Why Selling on iTunes SUCKS!

If you read the book, you'll see that I propose selling directly, via a service like payloadz, or even CD Baby, for physical CDs.

The thrust of it is that you need to be focused on your mailing list. It's not just a nice-to-have like most bands treat it. It really is the lifeblood of any independent musician in this day. And if someone likes your music well enough to pay for it, you don't want to forfeit the opportunity to continue to develop that relationship.
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Hey I like your site, some interesting articles up there

While I tend to agree that selling on itunes sucks, in the age where iPod whether stand alone or with a phone added in, is the number one selling mp3 (well not really mp3 but you know what I mean) player in the known universe by a margin of about 8 to 1 over the rest of the competition combined and the possibly anti trust ties that it gives to itunes, you really have to. Otherwise you are excluding a huge potential portion of your fanbase from being able to buy in the format for the device they want.

It also sucks thay after dumping all that blood sweat and tears into writing, rehearsing, tracking, mixing thinking about song order and which will fit before getting it mastered, that people won't just buy the bloody thing when it's done. Instead you have to put even more effort to beg, threaten, cajole to get it out there and then again to get people to drop $0.99 to buy a track :D
 
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Bristol Posse said:
Hey I like your site, some interesting articles up there

While I tend to agree that selling on itunes sucks, in the age where iPod whether stand alone or with a phone added in, is the number one selling mp3 (well not really mp3 but you know what I mean) player in the known universe by a margin of about 8 to 1 over the rest of the competition combined and the possibly anti trust ties that it gives to itunes, you really have to. Otherwise you are excluding a huge potential portion of your fanbase from being able to buy in the format for the device they want.

It also sucks thay after dumping all that blood sweat and tears into writing, rehearsing, tracking, mixing thinking about song order and which will fit before getting it mastered, that people won't just buy the bloody thing when it's done. Instead you have to put even more effort to beg, threaten, cajole to get it out there and then again to get people to drop $0.99 to buy a track :D
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I suppose there are people who aren't aware that they can put MP3s on their iPods or iPhones, but you can include some info about that on your site, of course!

I agree there are people who'd rather buy from iTunes, but you should really try to get them to buy through your site, if possible!
 
johnsuitcase said:
I suppose there are people who aren't aware that they can put MP3s on their iPods or iPhones, but you can include some info about that on your site, of course!

I agree there are people who'd rather buy from iTunes, but you should really try to get them to buy through your site, if possible!
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I'm going to read through your ebook and see if it changes my mind. Right now I kinda feel you have to. IMO iTunes is the walmart of on line music (well except for the saving money part as they are more expensive than most sites) and if you're serious about it you are more or less forced to be there. Just like if you want to be the biggest seller of diapers you have to go where the people are whether or not you agree with/like what WalMart is doing. sure some people will actively boycot the big boys because of all the pushing around they do but in the end most people just buckle under and go on in

I seriously considered trying to sell through my own site but after looking into it and figuring how much time I spend maintaining my own little site as it is without the extra hassle of having to worry about managing a net cart, worrying about security of both my customers and my own material, I just figured for the work involved vs the revenue generated it was easier to just be placed in a variety of online stores.
 
Bristol Posse said:
I'm going to read through your ebook and see if it changes my mind. Right now I kinda feel you have to. IMO iTunes is the walmart of on line music (well except for the saving money part as they are more expensive than most sites) and if you're serious about it you are more or less forced to be there. Just like if you want to be the biggest seller of diapers you have to go where the people are whether or not you agree with/like what WalMart is doing. sure some people will actively boycot the big boys because of all the pushing around they do but in the end most people just buckle under and go on in

I seriously considered trying to sell through my own site but after looking into it and figuring how much time I spend maintaining my own little site as it is without the extra hassle of having to worry about managing a net cart, worrying about security of both my customers and my own material, I just figured for the work involved vs the revenue generated it was easier to just be placed in a variety of online stores.
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I'm going to be editing the book based on feedback like yours, of course.

One site that some readers have pointed me to, which looks like a very good solution is bandcamp.com

I would advise using your own URL to point to the site, just in case;)

Thanks for taking the time to read it!
 
I use Tunecore and it seems to be straight up - flat one time setup fee and a cheap fee each year after that. They sell for you through iTunes and a bunch other places.

The problem of where to sell your music seems minor compared to the fact that the economy is busticated.
 
The book isn't so much about where to sell your music as it is about building and using your mailing list. When you sell via iTunes, etc, you don't get a chance to collect any info from your buyer.
 
I read the e-book. Thanks for taking the time to write it up. Some good ideas in there.

While I agree that selling on iTunes sucks, the whole mailing list idea doesn't seem to work well for me. I imagine not many kids would actually put their email on the list but at this point what do I have to lose. I might think this because my music likely isn't good enough to have someone sign onto a mailing list.. Maybe I should worry about my music first before worrying about getting fans..
 
The key to a mailing list is to give them a reason to sign up, a free song, or whatever (a free sticker, discounted admission to your show, etc.) Then, you have to think like a fan. Imagine you're on your favorite band's list. What would you be hoping to hear from them? That they're playing soon? Yes! That they have a new recording out? Yes! That the singer just took a shower? No! Save that for your blog.

Only send out emails that have real value for your fans and you'll do fine.

Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!
 
I am intrigued with this thread. I may read your ebook, to see what sparked a Why Selling on Itunes Sucks. Would this be because of Itune's customer service sucks? Or do you not like their interfaces? Itunes is like Verizon, some people may prefer ATT instead. And we are the service providers picking which satellite to use.
 
Mindset said:
I am intrigued with this thread. I may read your ebook, to see what sparked a Why Selling on Itunes Sucks.
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You should read the e-book, it's a short read and may inspire some new perspective. A few of the main ideas that I recall that inspired "why selling on iTunes sucks" are...

