TuneCorner

iTunes Moves Forward with Variable Pricing, Amazon Follows

Jake Smith is a TuneCore Customer Support Representative and Editor of the Weekly Newsletter

As some of you may have already seen, iTunes now has variable pricing for invidual tracks.  I spoke about this in a discussion piece posted two weeks ago (iTunes Going DRM Free), however I was under the impression this change would not occur until June (my apologies). For those of you who do not know, iTunes is now offering individual tracks at three different price points;  $0.69, $0.99 and $1.29.

The freedom to price individual tracks differently is something record labels have fought for ever since iTunes opened shop in 2001.  In exchange for the store making its content DRM free, the labels finally got their wish. Take a look at the top 100 songs in iTunes and you'll see about half have already increased to $1.29.

An important note for all TuneCore users who have music for sale in iTunes:  at this time, TuneCore does not have the ability to change individual track prices.  Unless specified otherwise, all individual tracks will remain at $0.99.  We will soon be able to give all users the ability to set individual track tiers for iTunes prior to delivery, so please stay tuned for more announcements.

Amazon, the second highest selling store after iTunes, rolled out a similar $1.29 price tier, however at this time fewer than 10 tracks in their top 100 are priced at this level.  This article from engadget shows a side by side comparisson of current prices in iTunes vs. Amazon.

This sudden shift leads me to wonder - will the iTunes price change lead to a dramatic shift in the market share of these online retailers, or will label pressure force the other stores to follow Apple's lead?  Share your thoughts!

iTunes Going DRM Free: What does it mean for you?

Jake Smith is a TuneCore customer support representative and editor of the TuneCore Newsletter

After 6 years, iTunes has announced that they will begin selling their entire catalog without DRM protection.  This raises a number of questions, and it is important to start discussing now what these changes could mean for all of us in the music industry.

DRM, or "Digital Rights Management", is proprietary code encoded in certain types of files to control where and how they can be used.  If you've ever purchased a song on iTunes before and tried to play it on a different computer, a message will come up saying that the computer is not authorized to play the file.  iTunes currently allows 5 computers to be authorized for any one iTunes account.  DRM protection reaches much further than just iTunes and digital music.  Movies, computer software, and video games often incorporate some types of digital rights protection.  For example, DRM stops (or attempts to stop) you from ripping DVD movies to you computer or by requiring you to enter a serial number before using a new program you've installed.

From the stand point of the music consumer, there is really no downside to iTunes removing DRM protection.  In addition to being able to move music more freely from computer to computer, music purchased in the iTunes store will no longer be limited to the iTunes library or iPods.  Files will be compatible with Windows Media Player, non-Apple based MP3 players, video game consoles and more.  From the label/artist stand point, the loss of DRM may seem good or bad depending on your personal philosophy.  Does it help your career in the long run by making it easier for fans to share, or is it simply less money coming to you for your hard work?

Realizing that the decision to drop DRM protection would be a controversial decision, and in an effort keep ahead of the rapidly growing Amazon store, iTunes announced they would sweeten the deal for labels by finally allowing labels to set price tiers for individual tracks.  We are waiting on iTunes to give us more specific information about this and we will make the details known as we receive them.

If you're looking for a more in depth look at these changes, I'd recommend this article from the staff of Macworld (http://www.macworld.com/article/138000/2009/01/drm_faq.html).  Some highlights include:

• iTunes DRM free files vs. Amazon MP3, which has always been DRM Free
• What happens to music purchased before the DRM change?
• Will the change affect TV Shows and Movies?

Reports say that this change will be taking place by June.  What do you think about this?  Was the DRM drop inevitable or is iTunes biting the hand that feeds it?  Let us know your thoughts.

Jeff Price at the Leadership Music Digital Summit: Nashville

For those of you attending the Leadership Music Digital Summit in Nasheville, our CEO Jeff will be appearing on TWO main stage panels tomorrow morning, March 25th.

