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Digital Audio Insider is David Harrell's blog about the economics of music and other digital content. I write from the perspective of a musican who has self-released four albums with the indie rock band the Layaways.
My personal website has links to my LinkedIn and Google+ pages and you can send e-mail to david [at] thelayaways [dot] com.
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If you enjoy this site, please consider downloading a Layaways track or album from iTunes, Amazon MP3, Bandcamp, or eMusic. CDs are available from CD Baby and Amazon.
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August 26, 2013
Some Advice for Writers...by David Harrell
...that probably goes for musicians as well:
"Also get a job; eating is a good habit and you will never make enough of a living as a writer to support a family. Be honest with yourself about the size of your gift. Expect no money but be diligent about sending pieces out for publication. All money is gravy."-- Brian Doyle, via the Dish.
One downside of digital music stores, which provided instant worldwide music distribution to anyone who wanted it, is that they also introduced a new level of expectations for musicians. Before digital music, a local band might sell some tapes or CDs at gigs or a friendly record store, but there was zero expectation that music sales would provide any real income. However, having your music available to the entire world creates the hope that people around the world are going to buy it. Yet the overwhelming majority of self-released musicians (as well as most musicians on major labels!) simply aren't going to sell a lot of music.
Labels: music sales, self-released musicians
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November 21, 2011
Google Music and Self-Released Musicians: What's In It For Google?by David Harrell
As I wrote last week, as a self-released musician, I was happy to see that Google Music includes the option for musicians to add their material to its music store, without having to go through a distributor. I wish the same option were available for Apple's iTunes.
But what's the real upside for Google? Most self-released artists don't sell a lot of music (though some do, see the update below) and most music fans coming to the Google Music store for the first time won't be looking for such material. Also, even if this music were considered a necessity for the Google Music catalog, Google already has relationships in place with TuneCore and CD Baby, so there's little barrier to entry and much, if not most, of that self-released material will eventually end up in Google's catalog.
There is, of course, the $25 setup fee. If a large percentage of the combined client base of TuneCore and CD Baby (more than 860,000 artist/client accounts, based on figures released by the two firms), sign up for Google's Artist Hub service, it could mean millions in setup fees. Yet that doesn't seem like much money when you consider that Google's revenue for the trailing 12 months is more than $35 billion.
For Google, the biggest advantage in courting self-released musicians might be the greater enthusiasm, and in-bound links, that result from giving such artists control over their catalogs. As with Facebook and Google+, Google has entered another market where it must battle a dominant service, Apple's iTunes Music Store, in addition to well-established alternatives like Amazon MP3 and eMusic. Perhaps the musicians who use the Artist Hub service will be more likely to push their fans to the Google Music store via their websites and social media posts. And even if relatively little of this self-released music is ever purchased, anything that directs music fans to Google Music can't be a bad thing for Google.
UPDATE, 11/23/2011: While most self-released musicians aren't selling a lot of music, a small subset of them are quite successful, as revealed by the numbers in this post on TuneCore's blog. Sixty TuneCore-distributed artists received more than $10,000 for digital music sales for the month of July 2011, with three artists receiving more than $100,000 for digital music sales for the month. Still, Google Music doesn't need a direct relationship with these artists to have their material in its catalog, as TuneCore artists can opt to have TuneCore deliver their albums to Google.
Labels: CD Baby, Google, Google Play, self-released musicians, TuneCore
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November 17, 2011
What I Like About Google Music for Self-Released Musiciansby David Harrell
Maybe it's a coincidence, but the Artist Hub feature of Google Music, which allows self-released musicians to upload and sell their albums, reminds me a lot of Bandcamp. As with Bandcamp, Artist Hub allows musicians to set their own prices. Changes are apparently instantaneous, as Google is touting the ability offer "flash sales" with short-term price reductions. And both services can be used to quickly release live recording or demos.
Unlike Bandcamp, Google charges a one-time fee of $25 to set up an artist page, but as with Bandcamp, there are no ongoing annual fees or per-album setup charges. Google takes a 30% cut on all sales and payments are made monthly. I was glad to see that unlike Google Adsense, which has a $100 minimum payment threshold, the minimum Google Music payout is only $1.
Google Music already has relationships with TuneCore and CD Baby, so if you use either service to distribute your music, you don't have to do anything -- your music will soon show up in the Google Music even if you don't create your own artist page. In my case, going direct would also eliminate paying the 9% commission to CD Baby, though you'll need ~$397 in Google Music sales ($397 x the 70% Google payout rate x the 9% CD Baby commission) to offset the $25 charge. But even if it takes a while to reach that amount of sales, or your music is distributed by TuneCore, which doesn't charge a commission, the ability to control your artist page, set/change prices, and to easily add and remove albums seems worth the one-time fee.
