs, music, music labels, online music distribution, Rhapsody, WaTunes
Ok to follow on from one of my previous posts about CDBaby vs Tunecore, there is now another road that unsigned artists and Indie music lables can take and it WaTunes.com.
As quoted in the WaTunes blog from CEO Kevin Rivers :
We’ve went from being free to be charged, to giving 90% of sales, to giving back all the sales earnings. We’ve finally can say that we have raise the bar even higher by providing you guys an ABSOLUTE digital distribution service. As of now, WaTunes will enable it’s customers to continue to sell unlimited music, earn 100% of the royalties, and more, ALL FOR FREE! There are no fees, cancellations, no gimmicks.
WaTunes allows an artist to upload their music for FREE as mp3 songs, yes you read that right for FREE and then get released on music stores such as iTunes and Amazon, all you have to do is sign up and then upload your content in a ZIP file via the website and your off.. Yes it is really that simple.
I recently joined WaTunes to try the process out and released the single of Starlight by my humble little music adventure Remergence to see how the process works, uploading had a few teething problems, but I think this was mainly down to my broadband connection, but I have uploaded a zipped file which includes four tracks and artwork and it was quite painless and Kevin Rivers the CEO at WaTunes, was extremely helpful and may I say very quick at emailing me with help, thanks Kevin.
The process is convert your music tracks to 320kbps and include your cover art in the form of a 600×600 image, zip them all in one file and upload, yeah, that’s it, then wait for the contents to be previewed and distributed.
So now it’s just a waiting game for the release to go live, it is currently listed as “in review” so hopefully over the next few weeks the release will go live and be available on iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic and more, hopefully… 
UPDATE:
24-Apr: Starlight [Single] already listed at ShockHound
29-Apr: Starlight [Single] listed on iTunes
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Anand Srinivasan
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Hey Karen,
Thank you so much for the mention. WaTunes is paving the way of how music is not only delivered but also expressed to the consumers. With the upcoming WaTunes New Experience coming real soon. We’ll be able to truly create an environment where artists can create that interaction with their fans.
I’m very glad that I was able to be of great service to you and I thank you for trying out our services. Feel free to drop us a line at: press@watunes.com if you’d like to get more detail info, score a 1-on-1 interview with me, and more. We’re excited to be working with you and your music!
Kevin Rivers
CEO, WaTunes.com.
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: RemBeatZ
Reply:
April 24th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Thanks for commenting Kevin, I’m looking forward to seeing my release go live
I’m hoping that after reading this post, other artists will take up your service, incidental I will be updating this post after my release goes live so I can keep everyone updated..
[Reply]
Kevin Rivers Reply:
April 24th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Hi Karen,
Thanks. We’re really focusing on providing ways to finally provide a simple, yet effective way where independent musicians can not only sell their music with great ease, but also have the right marketing tools and services at their fingertips. Look out for more amazing features coming within the next couple of months.
[Reply]
That’s really good for the indie artist. I noticed a lot of the artist are finally getting paid. This is really an ingenious way for everyone to be happy.
Jermaines last blog post..The Truth About Work At Home Scams
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Kevin Rivers Reply:
April 26th, 2009 at 3:03 am
Hi Jermaine,
Thanks. Our goal is to great a simple way to satisfy the consumers and independent artists and strengthen a stronger, simple, yet effective way to gain exposure.
[Reply]
Thanks for the info Karen, this looks like a fantastic thing. Only issue I have right now is I don’t have a UPC number and there’s not much info onsite about this, whether it is automatically generated for you in the submission form or you have to get your own separately. If you or anyone discussing this here have any answers on that, would be much appreciated. Bravo to WaTunes for making this service free to artists, fantastic initiative!
Pixiegutss last blog post..Pixicast – Episode 002
[Reply]
Kevin Rivers Reply:
April 26th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Hi Pixieguts,
I’d be more than happy to answer that question for you. Our system will automatically generate a UPC code for you when you input your album information. If you already have a valid UPC code, you can replace the automated one with your own.
Thank you for choosing our service. We’re working to bridge the gap between the fans and artists to create a deeper interaction for music. For further questions, let us know at anytime. For more latest news on WaTunes, visit our blog at: http://watunes2.blogspot.com
Kevin Rivers
CEO, WaTunes.com
[Reply]
Thanks for the fast response Kevin! I am uploading now and excited. Cheers.
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Wanted to wish you all the best of luck and lots of happiness with tis new venture. I know you will make it because yu never give up. stoped by to also vote for you at webbie world I have been voting for you every day except two times when I lost the address so I came here to get it..I book marked this page so I can vote each day. I invite you to please stop by my blogand get some of the Freebies I have to offer. Also somethng is bothering me why are you no longer Folowing me on twitter did I bother you to much? Hugs and I do miss you.
lilruths last blog post..Its FREEBIE Time and I got some great Freebies for you
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: RemBeatZ
Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 8:38 am
Hi lilruth, I am following you, long story short, had trouble with BlazingMinds twitter, so deleted it, now following you with RemBeatZ twitter
[Reply]
Hi again
Having some trouble with the uploading to the site. How do you do ftp? That’s beyond my experience and I was very daunted by the result I got when I looked it up on Google.
Cheers again for any assistance.
Pix
Pixiegutss last blog post..Pixicast – Episode 002
[Reply]
Kevin Rivers Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 1:56 am
Hey Pixieguts,
Not a problem. Shoot us an e-mail @ info@watunes.com in regards to this inquiry and I’ll be more than happy to fill you in on how the FTP Delivery works.
