Digital Distribution vs. Licensing
The first thing to keep in mind is that there is a difference between licensing your music for use in a Film or Video Game and actually selling it directly to fans. Licensing can be very lucrative, but you get paid in a different way : through a Performing Rights Society such as BMI, SESAC or ASCAP.
If you are starting out, the many options can be confusing. One of the most popular options is to go directly to iTunes to sell your music. There are advantages to this, since iTunes is a large and established service. The downside is that you are competing against millions of other people and very likely don't have the promotion budget necessary to get to the Top 10 on iTunes.
Distribution is still necessary to get a foothold in the music marketplace, so what are the top online music stores? Currently the most popular ones are the following:
With all these options, how do you choose. First if you are a small artist you are looking to keep the highest percentage of your sales as possible. When you are only selling hundreds or maybe thousands of copies of a single or album, only getting to keep 70% of your sales makes a big difference. You are potentially missing out on hundreds or event thousands of dollars if you sign up with iTunes and give them 30% of all your sales.
Which one lets you upload the most music without having to pay a dime? BeatStore currently lets you upload up to ten songs completely free of charge. The other competitors don't really have any options to get your music promoted, whereas BeatStore is offering front page promotion for all members that upload at least 5 songs or beats.
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