Finally, while I completely understand why Apple didn't want the hassle of working directly with self-released musicians, I wish the same option were available for iTunes.
Labels: CD Baby, Google Play, self-released musicians
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December 20, 2007
David Byrne Disses iTunes?by David Harrell
Former Talking Head David Byrne is a smart guy, but I'm a little perplexed by his take on iTunes in his Wired piece on Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists -- and Megastars, where he lists six music distribution models.
The only mention of iTunes is a somewhat negative one, with iTunes in context of a standard record deal. This large graphic shows that artists can make less from an iTunes album sale that from a physical CD.
That's certainly the case for a standard record deal. The same royalty rate applied to a record company's share of an iTunes album transaction (approximately $7.00 for a $9.99 album) results in less revenue for the artist than from the sale of CD with a higher list price.
But when Byrne gets to the business model at the end of his list -- the totally self-released model -- he makes no mention of iTunes as sales outlet, even though an iTunes sale for a self-released artist is fairly lucrative. A $9.99 iTunes sale for an artist distributed by CD Baby results in a payment of $6.37 and -- in an exchange for a small annual maintenance fee -- artists distributed by TuneCore can make approximately seven bucks for each sale.
For the self-distribution model, Byrne only writes about selling CDs at gigs and online, and downloads from your own website. Could it be that decreased royalties from iTunes sales of Talking Heads albums have simply soured him on the iTunes store, even for non-traditional models?
Labels: David Byrne, iTunes, self-released musicians
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September 28, 2007
A Split from CD Baby for Snocapby David Harrell
The CD Baby/Snocap agreement, where CD Baby distributed musicians could use the Snocap widget on a MySpace page, is ending.
The following e-mail from Snocap CEO Rusty Rueff was sent out early this morning:
As you know, both SNOCAP and CD Baby have worked very hard over the last few months to enable you, as a CD Baby artist, to sell your music directly to your fans on MySpace by using the SNOCAP MyStore. These experiences have shown us that SNOCAP works best when used directly by artists without the extra support of CD Baby. By managing your own account with SNOCAP, you can upload your music and make it available for sale within minutes, change and manage the content in your SNOCAP MyStore, and set your own prices for the tracks and albums, among other things.Snocap is waiving its $30 annual fee for the first year, but after that the free ride for CD Baby artists is over.
Because of this, and CD Baby's philosophy that when you can do something on your own, you should be able to do so, we have decided it makes better sense for you to sign-up directly with SNOCAP if you want to use the SNOCAP MyStore.
To use or continue using the SNOCAP MyStore to sell your music on MySpace, you must create a direct account with SNOCAP. I personally hope you decide to do so, and the whole process will take you less than 60 seconds. Here is all you need to do...
Labels: CD Baby, self-released musicians, Snocap
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THE LAYAWAYS
Out Now -- "Maybe Next Year" -- The New Holiday Album:
"This is a sweet treat, deliciously musical without being overbaked for mass media consumption." -- Hyperbolium
"Perfect listening to accompany whatever holiday preparations you may be making today." -- Bag of Songs
O Christmas Tree - free mp3 lyrics and song details
Away In A Manger - free mp3
Download from eMusic, iTunes, Amazon MP3, or Bandcamp. Listen to free streams at Last.fm.
"...about as melodic and hooky as indie pop can get." -- Absolute Powerpop
"Their laid-back, '60s era sounds are absolutely delightening." -- 3hive
"...melodic, garage-influenced shoegaze." -- RCRD LBL
Where The Conversation Ends - free mp3
January - free mp3
Keep It To Yourself - free mp3
Download from eMusic, iTunes, Amazon MP3, or CD Baby, stream it at Last.fm or Napster.
"The Layaways make fine indie pop. Hushed vocals interweave with understated buzzing guitars. The whole LP is a revelation from the start." -- Lost Music
"Catchy Guided by Voices-like rockers who lay it on sweetly and sincerely, just like Lionel Richie." -- WRUV Radio
Silence - free mp3 lyrics and song details
The Long Night - free mp3
Download from eMusic, Amazon MP3, or iTunes, stream it at Last.fm, Napster, or Rhapsody.
"These are songs that you want to take home with you, curl up with, hold them close -- and pray that they are still with you when you wake up." -- The Big Takeover
Let Me In - free mp3
Ocean Blue - free mp3
Download from eMusic, Amazon MP3, or iTunes, stream it at Last.fm, Napster, or Rhapsody.
More Layaways downloads:
the layaways website