You can tweet questions for Jeff and the other panelists at http://twitter.com/LMdigitalsummit

Panel I: 9:45 - 10:25 AM will be a panel on Innovative Services in Digital Distribution.  Also appearing will be:

Mark Montgomery, Co-Founder of echo - Moderator
Philip Antoniades, President/Founder/Drummer, Nimbit, Inc.
Dave Jaworski, CEO, Passalong Networks
Brian Peterson, Co-Founder and CEO, Bandbox

Panel II: 10:40 - 11:25 AM will be a Round Table Discussion and Audience Q&A.  Also appearing will be:

Tim DuBois, Clinical Professor of Management, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management - Moderator
Jay Frank, Sr Vice President Music Strategy, CMT
David M. Ross, Music Row Publications
Larry Stessel, President, Trillium Entertainment

Both events will take place on the main stage.  We hope some of you will be able to stop by and share your event experiences with us.  Feel free to tell Jeff hello when you see him!

Learn more about the Leadership Music Digital Summit.

TuneCore Submits Music Discovery iPhone Application

ATTENTION iPHONE APP USERS:  Soon, in addition to reminiscing with old arcade games and showing off your fancy new tip calculator, you will also have access to the brand new TuneCore Discover Music Application!  I'm not an iPhone owner myself, however I got the chance to try the program out and it is really awesome. 

In addition to genre based playlists including all TuneCore users and access to TuneCore's Billboard Top 25, the application utilizes a geo-locator that tells you the 25 best selling TuneCore songs based on your exact zip code.  You can organize by genre or enter other cities to learn about their sales data. There's also a Random playlist function.

Marketing Outside The Box

Last week, we posted an article about using the service Twitter for music promotion.  I'd like to give special thanks to reader Daryl Shawn for bringing to our attention this fascinating story about an artist who planned a 7 week house concert tour almost entirely through people he met on Twitter.  In the article, the artist compares his standard tour procedure with his "Tweet" based tour and explains how he made more money, had more fun, and managed to sleep and eat cheaper on the road than ever had before.  You can read his full article here.

 

This got me thinking about marketing music "outside the box", and some of the more interesting promotional tactics I've heard about over the past few years.  Radiohead made a huge media splash when they announced they would be releasing "In Rainbows" and allowing customers to name their own price for it.  Nine Inch Nails (with some help from TuneCore) offered their album "Ghosts I-IV" in a number of different formats, including 9 free tracks on BitTorrent sites, all 36 tracks on Amazon, and then multiple physical packages including a limited pressing $300 deluxe version.

Other people have tried a different tactic, looking to earn money for their albums before they've even completed them.  In early 2008 singer-songwriter Jill Sobule asked for donations to help cover the cost of recording her new album.    In exchange, supporters would receive "prizes" of different levels - some examples include $500 to have your name sung on the album's final track and $5,000 for a personal house concert.

I would be interested to learn more about some of the experimental promotional moves attempted by our TuneCore users.  No idea is too big or too small, I'm simply curious to know what you've tried.  What worked well, what didn't?  Did you have an idea that seemed far fetched at first but turned out to be your secret weapon?  Post your thoughts here!

TuneCore Announces New Sales Awards

I began working at TuneCore a little over a year ago because I was inspired by the idea that with all the seemingly negative changes in the music industry, there were actually more opportunities than ever for artists to pave their own way.  Earlier this week, we unveiled new sales certification awards to recognize that with a new way of selling music, there must also be new milestones to measure sales by.  It is for this reason that we have announced our brand new TuneCore Sales Certification Awards.

In addition to looking extremely cool, the most exciting thing about our first 26 awards is that they are going to both established stars (Jay-Z, Ziggy Marley, Jason Mraz, Public Enemy) and DIY up-and-comers (Meiko, Sky Eats Airplane, Eric Hutchinson and Clear Voyage just to name a few).

