Mastering Accomplished. . . now what?

Dead Earth Politics - Mark the Resistance

Many clients ask me about what to do after mastering. I don't really have a very technical understanding of the nuts and bolts behind publishing and distribution, so I just send them to our local reputable CD manufacturing broker. At Terra Nova, we recommend Matt Eskey with Any and All Media. He has done a great job on every project I've sent to him and will continue to recommend Matt without reservation. While I prefer to buy my music in physical form, I know the industry is trending the other way. The next time the question of digital distribution is asked, I am determined to give a more informed answer. There are several stores out there that sell music digitally. The process can be confusing and time-consuming if you are an independent artist. The easiest way is to find a service that will do most of the work for you for a small fee.

Digital Distribution Outlets

CD Baby

$39 for an album
$9 for a song
$20/month - $199/yr for web hosting
Commission Fee 9% - 25%
UPC is $20

Included stores: iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic, Amazon MP3, Napster, Verizon V-Cast, Liquid Digital Media, PayPlay, AudioLunchbox, GroupieTunes, Ruckus, and others.

Tunecore

By Track:
- $9.99 for one song (one-time charge)
- $9.99 per single maintenance and storage (per year)

By Album:
- $0.99 per song (one-time charge)
- $0.99 per store per album (one-time charge)
- $19.98 per album maintenance and storage (per year)

UPC included

Included Stores: iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, MusicNet, eMusic, Sony Connect, GroupieTunes, Amazon, Lala, ShockHound, Amie Street, and others. . .

Reverb Nation

Setup fee: $34.95
No commission fees; artist gets 100% royalties
UPCincluded

Included Stores: iTunes, Amazon, Zune, last.fm, myspace music, Spotify, others included. . .

Valleyarm

For each “release” (single, EP or album):
- Distribution fee to iTunes only $39 AUD (~$38US)
- Distribution fee to all available outlets $169 AUD (~$167US)
- Annual renewal fee $20 AUD (~$20US)

Commission fee: None, artist gets 100% royalties
UPC is $39 AUD (~$25 US)

Included Stores: iTunes, eMusic, AmazonMP3, Nokia

Ten Top Music Distribution Services

A list of ten of the top music distribution services for independent musicians looking to get their music out there. The list includes popular services like DistroKid and CD Baby, as well as other great options. Whether you're a new artist or a seasoned musician, this list has got you covered.

symphonic distribution

Apple Digital Masters

Starting August 7th, 2019 all previously branded 'Mastered For iTunes' content is changing to 'Apple Digital Masters'. The change will be featured both in the iTunes store and Apple Music streaming service.

Nick Landis Mastering was on the Mastered for iTunes official 'MFiT Providers List' and will continue to be on the Apple Digital Masters Provider List. For my clients to get into this program, they need to request Apple Digital Masters as one of their delivery formats and we will provide everything Apple needs to get your content branded with the special badge.

Apple Digital Masters

MFiT

digital distribution

iTunes

Mastered For iTunes Requriements

Independant artists have difficulty getting into the Mastered For iTunes program, but if you wanted to try to deal directly with apple to get in here are the requirements directly from Apple. Even if you meet the requirements they may still referr you. On top of that, they also have payment thresholds and you may never get paid if you don't meet the threshold for your first payment. And now the requirements.

Technical Requirements:

iTunes

digital distribution

MFiT

Apple Digital Masters

Capitalization of Track Titles

This is a common issue that many of my clients don't think about until they're in the mastering studio getting asked about it. Did you mean to not capitalize this word? Well, here are some guidelines.

Technical Info

iTunes

Metadata

iTunes Cover Art Specs

Recently, I had a client that ran into some problems with the cover art for their project. It seems iTunes has some rather stringent (in my opinion) requirements for the cover art. Part of me understands that there needs to be some requirements or checks in place and I agree with Apple that people should not be 'misleading' in the representation of their music. But, I felt this particular case may have been a bit ridiculous.