Musicadium Blog

1. To get on iTunes etc. you need to use a digital distributor. It is way too time consuming to do this yourself. And you need to have high level technical skills to do it. If words like FTP and XML make good sense to you, maybe you have a shot, but trust me, you need help. Better to spend hours jamming than writing code to upload an album.
2. There are four ways digital distributors make money.
   1 - Upload/Joining Fee: Be careful of joining fees. These can range really widely and this is the most obvious thing you should know before you go any further with a distributor.
   2 - Renewal Fee: There will usually be a renewal fee to have your albums online. Check whether this fee increases per album…
   3 - Royalties: Most distributors take big royalty cuts - make sure you know how much they are taking from you.
   4 - Contracts lengths and lock-ins: Make sure you know how long you are locked in for. You don’t want to find out you have to be with a distributor for five years without being able to get out of it. This is critical!
3. Musicadium is based in Brisbane and what we do is dead simple. We help you to make the most of the digital music revolution:
   1 - $39 upload fee per release. This is a one off fee for worldwide distribution.
   2 - $20 per year (one-off fee) to cover the transaction costs of paying you royalties. This does not change, regardless whether you have 1 or 100 albums online.
   3 - Musicadium gives you 100% of your royalties. We believe we had no part in the creation of the music so we do not deserve 10% of the royalties you reap for your creativity. We distribute. We ask for payment for that. You write the music. You should receive all the royalties for that.
   4 - We do not lock you in to contracts. Leave as you please (we’ve never had this happen), but you are free to go elsewhere if you feel you can find better.

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1. There’s a big difference between having a long list of email addresses and having a long list of true fans. A true fan is a fan who will pay to watch you play, buy your album and tell their friends about you. Make true fans, not a list of email addresses. And you know the best way to make a true fan? Play great live gigs and then go and meet the people you are playing for. Make them feel a part of something. For all the digital music revolution talk, your live gig is still the most important things for your band to create true fans.
2. You don’t need to get signed to be successful. There are thousands of bands making a living from music right now who exist outside the realms of the major labels. You can be one of those bands. You just need three things – great songs, a great live show and true fans. Keep it simple and you’ll go a long way.
3. Despite what you’ve heard, all the old rules of music still apply. You still need a great sound, a great dynamic in the band, a great live show and great fans. The delivery channels have changed but the hunger for great music has not.

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1. Digital Distribution is cheaper and easier than physical distribution. It will cost you more than a thousand dollars to manufacture and produce just a few hundred CDs that you distribute locally. Compare that to
   the cost of unlimited, worldwide, digital distribution which is generally under 100 dollars.
2. Just because your music is distributed worldwide, doesn’t mean it will be bought worldwide. It may well be cost effective to distribute worldwide through digital stores like iTunes and eMusic but what’s the point
   of having your music for sale in Japan or Russia if no-one there knows you.
3. If you’re going to distribute digitally, then promote digitally. Digital distribution is a very smart move. But it’s not enough just to distribute digitally, you need to promote digitally. You need a MySpace, you need to start talking to your fans, you need an email list of people you can tell about your upcoming shows and releases. You need to connect with the fans of your favourite bands, you need to discuss your music on forums, promote it on Facebook, write to people about it who love music. To make the most of digital you need as many people writing and talking about you as possible.

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From the incomparably good Seth Godin comes this Music Lesson:

“Try to imagine something like this happening ten years ago: An eleven-year-old kid wakes up on a Saturday morning, gets his allowance, then, standing in his pajamas, buys a Bon Jovi song for a buck.

Compare this to hassling for a ride, driving to the mall, finding the album in question, finding the $14 to pay for it and then driving home.

You may believe that your business doesn’t lend itself to digital transactions. Many do. If you’ve got a business that doesn’t thrive on digital, it might not grow as fast as you like… Maybe you need to find a business that does thrive on digital.”

Not only does this encapsulate our philosophy at Musicadium, it’s a valuable insight for independent artists. Sure, people still buy CDs. But the ease with which digital allows people to buy music will mean, ultimately, that physical CD sales will go the way of the tape and minidisc.

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