You want your music in the stores before the holiday season begins: way before. I can't overemphasize how important this is. Retail sales in the Western world are driven by the gift-giving engine that is Q4 (the "fourth quarter" of the year, comprising October, November and December sales). This is the time when hype is whipped up, bonuses are handed out, and families and friends buy things around deep sales and discounts. As one example, almost 50% of all music bought in the U.S. falls in the 90 days between October and December, and that includes YOUR music.
There are a thousand statistics to show it (including sales data at the RIAA website), but I want to highlight just one:
These are iPod sales, and the enormous spikes you see at every Q1 (that's when Q4 sales get reported) shows just how powerfully the patterns repeat, especially for personal and entertainment electronics. For musicians, this chart is even more important, because of this single fact:
Every one of these iPods needs to be filled with music.
It's not just iPods, but iPhones (the new ones have 8 gigs of storage or even 16), iPod sub-models like the Nano and the new Touch, all follow this sales curve. The empty drives of these portable devices are like a land-grab, vast open territory for you to stake out with your singles, albums, music videos and data. It brings up another vital point:
Everyone knows it.
More music is released into the markets this time of year than any other: if its not on the “shelf” it can not be bought.
GET YOUR MUSIC IN NOW.
The time window to get you music live by the beginning of the buying season is narrow and shrinking fast. At the moment, although TuneCore gets your music to iTunes (or the other digital stores you selected) within 6 hours, iTUnes can take takes 4 to 6 weeks for your music to go live after it has been delivered. We want to make sure we have your music distributed where you want it to go in time for the holidays.
We also want you to sell the most music, so here's a tip:
SELL COVERS of HOLIDAY MUSIC
Every year we see seasonal music rake in a fortune. Halloween, Hannukah, Christmas, and all the words associated with them, bubble to the top of search requests. If your music is holiday-themed, if it's a cover of a known holiday song or an old favorite, you could make a lot of sales.
It's not too late to lay down some singles (they're only $9.99, flat, per year through TuneCore), so put yourself into the stores. Happy holidays!
--Peter
As to the comment -- if your music is not out there, you will not make a sale. Please remember if it is digital, people buy NOW. CD sales... well, that's a different story, but it's best to release early and often. The model that is going to come out is a new song every 2-3 months, keeping people coming back to a website/blog, RSS feed... but the marketing and big labels are setup for albums tied to a physical media -- CDs... For holidays, naturally, get it out! But for success, get it out!
I've just sold a song as a ringtone -- on Itunes :) Didn't know they could do that, but what do I care... ;)
Scott Clous
www.clousfamily.com
Posted by: Scott Clous | October 13, 2008 at 10:41 PM
Holiday music, if done right is a very good idea. Those Dreaded Gnats put out a Xmas CD called "A Dreaded Xmas", and it did very well. Plus they had the insight to include a re-make of the popular Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer...interestingly enough, it's a reggae version...and that alone brought curiosity seekers to purchase the CD...
Posted by: John Stucheck | September 19, 2008 at 05:42 PM
I just got the email "Get Your Music LIVE in Time for the Holidays" saying it is important to get your CD out during this period. Do you think this is true for all artists?
A major radio promoter told me the EXACT OPPOSITE is true for new or smaller artists, because of the same sales data that Peter cites.
They said the fourth-quarter spike in sales shown on the graph means that the bigger artists from the major labels are all putting things out at this time. Therefore a new act or smaller artist will get less radio play and press space during the fourth quarter because there is only so much press space and airtime available.
On the other hand, this radio promoter told me that the big spike in major releases in the fourth quarter means that there is not a lot of significant releases in the first quarter of the new year, so a new act will have the best chance of radio play or press coverage if they wait and release in time to be out in the new year and avoid conflict with the big releases.
What do you all think?
Posted by: Tom Price | September 19, 2008 at 08:32 AM
That there was an eye-popper. Thanks for this.
Posted by: Justin Boland | September 18, 2008 at 10:38 PM