How Do I Do That?

iTunes is the biggest music retailer in the United States. Like it or not, the days of the album are numbered and the single is back in full force. But how exactly does an independent artist go about getting their music on a site like iTunes?

Since iTunes does not deal directly with independent artists, you have to go through a third party intermediary. One of the most popular is CD Baby. (cdbaby.com)

CD Baby is a online site that provides physical and digital distribution for independent artists. They charge a one time fee of $35 (per album/disc) and then keep a percentage of all sales. Physical CDs are sold directly on their website. The artist chooses the price point and they keep $4 of every sale. On digital sales, they place the music with digital distributors like iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon MP3, etc. and pay the artist 91% of all profits collect from these vendors. So what does that mean?

Most digital retailers pay CD Baby 60% of the retail price. For example: Let's say you have an album on iTunes (that you set up through CD Baby) that sells for $9.99. iTunes pays CD Baby $5.99. ($9.99 x 60%) In turn, CD Baby pays you $5.45 ($5.99 x 91%). So, in the end you clear a little more than 50% of the profit.

CD Baby is not the only service out there. Other companies like TuneCore (tunecore.com) offer the same digital services under s lightly different business model. I suggest doing your homework, running the numbers and comparing what service is best for you and your music.