 

Below are some artist renderings of these new plaques: 

 

White: 100,000 songs sold certification     

 

 

250,000 songs sold certification

 

 

500,000 songs sold certification 

 

Each sales certification award will be approximately 16" x 19 1/2" and made out of single molded piece of cast resin. The album cover will be raised and inset above the resin under framed glass.  Text will be etched on the glass to create an even deeper dimensionality.

There are going to be three thresholds of songs sold via paid download to be eligible for TuneCore certification and award:

•     White: 100,000 paid download sales
•     Silver: 250,000 paid download sales
•     Black: 500,000 paid download sales

The downloads must come from one album, not from multiple albums. The certification is based on the total number of song sales from that one album. (For example, if an album has 12 songs on it and the album sells 10 times, the number of songs it has sold is 120. The total song sales for that album will be the number of albums sold multiplied by the number of songs on the album PLUS the number of individual songs sold from that same album.) The sales will not be restricted to territory but will take into account paid download sales from around the globe.

You can view the full list of winners here.

Why Sales Awards, Why Now? by TuneCore President Jeff Price.

The world of the music industry is changing and recognition of these changes needs to occur.

As I write this, the RIAA is the one self-appointed entity in the United States that certifies and issues Gold and Platinum records. Currently, to be eligible for the opportunity to have the RIAA issue a Gold/Platinum record, an album, single etc has to have shipped (not sold) 500,000 or 1,000,000 copies. With other options available for global distribution outside of the RIAA members, there are new milestones for success, new ways to sell and buy music and new companies uniquely qualified to verify sales information that the RIAA does not even pick up on. TuneCore is one of these companies.

Three years after our launch, there is more music released via TuneCore in one day then via any major record label over the course of a year. Very soon, more music will have been released via TuneCore than all the major record labels combined. Hundreds of thousands of artists now have their music available around the world to be bought, share and sold. They too deserve to be rewarded and recognized for the achievements.

TuneCore is now certifying and issuing sales awards based on artists reaching new sales goals.

Help! I Have 24 Hours to Save a Horrible Mix

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, engineer and the owner of recording studios in both Nashville and New York City. Cliff is also a regular contributor to EQ Magazine and Pro Sound News. He can be reached at cliff@cliffgoldmacher.com.

Part I

Well, I suppose I’ve got your attention now at any rate. Given what an emotional medium music is to begin with, it’s not surprising to me that songwriters and artists (myself included at some point in the murky days of my early career) find themselves panicking when they’ve committed to something that requires a finished product before they have it. In the old days, this used to be situations like planning a CD release party/show before you had the finished, shrink-wrapped CD in your physical possession. These days, it’s more likely that you’ve committed to getting a finished mix to a film/TV music supervisor or radio station by a specific date and after playing your mix for a few trusted friends or fellow musicians, your worst fears are confirmed. The mix is horrible. As this article will come in two parts, I’m going to spend the part one of this article giving you ways to completely avoid this situation to begin with. Then, in part two, I’m going to give you ways to salvage a desperate situation based on three different budget scenarios.

How To Avoid the Above Situation in the First Place

I understand how exciting it can be when you’re nearing the end of a recording project. You can almost count the money you’re going to make from sales or royalties. Stop! You’ve spent years perfecting your craft. You’ve taken your time and learned to sing, write songs, play instruments and, in some cases, even to engineer your own material in your home studio. Why would you try and rush one of the most critical stages of the game? A mix is the culmination of all your effort and should be handled precisely and patiently. My sincere recommendation is that you never promise a song to anyone in the industry for any reason until you’re dead certain you have a finished mix you can submit with confidence. By avoiding situations where you’ve promised something you don’t have, you won’t run the risk of not delivering and appearing undependable or, worse yet, turning in something that’s sub par. Set yourself apart from the stereotype of the flaky musician by delivering what you say you’re going to when you say you will. It might help to remember that at a certain level in the music world talent is a given. You have a better chance of differentiating yourself by being a professional in all senses of the word.

