Getting Your Music Released – Tunecore Vs CD Baby
Posted by Karen in Internet, music, tags: CDBaby, Digital Distribution, iTunes, TuneCoreNow no one can say that I don’t have wide range of posts on this blog, but the topic of music is something close to my heart, so I thought I would take the time out to write a post for fellow artists/bands with a little advice.
First of all lets start with CDBaby, now I have used CDBaby for three of our releases and have found them very easy to deal with, there is an initial one off cost of $35 per album and then $20 for a barcode for your release, so that’s $55 (£37), but then you post off five physical copies of your CDs to them for to catalogue which will cost you postage, but, CDBaby has now started a Digital Only service so now you only have to send one master to them.
Your music should get listed with several Digital Distribution sites including iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic and more. CDBaby will take 9% of your earnings from your music, so you get 91% of your earnings from sales, which is really good.
Now on to TuneCore, now the difference here is that you upload all your work to the website and no CDs are needed to send to them. With Tunecore you pay and annual fee for your releases a single is $9.99 and an album is $19.98, also you have to pay $.99 per track and $.99 per store that you album is listed in.
So as an example if you release a 10 track album to all the stores it will cost you:
- $12.87 for all 13 stores
- $9.90 for all 10 tracks
- $19.98 for the annual fee
- Total of $42.75 (£29.04)
- You Keep 100% profit!
As you can see it’s still cheaper than CDBaby, but, remember that you have to pay an annual fee, where as once your release has gone with CDBaby there are no more costs for you to pay.
So which to go for, hmm, I would personally say that if you are planning or wishing to sell a load of downloads than I would say TuneCore, but if you are looking in to the long term for your music and like your fans to also have the choice of buying a physical CD then I would go with CDBaby.
As I mentioned earlier we have used both for our music and have found that both are worthy of each other, we use CDBaby for our major album releases and use TuneCore for our smaller single and EP releases which we only release for a short period of time. But at the end of the day it’s your decision to make and I hope that this little bit of info has helped in some way or another
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Thanks for the mention, Karen.
In the age-old comparisons between digital distributors, I always talk about the philosophy: why have someone take a 9% stake in your music forever, without cap, without supervision or termination–it’s like working for them! But you’re conclusion points out what CD Baby can do for physical distribution, and I simply can’t resist telling you (and yes, your readers), that TuneCore has leveled this playing field.
TuneCore’s Amazon on Demand launched last week. Our program lets TuneCore customers have their music and art not just in Amazon’s MP3 store, but on the regular shelves of Amazon’s CD store. Fans click to buy a CD, Amazon MANUFACTURES the disc on the spot, puts it in a jewel case, shrink wraps it, packs it, fulfills it, ships it anywhere in the world and funnels the cash back to TuneCore where, as usual, we pass it on 100%.
I’m trying to show that even in the world of CDs, TuneCore artists have a heck of an option. Thanks.
–Peter
peter@tunecore.com
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: Blazing_Minds
(1093 comments) Reply:
April 10th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Hi Peter, thanks for taking the time to post on my blog and for keeping us up to date with the latest TuneCore news.
[Reply]
Peter Wells (5 comments) Reply:
April 10th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
My pleasure. If you or your readers have any questions about TuneCore or the industry in general, feel free to write me. The key to changing this business and making it fair for artists everywhere is EDUCATION, making sure people know how it works and how they can survive and thrive in it. Ignorance is the only true enemy, and those who would prey upon it.
Thanks again.
–Peter
peter@tunecore.com
[Reply]
Kevin Breuner (1 comments) Reply:
April 10th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Karen,
Thanks for the CD Baby mention! We’re glad that we’ve been a part of your musical pursuits. One advantage of CD Baby, is that in addition to providing download sales through the largest number of partner companies (No per store charge), we’re also a true retail store — and the largest independent music store online at that, with over 100,000 unique visitors a day. And we carry and sell physical CDs in addition to selling downloads, which is a big plus to artists, since CD sales still make up a significant chunk of music revenues today. Also, another big plus for selling downloads through CD Baby’s website, is that the artist can set the price themselves, which for some of our artists, has allowed them to make 2-3 times as much for an album download as they would through iTunes.
This Summer we’re launching a completely new CD Baby that is going to have so many new features, you’ll definitely want to be a part of it!
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: Blazing_Minds
(1093 comments) Reply:
April 10th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Hi Kevin, thank you for taking the time to post you views, decisions, decisions
[Reply]
Gary (1 comments) Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 1:09 am
i have a growing disappointment with Cd baby. This company has been good over the years but recently has really dropped the ball. I as well as other musicians i know signed to Cd baby are having issues getting e-mails answered which used to be answered immediately. I had to send an e-mail 3 times over the course of 2 weeks until it got answered and yes i had the right e-mail address. i have one i sent just 2 weeks ago which has not been answered and i have sent it twice already. it is concerning how to get some songs uploaded and registered because the functions that they have on their site which allow this are not functioning properly. we want to get this music posted NOW and are considering Tunecore due to these delays. We understand that there is a rehaul with the site but emails still need to be answered and functions on the site fixed so people can still sell their music.
[Reply]
I always wondered how the local groups were able to get their music on iTunes, Rhapsody, and the like – now I know. It really seems like a smart move in the digital age to use these types of services.
Do you ever envision a time when there is no need for a local “record store”?
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: Blazing_Minds
(1093 comments) Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Funny you mention local “record store” all the good ones we had locally have gone!
[Reply]
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[Reply]
Can anyone tell me about oasis manufacturing, is it worth all the money or should i go with tunecore or Cdbaby.
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: Blazing_Minds
(1093 comments) Reply:
September 30th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Oasis seems to be for manufacturing of your release only! CDBaby and TuneCore are for the actual distribution to online music stores etc.
These days, you don’t really need to go all out on CD pressing and printing as the majority of digital distribution sites are digital, allowing you to upload your works directly. Unless you are planning to sell physical CDs at shows etc, if not then you will only need a master disc to upload.
[Reply]
Getting Your Music Released – Tunecore Vs CD Baby…
Now no one can say that I don’t have wide range of posts on this blog, but the topic of music is something close to my heart, so I thought I would take the time out to write a post for fellow artists/bands with a little advice….
Hi Karen,
You should really check out http://routenote.com. No upfront fees at all and even FREE UPC and ISRC codes.
They are fast becoming one of the major players in this space.
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: Blazing_Minds
(1093 comments) Reply:
October 5th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Hi Steven, thanks for commenting, though you are really promoting your own site, but that’s ok, it’s giving artists another avenue to pursue, I’ll be stopping by ASAP to check out routenote.
[Reply]
Twitter: missus_emm
(9 comments) says:
I’ve been a CD Baby fan for years. As a customer, I really respect how they promote smaller bands. I love how I can input the name of a famous band and they come up with something similar for me.
I hadn’t heard of Tunescore before but I guess customers don’t really interact with them…
Emm is hoping you stop by and read Book review: Ark Angel – Anthony Horowitz
[Reply]
Ahhh… I’d heard of both of these but wasn’t sure how to start. While I’m not releasing anything soon, I have a friend who will be very interested in CDBaby – sounds perfect for what she needs.
Wendy is hoping you stop by and read Where can you hire a function band like Chemistry?
[Reply]
Karen
Twitter: Blazing_Minds
(1093 comments) Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
I have several releases under my Remergence title on CDBaby and they sell really well via iTunes etc. So it’s worth checking both Tunecore and CDBaby out
[Reply]