There’s been a shift in what mediums are purchased. Those who are still buying music are purchasing more mp3’s, .wav, and other high quality files from digital store fronts and physical CD sales are on a swift decline. Could this have been prevented? Probably not, but the major labels could have taken measures earlier towards adapting to new media and digital music distribution which may have helped in better pricing and iRadio monetization standards.

Regardless, the good news is that as an Indie Artist you can now have distribution right in the same digital storefront as major label artists. You no longer have to call and woo music shops around the country to try to get your physical cds on their store shelves (unfortunately because they are closing down!). And you can instantly sell your music in other countries.The internet is the great equalizer, but it’s also a very crowded place with plenty of competition.

There are so many digital distribution avenues nowadays that the task of choosing who to go with can seem a bit daunting. Every situation is unique. By now you should know your core audience and their buying trends. If you don’t simply ask your fans where they would like to buy their music and you will get an idea.

Next, be prepared to have your music in .wav files and high quality .jpg of your album art on hand when you submit. The process can take up to several months to be listed so the earlier you submit the better if you’d like for it coincide with a physical release. You don’t have much control over pricing for major digital distributors so that’s good to keep in mind when pricing your physical CD as well to try to make your pricing consistent.

We suggest selling your music through TuneCore. It’s one of the easiest models to use and one of the most widely used digital distribution services for Indie Bands. How it works is you sign up for the account. You upload your music and album art once. They have a big list of the major distributors to choose from like Itunes, Itunes UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Amazon Mp3, Rhapsody, Emusic, imvu, lala, etc. From there you choose which ones you’d like to sell your album to. You pay a 1 time a year fee per distributor for using their service. Then you apply and wait for approval. What’s great about Tunecore is they don’t take any cut out of your digital sales (unlike CDbaby and other services that take a percentage). With Tunecore you keep 100% of your own profits! Once you’re approved you’ll soon be able to see your music for sale online and instead of waiting 6 months for an Itunes report you can get yours in about 2 weeks time. If you decide you want to add more distributors you can simply check off the boxes next to the name because you have already uploaded your album.