iTunes

Ten Top Music Distribution Services

By Nick Landis on Thursday Mar, 16th 2023

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.

Apple Digital Masters

By Nick Landis on Thursday Aug, 8th 2019

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.

Mastered For iTunes Requriements

By Nick Landis on Thursday Jul, 20th 2017

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:

Capitalization of Track Titles

By Nick Landis on Wednesday Mar, 1st 2017

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.

iTunes Cover Art Specs

By Nick Landis on Tuesday Sep, 6th 2016

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.

Digital Distribution Update

By Nick Landis on Friday Jun, 29th 2012

It seems that every day I hear of a new way to get your songs to the digital marketplace, so it's about time for an update on Digital Distribution methods for your music.  In a more strict sense of the term, digital distribution relates not just to music but eBooks, movies, ringtones, photography, software programs and apps among other things.  There are a lot of stores. . .

Mastered For iTunes

By Nick Landis on Sunday Jun, 17th 2012

Mastered for iTunes made a splash a few months ago when Apple made the announcement that they would accept higher resolution masters for AAC (like MP3) release. I was highly skeptical that it would make the files sound better. 

.cda file format

By Nick Landis on Monday Oct, 17th 2011

Often a source of confusion is the .cda file.  On a windows computer, when you insert a RedBook Audio CD, the tracks show up as .cda files.  One might assume that these are the audio files on the disc because they are the only items that show up in the explorer window. . . that would be wrong.  The .cda files are merely placeholders pointing to a place on the CD that the song starts.  Think of them as what windows calls a 'shortcut'.