Digital Distribution
Below is an overview of distributors that can get your music on all major download stores. Distributors are listed in alphabetical order.
The Orchard – Headquartered in New York and London with operations in 26 markets around the world, The Orchard is an independent music and video distributor specializing in comprehensive digital strategies for content owners. The Orchard has been in digital music since its inception. They were the premiere independent partner for the launch of significant services such as iTunes, Verizon VCAST, and Nokia “Comes With Music” and are constantly monitoring and engaging with the latest business models. Currently, they provide their clients access to 660 retail outlets in 75 countries. The Orchard also offers mechanical licensing, publishing administration and royalty collection.
More info: http://www.theorchard.com/distribution
RouteNote – RouteNote is an online music distribution service providing artists instant access to a large proportion of the online market. Designed and built to take advantage of the shift towards independent and self-publication through online and mobile music outlets, and the consumer switch to online purchasing as outlined by the success of iTunes, Myspace and Pump Audio, RouteNote is partnered with some of the biggest retailers on the web to give artists massive and immediate availability for their tracks.
The RouteNote Model allows you to choose your distribution method based on your estimated volume of sales. Free Distribution has been popular with independent and unsigned artists who are unsure how well their music will be received by the public. It offers a completely free service in exchange for 10% of the revenue received from sales and royalties, leaving the artist 90%.
RouteNote’s Premium Distribution will apply more to high selling artists who expect more than $100 in sales per track in a year. The RouteNote Model also allows you to change between the two methods of distribution at will.
More info: http://routenote.com/services/artist
SongCast – SongCast delivers music to iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon MP3, Emusic, Napster & MediaNet. With SongCast you can start selling your own music on these retail sites quickly and affordably. SongCast also provides you with customized code to link your MySpace, Facebook and other websites directly to the stores. Your fans will easily be able to find and purchase your music online.
SongCast membership is $5.99 per month. This is not charged per album, but per account. You can have an unlimited number of albums in your account. SongCast also charges a onetime setup fee of $19.99 per album or $9.99 per single. SongCast Artists and Labels maintain 100% of all Royalties.
More info: http://www.songcastmusic.com/faqs
TuneCore – TuneCore’s goal is to provide affordable access to all channels of music distribution to all artists without asking for any of their rights, master recording ownership, copyrights, merchandise rights, live performance income, public performance royalties or any other rights or income streams. TuneCore believes that all artists should have affordable access to all channels of music distribution, get all of the money generated from the sale of their music, and all without giving up any of their master recording ownership, copyrights, merchandise rights, live performance income, public performance royalties or any other rights or money.
More info: http://www.tunecore.com/faq