Making my own MP3 store on my site?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve Henningsgard
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Steve Henningsgard

Steve Henningsgard

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I'm absolutely positive it's possible, and is probably even easy to do: I just don't know how to do it yet! I'm in a band, and have several minor side-projects as well, and I'd like to set up some simple method (probably involving paypal) to sell high-quality (320kbps) mp3's from my website. I figure there's gotta be almost no overhead, and all I theoretically should have to pay for is the bandwidth right?

I just can't see iTunes (which I, like anyone else, could pay to get in) getting me anything that doing it myself couldn't. Well, at the level I'm/we're at anyway. We're probably talking MAYBE a download or two/day if we're really lucky.

Thoughts? Experiences?
 
great question... I'm looking to do the same thing and keep my own money!
 
One thing iTunes does offer that you don't is a well-known name. More people will be comfortable enough to trust that if they give their credit card info to Apple, it won't be stolen or abused. Fewer people will trust you if you do it yourself. That's not to say you shouldn't do it - the benefits may outweigh the costs - but it should be a factor in your decision. If you could get something set up where PayPal processes the transactions, that would probably solve this problem. I know the store at www.kingdomofloathing.com (an online game) is somehow tied into PayPal like this, but I have no idea what the details are...
 
You can accept credit card payments with PayPal. When someone buys something it takes them to the PayPal site so your customers shouldn't have anything to worry about. PayPal also has a reputable name.

Look here:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_additional-payment-overview-outside

Then all you really need is a shopping cart type thing on your site which can be done real easily using PHP/MySQL. I think there are even free shopping carts available that you can setup on your site without much work.

You wouldn't have to keep track of customer's credit card #'s so you can state that on your site.
 
If you have your own website, you may want to look at one of the open source shopping carts like osCommerce. I've been thinking of using them after seeing some of the MP3 shops that use them. It seems like it is customizable and pretty easy to use. But there are other carts out there that you can use. Some free, some not. Most all of them, if not all, utilize Paypal.
 
LfO said:
One thing iTunes does offer that you don't is a well-known name. More people will be comfortable enough to trust that if they give their credit card info to Apple, it won't be stolen or abused. Fewer people will trust you if you do it yourself. That's not to say you shouldn't do it - the benefits may outweigh the costs - but it should be a factor in your decision. If you could get something set up where PayPal processes the transactions, that would probably solve this problem. I know the store at www.kingdomofloathing.com (an online game) is somehow tied into PayPal like this, but I have no idea what the details are...
Click to expand...

This is a very good post. :cool: There is a certain credibility that goes with something like Itunes. Every schmoe can get something on there, but the public doesnt know that.

Keep in mind that there are hundreds of download sites. My CD is on them all, and it does sell on other sites besides itunes, I know its selling on emusic and others.

If something goes wrong ( a corrupted mp3 etc), YOU have to deal with that stuff if its on your site. I would rather someone else deal with that. CDbaby will put it on a bunch of download sites and mail you a check I think :confused:
 
danny.guitar said:
You can accept credit card payments with PayPal. When someone buys something it takes them to the PayPal site so your customers shouldn't have anything to worry about. PayPal also has a reputable name.

Look here:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_additional-payment-overview-outside
Click to expand...

Paypal can also forward buyers to the URL of your choice, can't it? I believe that's an option, meaning you can have paypal forward people to the correct URL to download the MP3 in question.
 
Check out www.mysongstore.com, there's a small fee but it lets you basically control what you sell and you don't need to deal with credit card transaction fees or setting up paypal.
 
Found this today - seems very nice - paypal integration via PHP and all.

Via Brad Sucks - check out some of his songs as well (dislaimcer - I'm not affiliated in any way)

As with all moderately and more advanced stuff, it requires you know a bit about the tech of what you want to accomplish. (In this case, MySQL/Php experience would be good, and you'll probably want your own hosting space that supports it)

Good luck!
 
iTunes will put you into the largest market possible. Here's an idea: Get your music on iTunes. Make your own playlists featuring famous artists....and throw a few of your songs in. People who stumble upon your playlist (thousands could if you put good songs in it) and may wander over to your iTunes page upon hearing your songs.

Selling the songs via paypal may work short range for you...but you are MAJORLY hindering your ability to expand in the future.
 
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