How To Sell MP3s Online
Sell Your Music!
I have a lot of friends in bands or who are solo artists and I've seen some of them make over $10,000 a month selling their music on iTunes. Granted, they were touring and expanding their fan base online but you can start making extra money, right now, with your music.
Artists with well-written and professional produced music can easily sell a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars in music every month without touring. I'll show you the #1 website to go to sell your music online at over 6 online music retailers, including the most important one, iTunes. (Just a quick FYI, over 70% of all music downloads that are sold in the world are sold on iTunes.)
In future Hubs, I'll show you ways to market your music to increase your sales.
Sign To A Record Label or Stay Independent!
Because of the fall of the major labels and the rise of online downloads, the playing field has changed for the smaller artists, including unsigned artists. There have been many unsigned artists hitting the Billboard charts and making a sizable income from online sales.
If you combine touring and a strong online presence, you can build a career without ever signing to a label. Or you can sign that multi-million dollar record deal with a solid history of sales and tours that you did on your own.
MySpace has changed people's lives dramatically including a singer/songwriter named Secondhand Serenade (pictured below). He went from a MySpace darling in 2005 to selling out theaters across the world in 2009!
Secondhand Serenade sold over 100,000 albums as an unsigned artist because of MySpace and iTunes. He used this to sign to a record label and his his song Fall For You has sold over 2 million downloads! You can do it too!
How Do I Sell My Music?
Tunecore is the leading music site to get your music on iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, eMusic, Amazon and Shockhound (Hot Topic). Tunecore is owned by Guitar Center and is quickly joining forces with many top music companies. Surpass these sales with Tunecore and receive the following:
- Sell 100 songs on iTunes within 30 days and get a show at The Roxy in LA or Le Poisson in NYC
- Sell 250 songs on iTunes within 180 days and get a show at a House Of Blues near you
- Sell 50,000 to 100,000 songs and get free or discounted Ernie Ball strings
- Become a Top Seller and get your CD sold in all Guitar Center locations with in-store radio play
You can register with each online music retailer separately but every band/artist isn't accepted. And, if you're accepted, it may take months to get your songs online to sell.
Tunecore can get your music online in as little as 4 weeks but normally around 6 weeks. And all music comes out on or around Tuesday which is the standard day for all new music to be released in the music industry. If you go through all the steps of the Tunecore website, your music will get accepted on the other sites 100% of the time!
You easily upload your music and CD artwork on Tunecore. They transfer everything to the other sites without you having to do it. You will need to have a UPC code to register for Tunecore. This code will keep track of your sales. And if you sell enough in a one-week period, you can hit the Billboard charts. Over the last two years, there have been many unsigned bands/artists to hit the Billboard charts because of online sales.
If you had your CDs manufactured professionally, check the back of your CD to see if there is a UPC code on the back. If there is, use that same code for Tunecore. If not, go to UPCExpress.com to get a UPC code. DO NOT pay more than $30 for a UPC code. Too many sites are charging way more than they should.
To sign up for Tunecore, CLICK HERE.