- The artist only makes a small percentage of the song's cost (roughly 30 percent).

- There is no pricing option; singles are $.99 cents and albums are $9.99 (i think)

- Even if you DO sell music on iTunes, there is no information to keep in touch with the person who did buy your music. This disables you from adding them to a mailing list and keeping in touch with fans about future news. iTunes won't tell you who bought your music. I believe this was one of the highlighted qualms with iTunes.

Hope this isn't too revealing Suitcase. If it is, let me know and I'll take it down. :)

Suitcase ... what would iTunes have to do for you to be happy using it?
 
I would like to see iTunes do a few small things:

Make it easy for artists to set the price of a song, all the way down to free (even if that option required the artist to pay a few cents for the bandwidth, etc.) They do giveaways of promotional songs, but it's not something an indie artist can easily arrange.

When buying something, a fan should have the option to provide their email address to the band (not mandatory, but something they would be reminded of at checkout.)

The artist should be able to register their website with iTunes, and there be a link.

I think with those basic things, iTunes would enable independent artists to develop their fanbase more fully, which would benefit them and their fans.

Then, the other part of the ebook, the bands need to learn how to use their mailing list effectively, as well.

From my experience, the vast majority of local, indie, and even major artists do a lousy job of using their list. The few who do it well see good results.
 
A couple of things you may want to make note of

  • The sale of generic MP3 players surpassed the sales of Apple's Ipod.
  • Although Itunes is one of the main programs to use for music purchase - it is made to intergrate with the IPOD
  • Itunes is not a networking website. Therefore will lack fans interacting etc
  • Independent artists have other outlets to promote their music
  • 30% Profit from each song seems roughly right for an album that you would wholesale to brick & mortar stores for $3-4 anyways..

I highly doubt they will change Itunes into something that it is not. Though I may not like the percentages they take out, or the static pricing. I do understand the nature to support the company, and the static pricing to limit the flood of bs given away for free on a service that they created and to the guaranteed income.

Mailing lists can be effective if used correctly. But chances are those mails tend to start ending up in the junk mail folders of members. Thus mailing lists currently do not offer efficent forms of marketing. The idea is great, the reality shows it doesn't work. So we generally concentrate on more direct marketing via Visual & Audio. Show you the product, let you hear it, and move on. Mailing lists would be great because they offer direct mail marketing strategies. They shouldn't be counted out either but not used as a main source of marketing.
 
Mindset said:
A couple of things you may want to make note of

  • The sale of generic MP3 players surpassed the sales of Apple's Ipod.
  • Although Itunes is one of the main programs to use for music purchase - it is made to intergrate with the IPOD
  • Itunes is not a networking website. Therefore will lack fans interacting etc
  • Independent artists have other outlets to promote their music
  • 30% Profit from each song seems roughly right for an album that you would wholesale to brick & mortar stores for $3-4 anyways..

I highly doubt they will change Itunes into something that it is not. Though I may not like the percentages they take out, or the static pricing. I do understand the nature to support the company, and the static pricing to limit the flood of bs given away for free on a service that they created and to the guaranteed income.

Mailing lists can be effective if used correctly. But chances are those mails tend to start ending up in the junk mail folders of members. Thus mailing lists currently do not offer efficent forms of marketing. The idea is great, the reality shows it doesn't work. So we generally concentrate on more direct marketing via Visual & Audio. Show you the product, let you hear it, and move on. Mailing lists would be great because they offer direct mail marketing strategies. They shouldn't be counted out either but not used as a main source of marketing.
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Good points, all!

I think that you're right about mailing lists to a degree. What you're hoping for, in the end, is to be able to contact your most devoted fans easily, and affordably. And then, for those fans to evangelize to other potential fans. Now, you may have only 15% of your actual fanbase on your list, but keeping those fans in the loop and excited will always energize the other 85% who hear about your new releases and upcoming shows from the true-believers.

And maybe some are right that those hard-core fans will watch your myspace page, or visit your website and sign up for a list, but why not do every thing you can to help them along?

You don't want every person who owns a track of yours on the list. Sending email isn't free (well, once you get past a few hundred subscribers, it starts to become a headache unless you use a professional solution, which costs money) so you only want your most dedicated fans there anyway.

But an email from a fan to a friend about a band they really dig is still the best promotion a band can ask for.
 
The proprietriness of all things i bothers me greatly.
From an MP3 player you can't just drag MP3s onto through computers that are triple the price of a PC made from essentially the same components to the fact that kids can't see that any of the above is a problem given that the i is Iconic in the must have accessory stakes, (& then there's the whole issue about sound quality).
I'm still giving my stuff away free to anyone who already has a soundclick account & is silly enough to want it.
 
Erockrazor said:
...A few of the main ideas that I recall that inspired "why selling on iTunes sucks" are...

- The artist only makes a small percentage of the song's cost (roughly 30 percent)...
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I sell on iTunes through Tunecore, and I thought it was 71% artist/29% Steve. No?

If you compare that to the percentage that artists got from their recordings in the past that's a massive increase. What percentage did Hall and Oates get in the 80's... I'm gonna guess 5% at most. Probably less. I don't really know.

I just pay Tunecore $20 and they deal with iTunes. iTunes means nothing to me, just one of many stores I sell on.
 
I can vote for Bandcamp. The technical solution is SO flexible, it's packed with useful features and currently they don't have any fees. The obvious drawback of course is being less famous than for example ITunes.

We used it on our latest release: http://dynamobliss.com

I wish more companies would jump on the bandwagon and offer free services like this. The question still remains, where does the money come in? :confused:
 
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