TuneCore vs ReverbNation For Digital Distro?
by Madalyn Sklar
So this morning I'm reading what is turning into quite the interesting article and blog comments about TuneCore raising $7 million for its digital distro service.
I'm happy for TuneCore. They have done a great job building this company up and now with $7M they can do even more. I've known Jeff Price for a long time and he's come up with a great way for indie artists to get their music into the digital arena at an affordable price. They don't keep a percent of sales. YOUR SALES! This is why I feel strongly that their platform is better than CD Baby's. Why give your money away to CD Baby if you don't have to? I have been recommending TuneCore for years.
But then I run into a very interesting counter post on this subject at hyperbot asking a simple question: TuneCore Gets $7 M From Opus Capital. Why? They question this because ReverbNation is now offering digital distro at a cheaper rate than TuneCore.
I love ReverbNation! I'm a big fan. They offer hands down the BEST widgets to promote your music on the Internet. I love their Facebook applications too. I have been recommending them to everyone for a long time now. And I was thrilled to recently learn they are now offering their own digital distro and it's priced better than TuneCore. So you can guess which company I started recommending to my clients and the GoGirls community. Yep, ReverbNation. Oh and by the way, it's not just because their pricing is better. Nope. I've spent time with the people at ReverbNation. They "get it" when it comes to indie artists. And they are damn nice.
Here's a tip to remember: people like to work with people they like. Always be likable in this business!
I think this topic is going to get interesting. I'll be keeping a watchful eye. Stay tuned as this develops...
Send me your comments. I welcome your thoughts on this and would love to hear what you think!
Copyright © 2008 Madalyn Sklar, IndieMusicCoach
Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent over 12 years helping independent musicians and music business professionals achieve greater success. Her motto is: working smarter not harder. She also founded GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest + largest online community of indie women musicians.
Madalyn's Sites:
http://www.indiemusiccoach.com/
http://www.gogirlsmusic.com/
http://www.socialnetworksformusicians.com/
So this morning I'm reading what is turning into quite the interesting article and blog comments about TuneCore raising $7 million for its digital distro service.
Apple’s iTunes music-downloading service and its iPod music players disrupted the music industry’s CD business. TuneCore is helping to complete that process.
That’s how the company just raised $7 million in a first institutional round of funding from Opus Capital. The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based company allows artists to distribute their music, videos and films to iTunes and a host of other online vendors.
I'm happy for TuneCore. They have done a great job building this company up and now with $7M they can do even more. I've known Jeff Price for a long time and he's come up with a great way for indie artists to get their music into the digital arena at an affordable price. They don't keep a percent of sales. YOUR SALES! This is why I feel strongly that their platform is better than CD Baby's. Why give your money away to CD Baby if you don't have to? I have been recommending TuneCore for years.
But then I run into a very interesting counter post on this subject at hyperbot asking a simple question: TuneCore Gets $7 M From Opus Capital. Why? They question this because ReverbNation is now offering digital distro at a cheaper rate than TuneCore.
Opus Capital's Gill Cogan told VentureBeat that he'd "screened a lot of music internet companies but didn’t find any that could do what TuneCore does." Well, Opus and VentureBeat should both hire new research departements. The flat fee distribtuion model has already been adopted by several companies. The largest, ReverbNation, offers a similar and sometimes cheaper flat fee service to 250,000 artist members. And ReverbNation offers an integrated suite of free viral promotional tools that TuneCore would do well to spend its $7 million copying.
I love ReverbNation! I'm a big fan. They offer hands down the BEST widgets to promote your music on the Internet. I love their Facebook applications too. I have been recommending them to everyone for a long time now. And I was thrilled to recently learn they are now offering their own digital distro and it's priced better than TuneCore. So you can guess which company I started recommending to my clients and the GoGirls community. Yep, ReverbNation. Oh and by the way, it's not just because their pricing is better. Nope. I've spent time with the people at ReverbNation. They "get it" when it comes to indie artists. And they are damn nice.Here's a tip to remember: people like to work with people they like. Always be likable in this business!
I think this topic is going to get interesting. I'll be keeping a watchful eye. Stay tuned as this develops...
Send me your comments. I welcome your thoughts on this and would love to hear what you think!
Copyright © 2008 Madalyn Sklar, IndieMusicCoach
Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent over 12 years helping independent musicians and music business professionals achieve greater success. Her motto is: working smarter not harder. She also founded GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest + largest online community of indie women musicians.Madalyn's Sites:
http://www.indiemusiccoach.com/
http://www.gogirlsmusic.com/
http://www.socialnetworksformusicians.com/
Labels: digital distribution, distro, ReverbNation, tunecore
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Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent over 12 years helping independent musicians and music business professionals achieve greater success. Her motto is: working smarter not harder. She also founded GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest + largest online community of indie women musicians. 
Monika Herzig is a jazz pianist/ recording artist for Owl Studios and a full-time member of the Arts Administration Faculty at Indiana University. She has performed at many prestigious jazz clubs and festivals. 
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