Pre-sale Your Music On iTunes And Amazon For Increased Sales And Attention

By Chris Robley from The DIY Musician.

Start “selling” your new music before its official release date

A digital pre-sale (via iTunes or Amazon) allows your fans to order your music in advance of its release. All pre-sales will be credited on the official release date — so the more pre-sales you get, the higher your sales ranking for that day. Your pre-sale customers will then be able to hear/download your music on the release date.

A digital music pre-sale is a great way to build hype for your latest single or album, giving you an extra four weeks to create buzz before the music actually drops. And given the fact that both iTunes and Amazon are prime real-estate for music retail, those four weeks can have a big impact.

With a pre-sale, you don’t have to keep telling your fans about new music on the horizon with no retail solution in place to capture interested customers. Now — in the month leading up to the release — whenever you talk about your new music on social media, on your website, in your newsletter, or at a concert, you can tell your fans where to go RIGHT NOW to make a purchase.

Details about iTunes pre-sales

Artists who have albums with 11 or more tracks are also eligible to choose an “instant gratification” track for iTunes. iTunes will make that track available for preview and purchase on the date your pre-sale begins. The instant gratification track will be available for purchase as part of the pre-sale album, which means any iTunes customer can purchase this track by itself, or have it instantly downloaded when they purchase your complete album during the pre-sale period.

An iTunes pre-sale must run 1-4 weeks before the Current Release Date (the actual release date you set in your CD Baby member account). In order to be eligible for pre-sale, your Current Release Date must also be at least 30 days in the future.

Details about Amazon pre-sales

Any album CD Baby delivers to Amazon with a Future Release Date will be made available for pre-order. Once your actual release date arrives, all pre-sales will be fulfilled. Amazon customers can then download your music. Unlike with iTunes, there is no “instant gratification track” offered with each Amazon pre-sale. However, Amazon is a huge music retailer, and digital pre-sales gives artists a great opportunity to capture as many sales as possible during the promotional period before your album launch.