TuneCore, Drake, and Charts by Jeff Price

Jeff Price is the Founder and CEO of TuneCore

A TuneCore Artist named Drake used TuneCore to distribute his music about 14 days ago.  Since then, he has sold over 300,000 copies of his single  “Best I Ever Had”.
 
As far as I can tell, Drake is the best selling unsigned artist of all time.  Congratulations Drake! (In an ironic twist, Drake did a deal with Universal about 10 days after he used TuneCore to distribute his music).
 
This also goes to show how confused things are out there in the world. “Unsigned” artists selling more songs than signed artists is becoming more of the rule than the exception.  Artists selling less music are making more money then signed artists.  Many Artists, using social networking sites, a video uploaded to YouTube and their Facebook page, are becoming more popular then artists getting hundreds of thousands of marketing dollars put behind them.  Without playing a single gig, some bands are selling more music than bands that have been touring for months.

 

 
Media outlets, newspapers like the New York Times, aren’t even sure how to talk about what is going on.  The best selling Music Downloads chart in the Monday, June 29th New York Times Business Section shows Drake charting at #4 (between Sean Kingston and Lady Gaga) and mistakenly lists TuneCore as the record label.  TuneCore is such a new/unique concept that they don’t know how to even refer to us.  But that’s the point, things are changing so rapidly that the traditional tried and true charts are now wrong and there is uncertainty as to what the chart represents.

 

 
Take for example the TuneCore Artist Nevershoutnever.  When he was still “unsigned” (he is now signed to Warner) he sold hundreds of thousands of songs in a 45 day period off of a collection of EPs /demos and, in a six month period, over 30,000 t-shirts through the regional Hot Topic program.  By my calculation, based on the number of songs he sold across his releases, he is outselling many of the Billboard Top 40 artists.  So what is it the Billboard charts now represent?  They certainly do not represent fame as there are a LOT of very famous bands that sell out huge gigs but sell very few albums. It does not represent wealth as artists can make money in a multitude of ways; from endorsement deals to gig income, merch sales, etc.  It does not represent the best sellers as music fans buy songs from an artist across a swatch of releases as opposed to just one group of songs from one album.
 
So what does the Billboard chart represent?  And what criteria should be put together to create new charts that reflect more of what is going on in the world. 
 
The fundamental reality is this: some TuneCore Artists are selling more music, making more money and becoming more popular than the artists that appear in the charts.  If there is going to continue to be a chart that is supposed to reflect the “Top” bands (not even sure what that means) it MUST take into consideration the way the world is working.
 
Many small start-up companies and the non-music people running them have taken a stab at creating their own charts – a random and nonsensical combination or how many MySpace friends, how many free streams your widget gets combined with some “weighted average” of your songs sales and a proprietary system that has some magic formula that spits out some answer.  This could not be further off the mark. Charts should reflect what artists are “popular”, the problem is, popularity used to be tied directly into how many copies an artist’s album sold, and this is a dying, if not already dead, model.    Perhaps the answer is popularity means people are willing to pay you for your art in some way
 
I honestly don’t have the answer (yet) but I do know that we are indeed living in amazing times!

Share your thoughts here on the TuneCore blog.

 

Comments

[Carl Worner]

In this day & age the artist has to wear ALL the hats. So while their spending most of their time promoting themselves, is there any time left to write the music?

[633 Music Group]

Thanks Jeff, Tunecore has been a big help.

[633 Music Group]

I heard the song. Sad, that kids are hearing that kind of crap.

[Ian]

Having paid the $20 for itunes/tunecore, I have sold only 1 download online. Vive la revolution? I think getting out and gigging is the best way to shift self released music.

[J-Mill]

I commend Drake for his Success....I've recently brok 500+ Units sold on Itunes last month (myspace.com/therealjmill) Big up to the Trend Reports for that (Drake numbers are Krazzzzy...should give us indies something to shoot for)

I haven't really used to much if any of Tunecore's promo services but their distribution service is incredible. (Somebody tell Jeff to holla at me because I got some ideas that Tunecore ain't up on and i know they'd help jmilliscr@gmail.com)

I think he'll be okay...i'm sure he's signed Contracts being that he was on Degrassi..who know's what the terms are that he signed for he could've been holding out for the right one.

Only time'll tell...Big up to him tho, thats a milestone very few get the chance to experience.

Now another shameless plub.
J-Mill.com holla at meh

[Jaded and Bored]

This is just nonsense and Tunecore is jumping on the bandwagon trying to claim the success for the marketing which had nothing to do with an unsigned act.

The point of this post is to encourage the rest of us to go DIY then it has failed miserably. Tunecore, if you want to be taken seriously then you need to empower artists with proper promotional opportunities and a team of pluggers and PR people because this is a case of claiming when you have no claim.

[Crash]

I would like to see a case study of a true unsigned artist that didn't ride to fame of a mega star before starting his own career. Much of Drakes success is due to his association with artists like Lil Wayne that have the big label machine behind them.

It's not like he came out of the woods and blew up. He was just fortunate to be able to sidestep the need for a label because he was already made huge by his association with one.

[Alex O Cardona For Ablegeen Entertainment LLC]

I believe Drake's success is the best example of what an unsigned artist can do. In my opinion, if the music is good it will sell, but at the same time unsigned artist have to take initiative in putting together their product presentation. And i agree with the other gentlemen drake should of stayed unsigned, because now he's not going to make as much money. i doubt his deal was sweeter that what he was already making. No label will ever beat or grant 65, 70, to 100% on sales to their artist EVER.

[George Ziemann]

Signing with a record label after getting that far on your own doesn't make a lot of sense, especially when we all know the label will keep 85% of the income. The next $300,000 will only be worth $45,000 to Drake.

I wouldn't be bragging about it.

[Carl]

Good for Drake for making a buck in the music biz. I don't know if he's got musical talent, haven't heard his stuff. But the hype is just that, he's got some big helpers...

Apparently starring on the wildly popular Degrassi series is a good way to launch your music career, if the gazillion MySpace friends claimed by rising Toronto rapper/singer/producer Aubrey Graham (a.k.a. Drake, his middle name) are any indication.

It’s perhaps not surprising the 22-year-old, who began writing songs at the ripe old age of 10, was destined for musical success—his father was a drummer for Jerry Lee Lewis, and his uncle, Memphis stalwart Teenie Hodges, wrote songs and played guitar for Al Green. Known for his role as the first disabled character on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Drake has made a name for himself in hip-hop circles beyond Canada over the past two years with his self-released mixtapes, Room for Improvement and Comeback Season, which featured high-profile guest spots from rapper Lil’ Wayne and R&B crooners Robin Thicke and Trey Songz.

http://music.aol.ca/article/9-in-09-drake/468902/

[Chris Westcott]

It is true to say that independent/unsigned artists can now produce a product which is comparable with products produced by the labels. However, promotion is the key. Indie musicians now have to become entrepreneurs. They now have to invent/discover new value-for-money ways in which to successfully market their music and services on a budget. The margins are there ie cd's, downloads, t-shirts - all capable of respectable margins circa 80%. But success is all about numbers.

[Hmmm]

I wonder if working with Lil Wayne had anything to do with it... LOL!