Trending Is Live, Plus New Store: ShockHound.com!

We're LIVE with Trending data! If you had sales from iTunes in the last week (Monday through Sunday, May 26 through June 1, 2008), and iTunes reported it, log in and click "My Account" and you can download the week's report for only $2.98 and see what sold, how many, by song and/or album, by artist, and also see the COUNTRY, STATE and CITY and ZIP CODE of where it sold!!

We're going to be adding back weeks (and of course forward weeks) over time.

Enjoy this new data, it's revolutionary!

Also, new store! TuneCore now delivers to ShockHound.com, the soon-to-be-launched Hot Topic store and community service and sharing site.

Thanks everyone! Major announcement by email coming soon.

--Peter and the whole TuneCore Team

Comments

[Hua Lee]

I've been with TuneCore for a year now, I met their Senior VP Peter Wells at an AES convention in New York. These guys have done the best damn thing for independent musicians/labels and they don't even ask for much in return. It's a win/win situation for both TuneCore and their clients and that's good business.

I think it's a bit silly that Michael Arrington had to post http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/03/tunecore-tells-us-where-we-can-shove-it/#comment-2348205 because someone didn't know who he was or what credentials he had. I'm from Toronto and I haven't heard of TechCrunch before. So I guess that makes me ignorant = ( (then again, I'm sure some people down at TechCrunch have never heard of Toronto before!)

[Jeff Price]

I think one of things striking me the most about all of this is either there are a LOT of people out there in the world that were CEOs and had successful businesses (as they all have opinions on how things should be done) or there are a lot of people out there who have never quite been a CEO but think they know how they should operate.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on how "it" is supposed to work. I can't speak for every one but I can say this, when you have a true start up (VC funded or not) the "Founder/CEO" and everyone else does everything, from answering emails, answering phones, taking out the garbage, stuffing envelopes etc.

if you are getting caught up in the fact that so and so should not get an email, its not going to work well. You have to be willing to do it all.

It's a passion and love, and by hell or high water you are going to make it work because you believe in it. You believe it is making things better and its changing the world.

Over time, you can hire more people, but in the start up phase there is no concept of not working and not doing it all.

TuneCore is not just a business I started, its my life, my passion, my dream. I take offense to someone sending me an email asking me such deep personal questions with no introduction or context. I don't care what email address it went to, its not right. It shows a sense of entitlement and disrespect. Where have we gotten to where anyone thinks its acceptable for a completer stranger to approach and ask you to tell them the dates and amounts of money you have with no introduction. To make matters worse, they just want to post the information on their own website to drive traffic and make money.

TuneCore is a personal, and the information that was asked for so aggressively is personal. If you walk up to me on the street and ask say "hi I am bob, I work for a company you never heard of how much money did you get, who gave it to you and what are the exact dates" my response would be who are you, why are you asking me this and how will this information be used. I would also think you were a jerk.

To then follow up and say I am an "analyst" and I am going to publicly post this information on my website with no regard for if you want me to or not would have me just walk away

If this was an "Article" on TuneCore (which Mike indicated he would like to do and something I would enjoy talking about) the writer would have noted who sent the email response to them and looked up who the sender of my email was. The burden is on sender to know who they are speaking to (particularly if they make no effort to introduce themselves), after all they contacted us. There is a "meet the founders" link on the homepage (not to mention a google stalk is easy)

I don't know Mike, but from the few behind the scenes emails we have had, he seems to be an intelligent interesting man with something to say and a forum to say it in. It's his blog, and if he wants to post something about how he is pissed with me, he is entitled. It's not my place to tell him how to run his blog anymore than its his place to tell me what information i should reveal to whom.

We have been live and kicking for 2 1/2 years and made a positive difference in the world. We are not a Silicon Valley based company. My dream is to achieve all of our goals as quickly as possible with no VC money. Will this be possible, who knows, but I am sure am going to give it a shot. That's the most valuable a company can be - beholden to no one.

VCs are there for when you can not do it on your own.

Guitar Center has be a wonderful strategic partner to allow us to grow, market and build the vision we have. My goal is not to "flip" this company as quickly as possible for a 10, 20, 30x return. My goal is to build something real and solid that works and matters, that makes a difference. So far so good. And if this model is not something you are interested in, so be it, you are not the right fit for us.

Finally, I can assure you, no VC worth their salt who wants to get into this space would not base a decision on a Tech Crunch exchange.

[Jeff Price]

HI there Basil - below is an email I just sent you...

Out of respect for your privacy I will not display your name...

hi xxx

i will leave your blog posting up at TuneCore. I was actually thinking of starting a new blog and/or forum thread to collect all of the comments in one place to allow people to share, comment etc.

You made quite a statement, I am curious if you would like to email back with me directly to discuss more. Honestly, this is not something I generally do, and out of all the posters I chose you. I am fascinated by the passion running rampant out there and I am interested to learn why this is so important to you (and others).

And who knows, I might have some additional information that may be useful

Thank You

Jeff Price

[jalabi]

Folks: "powerful" TechCrunch may be (the jury's still out on that) but that doesn't mean that Price should lick their or anyone else's boots.

The first email from TechCrunch was so terse and badly worded, true, but the response was as bad, and then it got worse from there. However, the heads of both TCs (TechCrunch and TuneCore) seem to have a light humorous attitude towards the whole brouhaha; it's commenters who are going ballistic ("get a friend!!!" etc.)

Storm in a teacup, soon to pass.

[Mia]

Basil
I think this was 8 of his 10 minutes of fame - the other 2 will come right after they fail to get their next round of funding and everyone says "hey isn't that guy the unqualified CEO that couldn't manage his email correspondence?"

