An Artist Finally Gets the Guts to Take on TuneCore…

MUSINGS IN Cb: “The New Digital Music Scene: meet the new boss, same as the old boss?”

It has been a while since I got sucked into an old fashioned bulletin board-type of thread.  Lots of flames going on, but I posted the following nonetheless because it addresses points we seem to forget while in the heat of the moment of creating, distributing and promoting our records. You can access the original post by clicking the title above the photo.

My post:

I got to know Steven Cravis during the years of promoting music at the original MP3.com. He was a very ethical person then and I don’t think he has changed. I have never dealt with Tunecore because I chose not to. The primary problem that I have had since the very beginning of Internet music dealing with all forms of online and digital distribution has always been the audit trail. You (artist / indie label) don’t really know what was sold / collected in this model. You have to take the word of the platform provider that distributes your music to the retailers and other licensing customers. I am not sure an entity like Tunecore or CD Baby isn’t more powerful than the “major labels” because there are lots more indies paying to use these services than there are artists that major labels are loaning money to. I currently use CD Baby, even though it has changed lots since Derek Sivers sold it, but there are other options out there: Bandcamp. Your own webstore. Your own deal with Amazon (forget trying to get your own deal with iTunes). Peace, Cb