Kevin Rivers
CEO, WaTunes.com
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: RemBeatZ
Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Hey there my musical buddy
I had a few teething problems uploading, but via ftp was really easy and as you can see from the update to my post, ShockHound was the first to get listed in such a short time 
[Reply]
You know? I’m awfully pleased to see Kevin so active. Whatever the future holds, when a CEO cares enough to respond so frequently to a customer, it’s a human thing–and musicians have had enough of giant faceless companies.
That’s the right attitude, Kevin! More sharing: even though you’re not using TuneCore, Karen, we provide a lot of free tips I’d love you to use to promote your music. It’ll help you:
http://www.tunecore.com/index/m_and_p
Every little bit counts. Good luck!
–Peter
peter@tunecore.com
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: RemBeatZ
Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Hi Peter, as a matter of fact, I/we do have a Remergence release with Tunecore, it’s for the EP/Single Probably and I’ve also recently submitted my record labels second compilation album with you.
[Reply]
Peter Wells Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Excellent! Well, as I love to say, holler if you need anything. There’s a near landslide of new tools coming, SOON (and free!), to help you get noticed. Do use them, they’re built to help.
Thanks again!
–Peter
peter@tunecore.com
[Reply]
Kevin Rivers Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
@ Peter: Hi Peter. I’m glad that you’ve seen me so active. This shows that for us at WaTunes, our customers are not considered a number, they are considered a person. I strongly agree with you when you say that EDUCATION is important. It’s great to see companies provide marketing strategies (free-ones at that) that can help a musician strive for success. A mutual relationship is what will decide the factor.
@ Karen & All: Hi Karen. We’re getting faster! As we’re gearing up to automate all of our music store content deliveries (becoming our own encoding house), we’ll be able to make deliveries of all your music (and soon music videos) easy to accomplish. Also for extensive marketing services, I’d recommend that you check out our sister company called Music Expand ( http://www.musicexpand.com ). Though very independent from WaTunes as they help even other digital distributors, they can really help you place your investment into real marketing avenues including Radio, Press, and Networking.
Kevin Rivers
CEO, WaTunes.com
[Reply]
[...] we say about WaTunes, who I hear you say, read Karen’s post on her Blazing Minds blog about Indie Artists Now Get Paid 100% For Releasing Music for Free on WaTunes, but suffice to say, on the 15 April we uploaded our re-issue of the Starlight Single/EP to WaTunes [...]
stopped to say hello and to let you know I voted for yu again at webbieworld and an happy yu are following me on Twitter. Also I clicked on your Adgitize ads and invite you togo and clcik on my adgitize ads also and reminder Not to stop voting for me at http://bloginterviewer.com/animals/dogcents-ruth they are catching up to me and also May is a new month so be sure to continue voting for me I expect you to be one of the first to vote for me in May and to leave comment letting everyone know your sticking with me and going to continue to Vote. Thanks alot Hugs
lilruths last blog post..Get Paid to Tweet On Twitter with TwtAd
[Reply]
Great articles as always. I just wanted you to know I stopped by and also I vote for you today at webbie world. Hugs.. Continue to vote for me at http://bloginterviewer.com/animals/dogcents-ruth
lilruths last blog post..Idol’ stage rocked by finalists, mishaps
[Reply]
This looks really interesting, nice to see indie artists being paid. I think this is great for the digital music industry at the moment. I am going to investigate this further thanks.
[Reply]
Hey, I’m still having trouble though with the iTunes release. Uploaded it to iTunes in April. It took a very long time to go to iTunes and needed me to email Watunes about getting it there. When it did appear in iTunes most of the track names are listed incorrectly. Email exchange with Watunes about this on 3 July and it was to be fixed. Still waiting. I am unable to do any publicity about this album being released to iTunes until this is done, it’s been slow process and I wonder if I am going to be stuck with an incorrectly tagged album on iTunes at the end of it…
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: RemBeatZ
Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Hey Pixie, So sorry to hear about your problems with WaTunes, my release went very smoothly, just waiting for a mass of sales know
I dare say that Kevin will get it sorted for you..
[Reply]
Kevin Rivers Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 7:41 am
Hi Karen,
Thanks. We’re really working hard to make Pixie’s music experience enjoyable and I will address any concerns that she may have.
I hope Karen that you’re ready for what we’re about to unveil this Friday!
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: RemBeatZ
Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 8:10 am
“Unveil this Friday” Now you have got my mind ticking over
Pixieguts Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 9:10 am
cool sister!
Hi Pixie,
I’ve already notified iTunes if your request upon your e-mail. I’ll ping them today to see the status of this development.
[Reply]
sorry, that was Watunes I uploaded it to (not iTunes) obviously…
[Reply]
Thanks Karen and Kevin. I really have appreciated the friendly and helpful responses, just haven’t had a very smooth run at all on this first innings. My main concern is that all the artists on my album are credited properly and it alarms me to see this problem going on. Otherwise it’s a brilliant thing that WaTunes offers free distribution for independent artists in this way and I recommended it out on artist networks too when I first saw it here. Cheers.
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: RemBeatZ
Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Sadly some things can go wrong with websites and it’s a shame it’s happened with you and your release, you must let me have the link to the release when it’s sorted out on iTunes so that I can download it
[Reply]