[David Muir]

Jeff... you're sure taking a lot of heat for this. I think you've done a wonderful job of damage control and explained yourself well. Don't forget that Michael Arrington became one of the most influential people on the internet by never pulling any punches. You can tell from some of the flames here that his readership is similarly blunt. Building a website that is your personal passion is a fantastic achievement. Keep up the good work!

[Jeff Price]

You are SO right! The world works in mysterious ways. This is like my Numma Numma viral video....

[Basil]

Did you hear that? That was your 10 minutes of fame...

[Jeff Price]

LOL - I wish it was that easy. Man do I LOVE the Wedding Present. The George Best album in particular...although Sea Monsters is amazing too.

I have gotten a lot of direct emails from people calling me the names of male and female genitalia etc. (At least they dont discriminate).

Maybe if they knew spinART released the Pixie too it would help? :)

[Raj]

"Leave Jeff Price alone!" (sorry, had to do it)

Wow! Didn't realize you founded spinART. I mean Tommy Keene? Wedding Present? Vic? That's an impressive set right there. Jeff wins.

[Ev]

"Folks, people! Don't sweat it. I've already responded to the TechCrunch article:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/03/tunecore-tells-us-where-we-can-shove-it/#comment-2348205

And really, both TC and TC (get it?) are relaxed and happy to laugh at what amounts to a misunderstanding. It's all good."

You are an even bigger fool that the TC article makes you appear to be if you think that weak response you posted means the situation is now at "Don't sweat it" (who talks like that??) and "It's all good" (and you actually used the phrase "It's all good".... wow.)

Good luck to you - not that I think you deserve it but the overwhelming sense of pity I feel for you compels me to offer the sentiment.

[JeffCore]

Thank you for the info. Guilty as charged. I did not know Tech Crunch nor Michael.

I ran a record label for 19 years called spinART Records (released bands like the Pixies, The Eels and 200 more) and helped to launch eMusic in 1997

I came up with the idea for TuneCore in 2005 and got it live in 2006.

No one ever showed the site to me and I never tripped over it. Just one of those things

[Crunched]

I didn't think it was possible to be a US/UK/English startup and not read or know about Techcrunch. What do you guys read to stay updated on competitors and the lay of the land, web-wise? I'm still in disbelief, especially since it looks like TuneCore is somewhat connected.

Though I actually agree partially about the email. They should've sent a more properly formed email and they should always use addresses from their own domain if they didn't (no excuses for that, especially with Google Apps for Domains for email available). Also, I can understand being a private company and finding it odd that you'd be asked public info like it's nothing. However, it could've been handled a lot better on your end. Ignorance isn't much excuse nowadays when everything's a quick search away. It would've revealed how influential Techcrunch is on making and breaking startups in their coverage.

Anyway, here's an excerpt on Arrington via Wikipedia (which is another popular site you should check out for quick information), found via Google (great search engine, by the way). <- just messing with ya, I hope. ;)

----
"Michael Arrington (born March 13, 1970 in Orange, California)[1] is a serial entrepreneur and the maintainer of TechCrunch, a blog covering the Silicon Valley technology start-up communities and the wider technology field in USA and elsewhere. Magazines such as Wired and Forbes have named Arrington one of the most powerful people on the internet. [2][3] In 2008, he was selected by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world."

[Jeff Price]

HI Chris

you state

Don't you know not to make Mike Arrington or TechCrunch mad? What the hell were you thinking? How could even you be so ignorant?

No I don't. I never heard of them before today and I still have no idea who or what they are

I guess I am that "ignorant" as no one ever told me about them nor did I ever discover them on my own - I was too busy just building TuneCore

however, here is my response to them

From: Jeff Price
Date: June 3, 2008 11:53:14 PM EDT
To: Michael Arrington
Cc: peter@techcrunch.com
Subject: Re: TuneCore funding info for TechCrunch

Hi Mike

Just landed off a too long flight to the west coast - but at least I got to hear Hil, Obama and McCain speak

In any event, I as you can imagine I strongly disagree with your assessment.

TuneCore is a personal passion and a start up, it's my life and the life of the people that work for it. Your out of the blue no context question of "Can you give me information on the funding TuneCore has had to date? Can you provide me with the rounds, amounts, dates and investors? "feels" the same as me asking you how much you make a year, what is your annual salary etc. so I can post it on-line

In my two decades of running businesses, raising money and being an entrepreneur I have never received a cold email from an unknown entity via an unknown person asking for detailed personal financial information. On top of that, it turns out you post the information for others and seem to make your money off of other people's info (i.e. the web traffic driving possible ad revenue and/or bringing you leads for possible companies to invest in). The least you could do on initial contact is make an introduction, explain who and what you are and then ask questions before getting under the kimono.

You are not "owed" personal and proprietary information simply because you work for TechCrunch.The information you ask for - if shared - would be shared with you out of a choice. Yes, I found your original email insulting. A VC firm would introduce itself first before asking for such information.

that being said, I do appreciate the posting you made about us but I think your headline is a bit silly. My intention was not to be insulting but to be sincere. It's always best to establish a relationship first before asking for sensitive information. I am not sure if your goal was to "get" or "punish" us because I would not just respond when you first asked seems a bit odd, but so be it. I hope you choose to post this email as well....

Although you did not tell me who you are (all I know is your name is Mike) or what you do at TechCrunch, by your email address I have to assume you are an editor? We are an interesting company with an interesting and compelling story. I am open to starting over if you would like to speak. Its always good to network and meet people - the art of communication can sometime be lost in email.

Thank You

Jeff Price
TuneCore

[Peter Wells]

Folks, people! Don't sweat it. I've already responded to the TechCrunch article:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/03/tunecore-tells-us-where-we-can-shove-it/#comment-2348205

And really, both TC and TC (get it?) are relaxed and happy to laugh at what amounts to a misunderstanding. It's all good.

--Peter