TuneCore Opens Digital Aggregator Platform
Flat fee distributor TuneCore is launching a new service which enables other music companies to offer worldwide digital distribution using TuneCore’s infrastructure.
TuneCore has already helped democratized the music industry by enabling individual artists easy and inexpensive access iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and other download stores while taking no rights, exclusivity or revenue. Now using Google’s open API any music company like management, merchandisers and record labels can act as a digital aggregator. From their own sites, these middlemen can, for example, offer the opportunity for artists to "sign themselves" at a variety of costs and benefits including worldwide digital distribution. See a diagram of how it works after the jump.
ANALYSIS: Digital distributors are already feeling downward price pressure as artists and labels ask why they need to pay…
10-30% to get their product on iTunes and other download sites. Some distributors are answering the call with added services like marketing and promotion to mixed reaction and results. Tunecore has already added to that pressure attracting artists from Nine Inch Nails to The Cure who prefer the service’s low flat fee no strings attached structure.
Now Tunecore is enabling a multitude of others who can also offer artists value added services ranging from widgets to radio promotion and beyond the same access. I wouldn’t buy stock in The Orchard right now.
MORE: Turmoil In Digital Distribution
HOW IT WORKS:
Via TuneCore’s new Application Programming Interface (API), approved partners can plug directly into TuneCore’s system and develop their own applications powered with TuneCore’s distribution, customer support and infrastructure. The partner uses TuneCore’s infrastructure to handle file uploads, encoding and delivery of the music files. The artist remains on the partner’s website or desktop software application, but TuneCore handles the distribution and offers optional customer support. The partner creates their own pricing and terms and receives status updates as well as basic administrative tools to log in and mange their account. When music goes live, the artists can log in to view sales either at TuneCore directly, or via embedded pages on the partner site.
The API is being launched in addition to TuneCore’s existing manual third party and affiliate options. Currently there are 4,081 approved affiliates, each earning a 7% commission on each paying customer referred. Details can be found here.
Click on the diagram to enlarge.
How can you sign up for a developer account?
I can see this either going really well for Tunecore or just doing nothing at all. With a quick glance at what they are offering, it seems quite good. However, that being said im sure there is going to be a decent charge for using their platform (from a developer point of view), as well as artists being quite restricted (because developers can add new retail partners, they are stuck with only the ones tunecore has). If you are an artist looking to just get into iTunes and make some small $$$ then this could be a good option, but if you looking to make a career out of music then you need a much broader reach. Tunecore cant offer this!
How is this a “platform?” Since the service still costs the same, all they are paying is an affiliate / referral fee, albeit via an upload originating elsewhere.
jeff: To get a developer account send me an email at alex@tunecore.com
Thsi is a great site and really useful information,
am just signing up my label & band to tunecore,
http://www.myspace.com/theduel
cheers Tara
Tunecore cover around 10 sites which are all US based.
I have been looking into getting my music onto Spotify and the only people who are supplying them were http://www.dittomusic.com who also cover around 700 stores and get you live in half the time of tunecore.
It really pays to shop around, for me tunecore are more bothered about corporate ttakeover than giving more services and choice to artists.
Rich
this is great, however, like most aggregators before them, Tunecore’s model also wallows in the longtail part of the curve to some degree. I agree with Steven’s earlier comment. However, on the side of the DSPs (at least the ones who matter), only one thing counts. While I’d love to get my album on itunes and not have to pay any commission to a distr, I have to also keep in mind my album is but one of 9.5 million other titles. Itunes knows this ALL too well………