The Mix Process

Whether you’re mixing the song yourself in your home studio or working with a professional mix engineer, take your time. Listen to the mix on the speakers in the studio, in your car, on a boom box and, Steve Jobs help us all, on those crappy $30 ear buds that come with every iPod. Of course your mix won’t sound as good on a boom box or through ear buds, but it should still sound clear. You should be able to hear the vocal and distinguish the individual instruments without, for example, the bass making the speakers rattle so much that nothing else is audible. Also, it’s been my experience that singers tend to want their own vocals too low in the mix because they’re either self-conscious or they think because they already know the words that the lyric is clear enough…or both. My recommendation is to bring in one or two friends (ideally not musicians) to listen to your mix and give you their honest opinion. Musicians, as a rule, tend to listen to the wrong things in a mix. The average listener will give you valuable feedback like “I can’t hear the guitar because the drums are too loud” or “I can’t hear what you’re singing.” Musicians tend to get into the nitty gritty and often can’t keep the big picture in perspective. The one exception would be if you’re a relatively new engineer and you’re uncertain about how your mix sounds. In this case it might be worth your while to talk to an experienced mix engineer and even hire them to give you detailed criticism about things you can do to improve your mix.

Working With A Mix Engineer

For non-engineers, the main thing to remember when giving your mix to a professional mix engineer is to let them mix. My recommendation would be for you to explain to the engineer that you’re going to leave the mix to them and you’d like them to let you know when your mix is ready to review. Then take the mix home, listen to it on various sound systems (as I mentioned above) and take detailed notes about what you’d like to go over with them when you see them again. For example, instead of saying that there are some words in the song that aren’t loud enough, you’d do better to say “in the second chorus, the word “aardvark” is a little too low.” It is infinitely easier for an engineer to go over a checklist of things to review in a mix than it is for you to have them stop playback every time you think you hear something. In other words, do your homework and use your studio time with the mix engineer to methodically tweak whatever needs tweaking.

When It’s Done, It’s Done

By following the approach I’ve mentioned above, you’ll avoid the gut-wrenching feeling that you’ve got an opportunity you’re going to miss or screw up if your mix isn’t ready in twenty-four hours. My final piece of advice for this section of the article is to remember that once you’ve signed off on a mix, it’s in your best interest to let it go. Like songs, mixes can be tweaked and tweaked ad infinitum but my hope for you is that you’ve got enough else on your plate to know when to say when. Do your best and move on. The more you go through the process, the easier the “letting go” will become.

Stay tuned for Part II of this article, coming soon.

Viral Marketing–What’s Really “Real” About It?

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, engineer and the owner of recording studios in both Nashville and New York City. Cliff is also a regular contributor to EQ Magazine and Pro Sound News. He can be reached at cliff@cliffgoldmacher.com.

The Bad News

In my 15 years of making a full-time living in the music world, one thing has become more and more clear to me. It’s work. The romantic image of the starving artist being so incredibly talented that one day he or she gets “discovered” and becomes rich and famous is a dangerous myth. I say “dangerous” because the more you as an artist believe it, the less inclined you’ll be to do any work on your own behalf. The gritty reality is that if you don’t do the necessary (and daily) work promoting yourself and your music, it’s highly unlikely anything will ever happen.

The Good News

There has NEVER been a better time to spread the word about yourself and music. The internet, with its downloadable digital music files, social networking sites and countless other advances that we can’t even begin to imagine yet, has leveled the playing field in a way that will make the “work” you have to do infinitely more effective.

Gather Your Fans

The more you can identify and reach out to your fans the better off you’ll be. Whether it’s your friends on MySpace or Facebook or the email addresses you’ve been collecting at gigs or online, it’s these people who you need to be able to reach effectively to spread the word about what you’re doing. Treat your list of email addresses like the gold that it is. It’s these people who will not only consider buying your music when it comes out, but more importantly, will also help spread (“viral” get it?) the word about you and your music. Once you’ve got a network of fans that you can reach out to, you’ve dramatically increased your potential to spread the word about what you’re doing.

Be Creative

The fact that the playing field has been leveled and almost anyone can get their music out worldwide is both a blessing and a true challenge. Instead of fans knowing that the local Tower Records is where they should go to find new music, the internet, with its infinite musical venues, has become the new (and overwhelming) place to find what’s new and great. The more creative you are in your presentation, the more likely a fan of yours will be to forward a YouTube link with your video or any one of a thousand other ways you can create to present yourself and your music. Again, the plan is that by putting something out there that’s unique enough to rise above the typical internet fare, it will take on a life of its own and appeal not only your current fans but also to new fans in ways you’ve never imagined.

Stay Current

The outlets for music and ways of marketing online change and advance almost hourly. Taking time out of your day to be aware of the next MySpace, Facebook or Twitter will pay huge dividends going forward. It’s not enough to find one way of reaching people and stubbornly stick to it. If that were the case, bands would still be mailing postcards to let people know about their gigs. Did I just date myself?

Give It Away

Don’t be afraid to give something to get something. A free download of a song in exchange for an email address is the best deal out there these days. Make it worth someone’s while to give you his or her email address and you’ll be amazed at what happens. Let your music speak for itself. If fans like their free download, there’s a much higher likelihood they’ll come back and buy the rest. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to do this either. Take a peek at a simple and effective example by clicking here.

Make Sure Your Music Is Available

I can’t think of anything more depressing than the artist who comes up with an amazing vehicle to promote his or her music, watches it go “viral” and generate huge web traffic to their site only to have nothing readily available for sale. Don’t expect most people to wait around or check back with iTunes every few days until your music is up. Make sure that before you go about promoting your music, you’ve taken the necessary steps to insure that if and when people want to buy your music, they can do it easily. Companies like Tunecore make this essential step both simple and cost effective. Don’t wait around for people to start asking how they can get your music. By then, it’s too late. Do it first.

Trust Me, It’s Real

Be patient. Not every online marketing attempt you make will result in thousands of downloads and new fans. However, every effort you make to get the word out about your music (even if it’s fifteen minutes a day) becomes part of the bigger picture of reaching new fans. The more fans you have, the greater the potential for any one thing you do going viral and bringing in not only more fans but income. All of a sudden your “friends” on MySpace and Facebook just became a whole lot friendlier. Think of your work as a series of base hits that will get you ready for your shot at a home run. Good luck!

The Value of a Good Mix, Part II

The Instruments

Getting great instrument sounds in a mix is a combination of many factors. Finding space in the mix for each individual instrument is essential. This is often achieved through judicious use of EQ, compression, volume and panning. For example, the skill it takes to get great drum sounds, marry the kick drum to the bass while also giving the electric guitars rooms to breathe and sparkle is developed over time and repetition…a lot of repetition. When this is done properly, the instruments are exciting to listen to. Each has its place and role to play and when they come together, the song takes on a life of its own.

Vocals

A great mix engineer always makes the treatment and placement of the vocal a priority. Once the instrumental mix is generally where it needs to be, it’s time to make certain that the vocalist is running the show. A combination of EQ, compression, tuning (if necessary), effects and volume fader automation should all serve the ultimate goal of making it sound like the singer is in charge. There are several risks associated with improper vocal placement. If the final mix has too much vocal, then the instruments end up sounding small and weak. However, if the vocal is too soft in the mix, it loses its ability to communicate the emotion of the song. Every genre has its preferred vocal level. In general, pop music has the vocal more integrated into the instruments whereas country music (with its emphasis on the lyric) generally puts the vocal higher in the mix. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule but a good mix engineer will know the genre he or she is mixing in and do the right thing for the song.

On a related note, one of the best reasons to bring in an experienced mix engineer even if you’ve recorded the song yourself is a fresh, objective set of ears. It’s been my experience that if the singer mixes their own project, they tend to keep the vocals too low for a couple of reasons. One is that most singers tend to get uncomfortable with their vocals up in a mix. There are precious few singers I’ve ever worked with who genuinely love the sound of their own voices. By keeping the vocal low in the mix, the vocalist/engineer won’t have to their comfort zone but the mix suffers. The second reason has to do with the fact that the singer already knows the words and assumes that they’re hearing the words when, in fact, they may be too low for someone who doesn’t know the song to understand.

Mastering a Good Mix

Mastering a mixed recording is a separate skill altogether. While this isn’t an article about mastering, I’d recommend using a dedicated mastering engineer (not your mix engineer) when it comes time for this step. More to the point, the value of a good mix is that the mastering engineer will spend much less time (their hourly rates are generally higher than mix engineer rates) getting the finished master together. In other words, money you spend on a good mix will end up saving you money on a final mastered recording.

Doing It Yourself

If you’re still intent on doing your own mixing, consider hiring an expert to mix a song or two for you and then ask them for the session files back. Assuming you’re using the same recording software (i.e. ProTools, Nuendo, Logic), you’ll be able to examine every detail of how the mix was done and use the finished mix files as a kind of tutorial so you can ultimately learn to do them yourself.

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, engineer and the owner of recording studios in both Nashville and New York City. Cliff is also a regular contributor to EQ Magazine and Pro Sound News. He can be reached at cliff@cliffgoldmacher.com.

The Value of a Good Mix, Part I

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, engineer and the owner of recording studios in both Nashville and New York City. Cliff is also a regular contributor to EQ Magazine and Pro Sound News. He can be reached at cliff@cliffgoldmacher.com.

Once you’ve decided to up the ante and put your music online for the world to hear, it’s in your best interest to pay close attention to every step in the recording process. One of the most vital of these steps is the mix of your song. It’s not enough to have a great song. You need a great recording and a strong mix is an essential part of any great recording. The art of mixing (and make no mistake, it is an art) is not a skill everyone possesses. It’s well worth your while, even if you’ve recorded your tracks yourself in your home studio, to seek out an experienced mixing engineer. While there is no substitute for a dynamic, exciting musical performance, a good mix can enhance every aspect of that performance so that the final sonic result truly makes your song stand out. On the other hand, a poor mix can severely compromise even the best song and performance. Only you can write and sing your songs. That makes you an expert in those areas. However, unless you’re also an expert mix engineer, I’d highly recommend going to someone who is.

Budget

I get it. Everyone wants to save money. I do, too, but there are places to save and places to invest. In an effort to keep recording costs down, many musicians have purchased their own recording equipment. This is terrific and there’s never been a better time to buy affordable, high-quality gear. As long as you’re as passionate about learning the engineering process as you are about your music, you’ll do great. Owning your own recording equipment also takes a lot of the pressure off when it comes to experimenting in the studio. Finally, it allows you to record as many takes as necessary to get the performances you want without worrying about the clock. However, one way to make the absolute most of your recorded performance is to let an expert mix them. It’s amazing what a talented, experienced mix engineer can bring out of a mix that might otherwise get lost or obscured at the hands of a less able mixer.

Before You Mix

Before I cover in greater depth what makes up a good mix, let’s go back to performance for a moment. No matter how great the mix engineer may be there are some things you simply cannot fix in the mix. To be more specific, there is no way to “mix in” a great vocal or instrumental performance. What makes a performance great might surprise you. For example, sometimes it’s what you don’t play that counts the most. In my experience, the best studio musicians are the best listeners. What I mean by this is that great players base their instrumental performance on whatever else is going to be played in the song so that all the instruments work together as a whole to serve the song and NOT their individual egos. Playing too much is the hallmark of an amateur studio musician. Secondly, the timely use of dynamics (where to play louder/softer or with greater/less intensity) is essential to a mix that breathes and has shape to it. Simply moving up and down a volume fader won’t do the same thing. When it comes to singing, all the Auto-Tune and reverb in the world won’t give a vocal performance real sincerity and emotion. All this to say, make absolutely certain that the performances are exactly how you want them before you start the mix process.

Stay tuned for Part II, coming up next week!